By now you are most likely aware of the recent cybersecurity incident at Equifax, where hackers obtained the personal information of about 143 million customers.

As we explained in a recent article, the breach led to $2.2 billion in lost valuation for the credit agency. And now, a class-action lawsuit is being planned.

Unfortunately, the story just keeps getting worse.

Now, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is warning consumers about a new scam that is related to the Equifax breach. The FTC is telling consumers to be wary of emails or calls from fraudsters who are pretending to be Equifax agents.These fraudsters are phishing for sensitive data by asking customers to verify their information. 

According to the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT), official Equifax representatives are not authorized to ask for identity verification from customers. As such, all communications that ask for personal information should be treated with extreme caution. They are most likely coming from third party hacker groups. Officials are now encouraging end users to report supiscious emails to the FTC Complaint Assistant.

Unfortunately, this type of alert is becoming more and more common. This week, we reported two major scams that are circulating around the web. One is an email where hackers pretend to work for the Better Business Bureau (BBB). In another scam, hackers are pretending to work for the IRS and FBI.

Your business should therefore be on high alert for incoming messages designed to steal information and infect your network with malware. All workers should be briefed about the dangers at hand, and should know what to do when after getting a suspicious message. Hackers, after all, typically bank on tricking unsuspecting end users into surrendering important information. And all it takes is one weak link to bring down the security of an entire organization.

Apex Technology Services is a managed services provider (MSP) offering cybersecurity training and education services to businesses across Greater New York City, Connecticut and beyond. Apex can help bring your team up to speed about the dangers they are now facing online.

To learn more about how Apex can provide your business with comprehensive cybersecurity training, click here.

A new breed of hacktrepeneurs has awoken and they have little to fear and everything to gain by infecting as many companies as possible and extorting money from them. Apex Technology Services stands ready to protect your company regardless of whether it’s located in New York City; White Plains, New York; Connecticut; Australia; Europe; or anywhere else. Our full suite of cybersecurity and IT support services is at your disposal, enabling you to spend less time worrying about and more time growing your business.

To ensure your security, consider one of our most popular services — Auditing & Documentation — which pinpoints vulnerabilities in your infrastructure, process flow and internal security procedures.