Australia’s National Fraud Centre, run by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has issued a warning to consumers and small businesses to be wary of spam calls, emails or messages asking for an update software code or provide remote access for repair or protect their computer from CrowdStrike/Microsoft downtime.
The global IT outage on Thursday and Friday, which affected many financial institutions, including the operation of FX and CFD brokers – along with airlines and airports, hospitals, government offices and businesses around the world – was caused by a flaw in a update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike for PCs running the Windows operating system.
The ACCC said downloading unsolicited software can give fraudsters access to your computer, including your bank accounts.
Consumers should also be alert to unsolicited requests from people claiming to be from their financial institutions or other businesses asking to update or verify their personal or financial information due to the CrowdStrike/Microsoft outage.
ACCC Deputy Chairwoman Catriona Lowe said,
“Criminals try to take advantage of incidents like this CrowdStrike outage by creating a sense of urgency that you should do whatever they say to protect your computer and financial information.
“Anyone can be scammed, so it’s important to be wary of any unsolicited contact purporting to provide assistance in the wake of a major event like this.”
The ACCC said consumers and businesses should:
- STOP – don’t rush to download software or provide personal or financial information.
- CHECK – verify who you are talking to – call IT support or your financial institution on an independently supplied number.
- PROTECTION – Act fast – if you have provided access or information, contact your bank immediately and report to scamwatch.gov.au to help protect others.