The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has outlined the top six most impersonated UK government agencies in 2022. The most impersonated entity was the National Health Service (NHS), followed by TV Licensing, HM Revenue & Customs, Gov.uk, DVLA, and Ofgem.
“Cyber criminals often seek to exploit topical events to make their phishing attempts more convincing,” the NCSC said. “In 2022, the NCSC saw scammers exploit the rising cost of living with Ofgem energy bill support scams and HMRC tax rebate scams, while scammers continued to take advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to attempt PCR test scams.”
Sarah Lyons, NCSC Deputy Director for Economy and Society Resilience, stated, “We know cyber criminals try to exploit trends and current affairs to make their scams seem convincing and sadly our latest data shows 2022 was no exception. By shining a light on these scams we want to help people more easily spot the common tricks fraudsters use, so that ultimately they can stay safer online. There is much more advice on the NCSC’s website about spotting suspicious messages, along with our Cyber Aware guidance to help people protect their devices.”
The NCSC offers the following advice to help users defend themselves against these attacks:
- “Choose carefully where you shop: Research online retailers, particularly if you haven’t bought from them before, to check they’re legitimate. Read feedback from people or organisations that you trust, such as consumer websites.
- “Pay securely: Use a credit card when shopping online, if you have one. Most major credit card providers protect online purchases and are obliged to refund you in certain circumstances. Using a credit card (rather than a debit card) also means that if your payment details are stolen, your main bank account won’t be directly affected. Also consider using a payment platform, such as PayPal, Google or Apple Pay. And whenever you pay, look for the closed padlock in the web address bar – it means your connection is secure.”
New-school security awareness training can enable your employees to recognize social engineering attacks.
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