Fraudulent online activities are on the rise and scammers keep coming up with more creative ways to take advantage of people's good nature and/or sense of fear. We have seen a significant increase in scams like phishing emails and the spread of misinformation.
Your user IDs and passwords are personal to you and should never be shared with anyone. Sharing passwords not only puts your information at risk but is also in breach of our terms and conditions. If you have a third party that needs access to information contained within your account, you can call the Service Centre on 0800 65 65 68 or request access within 'Settings' in your Farm Source account.
If you have shared your Farm Source account details with others, we ask that you change your password immediately and ensure no one else has access to it. It's also a good opportunity to check that farm workers no longer employed with you do not have access to your online accounts.
Be wary of any unexpected or suspicious emails. Look out for the following:
Any legitimate source will write in a calm, credible voice. For example, their email subject line won’t be “New COVID-19 Cases Confirmed in Your Region” and the email won’t ask you to click to learn about nearby “high-risk” areas.
For example, an official public-health message would never send you to a webpage that wants your credit card number. This is a major red flag. Make sure you keep your information safe and keep an eye out for suspicious email requesting sensitive information.
A recent COVID-19s phishing scam began with “Sir/Madam”- a greeting that is overly formal for today’s emails. Look out for these types of salutations and where the sender does not know your name.
It is very easy to change the name that is displayed in the FROM field of an email, but it is much more difficult to change the actual email address the email was sent from. Always check that it is a genuine email address from a known person by looking at the actual email address and verify with that person if you need to.
Not all phishing emails will have noticeable errors in there – but many will, so keep an eye out for this warning sign too.
Make sure you keep you Farm Source log in information to yourself and only use it on the official Farm Source website. If you are ever concerned about your account's security, please get in touch with us.
More information and our top tips for avoiding phishing scams is available here.
A password manager is software that securely stores all your passwords.
Password managers:
More information on password managers and how to use them is available here.
Turning on multi-factor authentication is an easy way to add another layer of security to your logins and accounts, usually by entering a code from another device on top of your password.
More information on MFA and how it works is available here.
Be smart with Social Media. Publicly available information can be used to steal people's identity and hack accounts.
A good sense check is to ensure your privacy settings are limited to known friends and family.
You should also beware of Misinformation. COVID-19 related misinformation has primarily been spread via social media and private messaging platforms.
Whilst misinformation doesn't always have the same financial impact as some types of cyber-criminal scams, it can be used to cause panic, and promote harmful medical practices. Again, be very careful about the volume of misinformation around and only use official websites only.
Don't be taken in by everything you read on social media, and don't be part of the problem by sharing it.
At Farm Source, we are not working and communicating with our community to ensure they also act as our first line of defence against cybersecurity incidents.
If you do see something suspicious or need more support around staying cyber safe, we recommend the following resources: