You receive an email from your boss stating that you need to send $10,000 to an unfamiliar company located in an obscure part of the world. The email states to send the money quickly through C.O.D. because people are dying of COVID-19 and need help immediately.

Your boss has never asked you to send such a large amount of money to a location ever. He or she also has also never asked you to send money without a verbal conversation. But the email says to send the money rapidly and you understand your boss is involved with a few relief organizations for COVID-19.

At a closer view, you click on your boss’s email address and it opens as different email address. It does not match up with your boss’s email address. The boss’s email address has been “spoofed.” What is going on?

Unfortunately, this is what the Department of Justice calls a COVID-19 scam. We have all seen the headlines in the news, scammers asking for financial help or hospitals receiving non-functional health equipment. If we have seen this information, so have con artists.

Roman would like to caution companies about fraud committed via email. The FTC warns us that the economic upheaval caused by the Coronavirus has led to an increase in unusual financial transactions. Some include expedited orders, large payments.

But what if a call or message claims to come from a member of your I.T. staff asking for a password or directing the recipient to download software? This also can be a swindle, the art of social engineering.

Employees may already be overly challenged by the changes that COVID-19 has created to work and home life. The technology department may be overwhelmed with trying to get all of the employees working from home with the proper equipment. This type of scam can be missed.

At Roman we can investigate a possible fraudulent scam and/or educate your employees about the hazards of workforce fraud. Just visit our website and contact one of our managers for more information: www.romansearch.com.

Remember, there are many scams thrown in the mix during this confused time in our history such as robo-call scams, supply scams, data scams and more. Reach out to us and let us know how we can help.

We would like to take the time to thank all of our essential workers for their tireless efforts to keep us safe and fed.