Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 29 May 2024

These updates are shared to help raise the situational awareness of Faith-Based organizations to best defend against and mitigate the impacts from all-hazards threats including physical security, cybersecurity, and natural disasters.

Hurricane season 2024: How to avoid scams before and after a weather emergency

From the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Consumer Advice website:

Weather forecasters are predicting an active hurricane season, but if you live in large parts of the country — including those hit by tornadoes over Memorial Day Weekend — you’ve probably noticed more active storms of all types. To get started preparing for hurricane season or any storm, while avoiding scams, check ftc.gov/WeatherEmergencies for new information to help you spot, avoid, and report scams as you prepare for, deal with, and recover from extreme weather and natural disasters. 

Like all the FTC’s free resources, the site is mobile-friendly — giving you ready access to information when and where you need it. When it comes to planning for a possible weather emergency, the more you know — and the earlier you know it — the better prepared you’ll be to avoid weather-related scams and frauds.

To stay ahead of weather-related scammers, here are steps you can take now.

• • Update your insurance policy. To avoid surprises later, check to make sure your insurance policy is current and find out what is covered — and what isn’t.
  • Check out contractors before you need one. Ask people you know and trust for recommendations. Then search online for the company’s name with words like “scam” or “complaint.”
  • Research online sellers before you buy. Unusually low prices are a sign of a scam. If you see an ad for what seems like a familiar company but you’re not sure the ad is real, check it out. But go to the company’s website using a page you know is real — not the link in the ad.

Additional guidance on a variety of current scams can be found at the FTC’s Avoiding and Reporting Scams | Consumer Advice website.

In 2019, FTC published Worshipers targeted by gift card scam | Consumer Advice.

Analyst Comments:

FB-ISAO’s 12 April 2024 Daily Awareness Post highlighted the FBI’s Cyber Criminals Target Victims Using Social Engineering Techniques.

On 28 May, Huntress published Deceitful Tactics and Honest Mistakes: Remedying Human Error Amid the Rise of Social Engineering Across Healthcare.

Faith-Based Organizations (FBO) and their members are often targeted by scams. FBOs and their members should consider reviewing the FTC, FBI, and Huntress resources to be better prepared against the threat of scams.

Is political polarization affecting your security program?

Security Magazine quotes Eric Sean Clay (security executive) as saying, “When your employees have differing political views, these conversations can quickly escalate into debates or even arguments.”

The article provides a wide range of strategies for addressing political division in security teams.

Analyst Comments:

The strategies provided by Security Magazine are aimed at managing political polarization within security teams and promoting cooperation, but the strategies also apply directly to Faith-Based and other organizations.