Telenor CEO Sigve Brekke abuses attempted fraud:

Fraud: Sigve Brekke said last year that it had detected 30 million fraudulent attacks for its clients in Norway. He recently tested it himself. Photo: BJØRN HAUGAN/VG

Foreign criminals wrote an email to a foreign company signed by Telenor CEO Sigve Brekke. – It was professionally impressive, without typos, says Brick, who went to the police.

published:

Today 12:15

Updated today 12:53

Telenor CEO Sigve Brekke has been subjected to a “spoofing attempt” in which criminals forged his email.
The matter has been reported to the police.
Brekke warns people to be careful and not to click on links or respond to inquiries from unknown senders.
Telenor’s survey showed that 80 percent of respondents had experienced digital crime in the past 12 months.

Telenor’s boss recently had a impersonation attempt Where the criminals forged his email: So the criminals tried to pretend to be Sigve Brekke and sent an email in his name to a large company abroad.

– We received an inquiry from another international mobile firm that they had received an email from me, apparently asking if they had been contacted by a recognized international law firm and a named person at that firm, on a case we were working on, says Brekke for VG.
You can read the message here:

Fake email, where the recipient is slandered.

– We started investigations immediately and fortunately it turned out that they did not control my email account, but used, among other things, an IP server in the Netherlands to make the email appear as if it was from me.

Do you have contact with this law firm?

– Yes, most people in our industry use it, so the name of the law firm and the employee there was correct.

– Sounds like a thorough investigation of criminals?

– If the recipient has responded, they can go ahead and pretend to be the appointed attorney, either to obtain information or some other financial gain.

– It was absolutely perfect

– What was the reaction of the mobile phone company, which prompted them to notify them about this?

– There was nothing wrong with the email, no misspellings or anything like that, it was absolutely perfect, but at the moment we don’t have any project going on with this company, so maybe that’s what got them flopped:

– it was done in a relatively advanced way, although it was a relatively simple form of forgery.

Have a tangible trail: Brekke says they tracked down the scam and reported it to the police. Photo: BJØRN HAUGAN/VG

He says they found out who is behind it.

– We found evidence of a major international criminal organization. We went to the police with our information and reported it. We went to the police because this kind of business is being done on a fairly large scale at the moment.

– We call this Manager scamManager scamDirector fraud is also called “CEO fraud”. This is primarily fraud carried out by people pretending to be in the management of the company, in an attempt to initiate financial transactions. The attack channel could be email (apparently external and internal), SMS, physical messages or phone calls, as well as structured channels such as billing and payment systems. Source: Norwegian Data Protection Authority.He says:

– Fraudsters use well-known names in well-known companies to initiate and legitimize the fraud. It often ends up with bosses asking subordinates to transfer money.

Tip: Sigve Brekke offers good tips below to help make you more aware of digital fraud. Photo: BJØRN HAUGAN/VG

Brekke asks you to be on your guard.

You need to know what you can do to keep yourself safe. Artificial intelligence, for example, is both good and bad news. Criminals are now using artificial intelligence to design emails that are almost impossible to tell are fake.

He says they use it too Amnesty International to prevent such.

– Last year we closed 30 million fraud attempts by our clients in Norway. We are now examining how we can use AI to detect fraud and help prevent digital crime.

The simple advice is:

Never click on links or respond to inquiries via email or other digital platforms, if you are not sure who you are contacting.

Here are more tips from the CEO of Telenor:

information

Fraud protection advice

1. Knowledge is the best defense
If you want to avoid being scammed, you need to know a little bit about what to be aware of. Only when you learn the typical characteristics of fraud, what scammers look for and how they get ahead can alarm bells ring when you are exposed.

2. Talk to your loved ones about safety
What is obvious to you is unfortunately not so to others. Then it is important to share your experience and knowledge. If someone close to you loses access to their mobile phone, email account or social media, it can also backfire on you as a friend or family – by way of privacy
Information you share with them may be misused.

3. Never give out private information
Criminals are constantly coming up with new and cynical ways to defraud us. Although scam attempts come in many forms, scammers almost always rely on tricking you into taking active action. This can be entering a password, entering card information, entering a bank ID – or as we’ve seen recently, one-time codes used for two-factor authentication for various services. Know that serious players, like Telenor,
You will never request such information via phone, email, SMS or other channels.

4. Be aware of fake links and websites

Often, a fraudulent request, whether it is via email, SMS, or instant message, will contain a link that you are tricked into clicking on. Whether it’s a virus or something called “phishing”, where you’re tricked into entering passwords, bank details or other information – there are two things that tend to repeat themselves: a “urgent” link to click on, and a website that may look real at first glance but is in fact forged. It is important to know that as a general rule, you should be careful when clicking on links in emails and messages, and be aware of the danger signs of fake sites.

5. Have good password security – and two-factor authentication

Many people use simple passwords like “123456” and they often use the same password across different services. If you use one password on many websites, there is a high chance that it has already been leaked online. Then logging into your accounts is narrow for criminals – which can cost you dearly in a number of ways. Make sure your password is well secured. And by all means: Use two-factor authentication where possible, as this will stop almost any scam you come across.

What can you do as an employee?

Follow all security procedures for payments and purchases. Don’t skip steps and don’t give in to outside pressure or stress.
Always check email addresses carefully to make sure they are not fake. If the company has an opportunity to use a channel other than email, use it.
If you are in doubt about a particular request, consult an experienced colleague. Good control is not an expression of mistrust. Instead ask a colleague once more than once quite a bit. We would appreciate if a colleague verified the information they received from you.
Never open suspicious links or attachments that you receive via email. Do not use your work computer for private e-mail.
Decide what is being shared and be mindful when using social media. Use two-step authentication on private accounts, too.
Avoid sharing information about how the work is organized and what security procedures and procedures you have in place.
NB! Report it to your IT and/or security department if you receive a suspicious email or phone call.

He says they dealt with it internally.

– We have trained all 16,000 employees on what they should be aware of, in order to increase awareness. Much of what ends up in fraud is often caused by the employee not being vigilant enough.

Brekke says Telenor recently ran a survey, conducted by Norstat, that showed 80 percent said they had experienced digital crime in the past 12 months.

Here is another result from the survey:

56 percent say they see the need to protect themselves and their data from cybercrime.
41 percent do not use Two-factor authentication.
Here is a breakdown of the type of digital information that the population is most afraid of losing control over (in percentage):
Banking information – 90
Identity theft – 84
Private sensitive documents – 35
Accounts on social media – 31
Own photos – 30