Phishing & Security

At Atradius India, we want you to stay safe online.  We work hard with our own security systems to minimise the risk of cyberhacking. However there are also a range of ways you can minimise the risk of cyber fraud. Here are some tips to help you identify suspicious behaviour that may be a malicious attempt to access your information through phishing or vishing scams.

What do phishing or vishing mean?

Phishing is an email or website scam that tries to trick you into providing personal or financial information. It usually involves trying to appear as if the website or email is from an official or legitimate source.  The information that phishers try to gain often includes your date of birth, login information, account details, credit card details, PIN codes and more. Vishing is an attempt to obtain this information by phone, instead of email or a website.

Cyber criminals can use links in emails posts, online advertisements and tweets to direct you to a fake site, where they can steal your login credentials. Only sign in to your account when you are certain you visited the real site directly.

How can I spot a phishing or vishing attempt?

Be wary of any telephone call, website form or email message that asks for your personal or financial information.. Always ask yourself whether contact from an apparently trustworthy organisation might be a scam. If you are unsure, contact the organisation directly to check and use the contact information you have for them, do not use any link provided by the message or form you want to check. If you are asked for financial information or personal data on the phone, explain you will call them back. Do not use the number you have been given by the potential scam, but find the number independently. If possible, use another phone from the one you were called on, for example use your landline if they called your mobile or cell. Alternatively make sure the phone line is clear before you attempt to make the verification call.

What ways can I stay secure online with Atradius?

Atradius will never send unsolicited email messages asking you to update or verify your personal or security details. Atradius will not telephone you to ask you to update or verify your information, and will never ask for your password. Your login credentials are personal to you and should not be divulged to any other person.

Be alert to any warnings posted on Atradius’ website. To help you be sure that you are connected to the Atradius secure environment, please check the following:

• The spelling of the web address. Criminals often build websites under a slightly different name, like atardius.com instead of atradius.com
• Is the website address secure? For the secure portion of the Atradius website, the address start with https://.  The 's' stands for 'secure'; ensuring impersonation and scrambling is prevented, and data is encrypted. If you only see 'http' (without the 's') then the internet connection is not secure
• Is there a padlock symbol next to the URL? For the secure portion of the Atradius website check that the security lock icon is visible on your screen. You should see this lock icon on every page from the moment you log in to when you log out

You can also help protect your data or information by making sure that your device’s software is up-to-date, has security software installed and operating. 

• Use up-to-date antivirus and anti-malware software together with a firewall. Make sure they’re automatically activated any time you switch on your device
• Check for updates for your operating system and software (apps, virus scanner, internet browser and browser plug-ins) on a regular basis and install them when they become available
• Do not install any software (apps, virus scanner, internet browser or browser plug-ins) that comes from an unknown source
• Make sure your wireless connection is secure
• Check your plug-ins are up-to-date and only sourced from sites you. (Examples are Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash, Microsoft Silverlight, Java)

What to do when facing a possible phishing or vishing scam?

Never reply to suspicious contact with your personal or financial information, ever.

Don’t fill out forms or sign-in screens that link from these messages.

If in doubt, check with us. We are always happy to hear from customers, so never hesitate to contact us.  Please do contact us using your usual contact person to report the phishing attempt or to check whether an email or form is genuinely from Atradius. Never respond to a suspicious emai, and don’t click any links in the email. Also be careful when contacting us by phone after a suspected vishing attempt – wait several minutes before dialing Atradius as the fraudster might have kept the line open