Fiona Clark has worked too hard setting up her creative agency to give a green light to cyber scams. Whether it’s signage for a festival or brochures for a slick sales office, the Brisbane-based team can’t afford any hiccups when delivering designs for clients.
Key Takeaways:
- The business learned a costly lesson in 2022 when digital fraudsters slipped through the net
- Greenlight Creative have been educating themselves around invoice fraud and social engineering fraud
- When it comes to cyber security, you really need to be aware that they're not only after the big companies
“I did the work and now, that is pretty much what we do everyday, we keep delivering what our clients need!”
But the business learned a costly lesson in 2022 when digital fraudsters slipped through the net and targeted a new staff member in the finance team.
Fiona says a cyber criminal impersonated a staff member via email, requesting that their bank account details be changed.
“The person in the finance role had only been with us for five weeks, and didn’t confirm with the staff member in person. They went ahead and updated the bank details. But the email address was actually a fake email address.”
Unfortunately, the bank details belonged to the cyber scammer, and it was only after two pay periods that they realised they’d been stung.
“We realised that there was an issue and we lost $3704.88” she says.
“The police were not able to get it back, as Osko payments are instant, and the money was taken from the deposited account quickly.
“I felt really upset that we were targeted as although the loss could have been much more , it is still a loss. And it felt really personal.”
In response, Green Light Creative introduced stricter verification procedures, among other safeguards.
Now, any request to change banking details must be followed up in person, and all new suppliers are contacted by phone to confirm their bank information before any invoice payments are processed.
Participating in the Cyber Wardens program also helped shift their understanding of risk.
“I actually believed larger businesses were more of a target,” says Fiona.
“But I now realise that small, easy wins by cyber criminals add up when they target small businesses that have less cyber protection in place.
“Since then, we have been educating ourselves around invoice fraud and social engineering fraud.”
Fiona says graduating from the course has helped give her peace of mind to concentrate on what matters at work.
The small creative team prides itself on handling the full spectrum of design and production: branding, signage, print, custom interior layouts, event displays and more.
“I love seeing clients happy when we deliver their print or signage job,” Fiona says.
“That moment when they say: ‘Thanks, team!’ – it makes my day. It’s all about taking their needs and turning them into reality.”
She says she would recommend that other businesses enrol in one of the free Cyber Wardens courses.
“When it comes to cyber security, you really need to be aware that they’re not only after the big companies,” she says.
“They’re after these small wins from small companies that don’t have the processes in place to protect themselves.”
