SLED Agent Warns of E-Mail Crime

Cybercrime costs U.S. business more than $1.3 billion yearly and often takes the form of bogus e-mails, according to Lt. D. Britt Dove, supervisory agent for the S.C. Law Enforcement Division’s (SLED) Computer Crime Center. Dove (at right, talking with Rotarian Tommy Gibbons) was Capital Rotary’s Oct. 18 guest speaker. He said every business connected to the internet is a potential cybercrime victim. Businesses are vulnerable to being scammed by e-mail as criminals expand their ability to steal money directly or to turn stolen data into money.

Dove detailed several safeguards that include (1) educate employees to recognize suspicious e-mails; (2) be cautious when e-mails request confidential information or information out of the ordinary; (3) double check e-mail sender details carefully, watching for similar domain names or characters that have been swapped for other letters; (4) forward e-mail responses instead of hitting “reply” so you can type out the genuine e-mail address for the person you wish to communicate with; and (5) confirm details of the e-mail request by contacting the sender using a known phone number.

Lt. Dove is a University of South Carolina graduate, a former West Columbia Police Dept. investigator, and is active in the Secret Service Electronic Taskforce, FBI Cyber Taskforce and the S.C. Attorney General’s Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce.