Cyber Crime and Cricket Clubs

In 2016, there were 3.6m cases of cyber fraud in the UK, and 2m cases of computer misuse. These numbers increased further in 2017.  

The ECB sent out an email to all county boards last year warning them of attempted scams on clubs in the West of England. Unfortunately, one of our clients fell victim to a scammer and lost £3,500.

Businesses generally feel under pressure from cyber criminals, and smaller businesses are more vulnerable than most. These days, clubs are being run as businesses, and scammers are targeting club chairs and treasurers in particular to pay away money on the basis of false invoices. 

A business, set up with a server and virus protection, can buy cyber insurance including a cybercrime extension that will indemnify them to financial losses due to cybercrime. Clubs could look to do the same, but as most of the email traffic between club officers comes from personal (and highly hackable) email accounts rather than from a central email system, it is often difficult for clubs to comply with the policy conditions and warranties. 

Therefore, we recommend the following to reduce the risk of your club becoming a victim of cybercrime:

• Phone to confirm new bank account details where you suspect spear phishing
• Use club website emails where possible
• Ensure the club’s website has up-to-date virus protection
• Encrypt databases which hold personal details of members

Nothing is fool-proof, but given clubs tend to have less cyber security than a small or medium-sized company, it makes sense to take greater common sense precautions to stop your club from becoming a victim.

Call Colin Mico on 0330 008 5037 or email [email protected] for more information.