With the implementation of GDPR in May this year, there has been a lot of uncertainty for many businesses about exactly how it will affect them. In many cases, even the experts don’t seem to know. We’ll need to wait for the first test cases in law to establish precedents…
With this in mind, if you received an email entitled “Your company has been added to the non-compliance register”, you could be forgiven for panicking! After all, large fines have been threatened, and can you imagine the damage to your reputation if this news became public knowledge?
This is exactly the state of mind that cyber criminals are taking advantage of with a new email scam. One of our customers recently received this:
To the Owner of …
It has come to our attention that your company is not GDPR compliant.
As your company is not GDPR compliant your company has now been entered onto the Non Compliance Register.
Your company is under review and may be reported to the ICO for non GDPR compliance.
Please go to www.noncomplianceregister.com and enter your company name into the search box.
You will see listed on the page the actions that may now be taken against your company for non GDPR compliance.
The Non Compliance Register is a FREE public service that is available to any member of the public.
The public can search the register to see if a company can be trusted to store their data securely before they give that company their personal data.
This email has been sent to inform you that you are on the non compliance register.
There is no need to reply to this email.
This sort of email will probably get through spam filters, since it doesn’t contain anything malicious per se. So it’s doubly important that you spot that it’s a scam if you receive one. Most importantly of all, don’t click on the link and enter any company details.
The particular scam mentioned above has become well-known and appears to have been closed down, but there’ll be others, so stay aware. If you think your staff would benefit from some awareness training, we can help. Have a look at our staff training.
If you have any questions or need advice on a suspicious email, give us a ring.