“Oh, I do admire your suspicion.
That is a trait I admire above all else.”
— Helen Mirren as Elizabeth Best, The Thursday Murder Club
Dear lovely readers,
A longtime client texted me the other day saying that someone named ‘Sarah who manages her website’ called and left her a message asking her to call back. When my client rang the number provided, she was told to hold for an account representative. Luckily, she grew suspicious (a call center doesn’t sound like me!), hung up, and texted me instead.
I’m so glad for her suspicion, and for reminding us that scammers can impersonate people you know well and work with, including your longtime web developer like me.
Frauds and scams are on the rise and evolving. Not to mention SO MUCH MISINFORMATION! Besides staying suspicous, another way to protect ourselves is to stay as informed as we can. The more we share and learn, the more we can be vigilant and defend ourselves against attacks.
I recommend pre-ordering Eric O’Neill’s book Spies, Lies and Cybercrime, which will be released early next month. You can sign up for a sneak peek at that link to read the first engrossing chapters with stories of spies, AI, deepfakes, and Dark‑Web criminals conspiring to steal your identity.
In other clienty news:
📕 Amy Wright and William Liberman of The CEO’s Right Hand just published The No-BS Financial Playbook for Small Business CEOs. It already has great reviews! I purchased my copy and am looking forward to learning some practical advice about small business money strategy.
🏠 It was a delight working with Sharon Catherine Soltis on her Home House Interiors website. Home House Interiors is a design studio that specializes in NYC apartment renovations (check out that portfolio!). I love working with designers who care about details, and this website reflects Sharon’s refined, elegant taste.
👏 I got to work with the super-smart, hard-working team at Council Advisors on their new website, a clean and scalable presence for a great company that helps CEOs and their teams.
Stay safe out there and keep creating, my friends!
Sarah
2 Responses
As a web developer it’s also important to be suspicious in reverse and have policies to prevent trouble. Clients that are large organizations or with employee turnover often send emails saying “hi, I’m new at xyz and I need access…”. Never accept self requests for access. Always require requests to come from already-authenticated property owners at a minimum.
Hey Stephen! Nice to hear from you, and thanks for this advice. Hope you are well!