Avoiding Cyber Scams and Fraudulent Funds Transfers

Nic Suringa • November 3, 2021

Fraudulent Electronic Funds Transfers (EFTs) frequently cause large dollar losses. If a hacker gains control of the email of a business and a supplier of that same business (commonly referred to as a "Man in the middle" attack) and the hacker makes a fraudulent request which mimics previous legitimate requests then it is very difficult for the business to identify the request as illegitimate.

Any requests for funds to be transferred to a bank account unfamiliar to you should be a red flag, especially if that account is in another country.

If a business has a protocol with suppliers for requests for payment to be made via email then ensure you establish and follow procedures to confirm requests using a mechanism other than email and only proceed with an EFT after confirming the request is legitimate. This includes but is not limited to confirming dollar amounts, name of the financial institution and the bank account number. To validate the authenticity of the request further, confirm information only known to the supplier (to which a hacker would not know the answer).

Practical loss prevention tips to minimise potential fraudulent cyber EFT exposure include:

Slow down and take the necessary time to validate suspicious or unexpected emails. Do not click a link, pop up or attachment without first hovering over the link to display the URL to assess its legitimacy.
Establish written protocols for dealing with EFT payment. Verbally confirm EFTs with suppliers to minimise risk.

Basic best practice measures to reduce cyber attack risk should also include:

Ensure all software has the latest security option patches to help protect against malware, viruses and hacker attacks;
Frequently backup all important data and information offline and verify your backups. Regular offline backups reduce the likelihood that critical data is lost in the event of a cyber attack. Protect your backups in a remote or external location where they are safe from ransomware that seeks out backup copies to encrypt them as well;
Change and strengthen passwords frequently and make sure employees use different passwords on different applications;
Use multi factor authentication to add an extra layer of security to help prevent a hack especially when employees work remotely;
Maintain strong work from home cyber hygiene. Reinforce with employees the cyber protocols to be followed when working remotely;
Remind all employees of the importance of powering down computers when not in use. Computers are not accessible to attacks or intrusions when powered off.

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Michael Kennedy Retires from Morse Group

By Justin Enright • October 12, 2023

Michael Kennedy, FCPA Strategic Business Advisor at Morse Group based at our Norwest practice office has marked his last day as a professional accountant on 30 June 2023. Michael started his journey in professional accounting commencing work as a graduate accountant in 1976 at then Price Waterhouse after completing a Bachelor of Commerce with Honours at the University of NSW. After training as an auditor and completing what was then called the Professional Year Michael yearned to go back to the Country after originating off a farm from Tallimba near West Wyalong in the Central West of NSW. Shortly thereafter Michael took a role in Dubbo working for Frank Darcy in Dubbo with a large proportion of primary production clients from the Coonamble area and other parts of Western NSW. Just two years later Michael was Frank Darcy’s Partner and Darcy Kennedy came into being. In the ensuing 24 years Darcy Kennedy grew into an award winning team of more than 100 with 12 Partners. After Darcy Kennedy transitioned into Investor Group now known as Findex Michael moved back to Sydney. This saw Michael as a Partner in a firm at Norwest being Macquarie Partners for 4 years and then Deloitte as a Partner for a further 4 years. In 2016 Michael commenced at Morse Group and shortly thereafter the Norwest practice office of Morse Group was established by himself and Justin Enright. This was the Renaissance of the client facing advice facet of Michael’s career. The Norwest office has continued to be the fastest growing practice office in Morse Group since. Michael most recently focused on advising clients (especially family groups) across Morse Group on tax and business development strategies with emphasis on the tax aspects of superannuation and self managed superannuation funds. Value laden high quality client advice was the key driver throughout Michael’s career in professional accounting. “I leave the profession with no regrets after a wonderful journey …not bad for a boy from Tallimba…and now finishing with 7 wonderful years at Regional firm Morse Group which is 90 years old and thriving…led by Justin Enright who worked at Darcy Kennedy as a graduate in the early 90s and is modelling his firm on the values and client service we extolled in Dubbo “said Michael Kennedy. “There are extremely few people in the world who it can be said “do more for an organisation than what the organisation has done for them”. Michael Kennedy is one such person. He has multiple examples of the same stretching from the start of his regional career at Darcy Kennedy through to the finale at Morse Group. We at Morse Group are extremely proud of and thank Michael for all of his client service, counsel, guidance, mentoring and generosity. Testament to this is the outpouring of gratitude from a plethora of advisors who Michael has mentored over many years. We congratulate Michael on this extraordinary career and wish himself, wife Kaylene and extended family all the very best for a well earned retirement” said Justin Enright, Managing Partner of Morse Group.