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Social Engineering Fraud: An Update for NZ Real Estate Industry

Social engineering fraud has increased in frequency and severity in recent years. Fraudsters have become especially sophisticated in their impersonation of unsuspecting victims and the financial consequences of such crime can be devastating.

What is “social engineering fraud”?

Social engineering fraud refers to a variety of techniques used by fraudsters to deceive and manipulate victims into surrendering funds or confidential information. We’ve seen over time these types of incidents becoming increasingly more sophisticated and harder to detect.

How can you protect yourself against this type of risk?

It is difficult to determine exactly how a social engineering claim will play out as these scams have become so vaired in their approach; ultimately there is no ‘one size fits all’ insurance policy to cover this type of loss. Marsh’s Real Estate Liability Practice have however, found two policies which may indemnify you if a significant cyber-crime loss is suffered if you comply with certain terms and conditions. In this article we explore how these two policies available to you through Marsh may provide cover.

Marsh continues to develop tailored insurance products for the Real Estate industry and select the best coverage available in the market to meet our clients’ needs and exposures. We strongly encourage you to discuss Social Engineering fraud with your staff to help raise awareness, and to reach out to us for further advice on how best to manage these emerging exposures.

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