Incident Response Playbook for Scam Events

This Scam Incident Response Playbook provides a detailed and structured approach for handling scam incidents, from identification to lessons learned. It includes modern response strategies such as automation, scam repository monitoring, and rapid stakeholder communication.

1. Preparation

Objective: Establish tools, protocols, and contacts to reduce response time and prevent scam-related incidents.

Key Steps:

1. Create and Maintain Asset Records:

   • Maintain a list of all legitimate domains, emails, and social media accounts associated with your organisation.

   • Deploy and configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to prevent email spoofing.

2. Develop Response Assets:

   • Prepare a scam alert page that can be quickly deployed to your website during large-scale scam incidents.

   • Develop email templates for takedown requests (e.g., for hosting providers, registrars, and social media platforms).

3. Establish Contacts:

   • Create and maintain a list of key stakeholders, including:

     • Hosting companies, domain registrars, and registry companies.

     • Social media abuse teams and email providers.

     • CERTs and law enforcement agencies.

   • Ensure the availability of a 24/7 contact point for security incidents (e.g., security@yourcompany).

4. Awareness Campaigns:

   • Regularly educate customers and employees about common scams (e.g., lottery scams, advance-fee fraud) and your organisation's policies.

   • Clearly communicate that your organisation will never request sensitive information through email or other unsolicited channels.

5. Automated Monitoring:

   • Deploy tools to monitor for:

     • Cybersquatted domains mimicking your brand.

     • Fraudulent emails, social media impersonations, and scam repositories (e.g., 419 scams).

     • Suspicious mentions of your organisation on forums and social media.

2. Identification

Objective: Detect and confirm scam incidents quickly and involve appropriate stakeholders.

Detection Techniques:

1. Monitor Points of Contact:

   • Continuously monitor your organisation’s email systems, web forms, and social media accounts for reports of fraudulent activity.

2. Track Public Scams:

   • Use automated tools to monitor cybersquatting domains, scam repositories, and social media impersonation attempts.

   • Deploy spam traps to collect and analyse fraudulent emails sent to partners and customers.

3. Evidence Collection:

   • Collect samples of scam communications (e.g., emails, website content).

   • Ensure that email headers and metadata are preserved for further analysis.

4. Involve Stakeholders:

   • Notify relevant internal departments (e.g., SOC, legal, public relations) and escalate the incident to management for decision-making.

3. Containment

Objective: Limit the spread and impact of the scam on your organisation and customers.

Steps:

1. Block and Report:

   • Add fraudulent domains, URLs, and email addresses to internal DNS blacklists and firewall rules.

   • Submit reports to spam and scam monitoring services to block access to malicious websites.

2. Deploy Alerts:

   • Publish a warning page on your website if customers are likely to be targeted by the scam.

   • Use internal communications channels to notify employees and partners of the ongoing scam.

3. Customer Communication:

   • Inform affected customers through secure channels, such as SMS or email, about the scam and provide instructions on avoiding it.

4. Remediation

Objective: Remove scam-related threats and secure your organisation against similar attacks.

Steps:

1. Takedown of Fraudulent Websites:

   • Contact the hosting provider and request immediate removal of the scam page.

   • If the page is hosted on a compromised legitimate site, notify the site owner and provide instructions for securing their infrastructure.

2. Disable Fraudulent Accounts:

   • Contact email providers to disable fraudulent email accounts used by scammers.

   • Request removal of fake social media profiles impersonating your organisation or key employees.

3. Escalate if Necessary:

   • If takedown efforts are delayed or ineffective, escalate the matter to local CERTs or law enforcement agencies for assistance.

4. Improve Security Measures:

   • Strengthen email filtering rules and implement enhanced DLP (Data Loss Prevention) measures to detect scam-related activity.

5. Recovery

Objective: Restore systems and operations to normal while ensuring that scam activities are fully mitigated.

Steps:

1. Verify Resolution:

   • Ensure that fraudulent websites, emails, and social media accounts have been disabled.

   • Monitor for any reactivation or new instances of scam activity.

2. Remove Temporary Measures:

   • Once the scam incident has ended, remove the warning page from your website and update customers on the resolution.

3. Continuous Monitoring:

   • Continue monitoring cybersquatting domains, email traffic, and scam repositories to prevent similar incidents.

6. Lessons Learned

Objective: Document the incident details, analyse the response process, and improve future incident handling.

Steps:

1. Incident Report:

   • Include a comprehensive report covering:

     • The cause and scope of the incident.

     • Key actions taken and their effectiveness.

     • Indicators of compromise (IOCs) and lessons learned.

2. Evaluate Performance:

   • Assess the effectiveness of detection, containment, and communication strategies.

   • Identify areas where response time or coordination could be improved.

3. Policy Updates:

   • Update incident response playbooks and security policies based on findings.

   • Enhance awareness training programs to address emerging scam tactics.

4. Collaboration:

   • Strengthen relationships with external stakeholders (e.g., hosting providers, CERTs) to streamline future response efforts.

Conclusion

This Scam Incident Response Playbook equips organisations with a structured approach to handle and mitigate scam-related incidents. Regular updates to training, monitoring tools, and incident response protocols are critical to maintaining a robust defence against evolving threats.

For additional resources, including contact templates, monitoring tool recommendations, and scam awareness materials, contact the cybersecurity team.