Texas Attorney General issues warning of scam risks

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is warning Texans of potential scams as a result of a widespread CrowdStrike service outage that disrupted hospitals, airlines, banks, and emergency call centers on Friday, July 19.

According to a press release distributed by Paxton’s office, Texans should be aware that bad actors can use cybersecurity incidents to take advantage of consumers. By following the steps listed below, the public can significantly decrease their likelihood of falling prey to a scam that could compromise personal data privacy and devices:

• During technology outages, it is important to stay vigilant.
• Be suspicious of unsolicited phone calls, visits, texts, emails, or messages on social media asking about login credentials to your computer. Be particularly suspicious if someone contacts you saying they are from CrowdStrike.
• Immediately change any passwords you might have revealed. If you used the same password for multiple accounts, make sure to change it for each one. You should not use a revealed or compromised password in the future.
• If you believe you might have revealed sensitive information, report it to the appropriate people within the organization, including customer support or the IT division at your company.