Last year a number of high-profile email scams hit the art and antiques sector. Fraudsters hacked email accounts to intercept invoices and doctor them with new bank details.
The art and antiques trade associations, including the Society of London Art Dealers (SLAD), the British Antique Dealers’ Association (BADA) and LAPADA, warned members to be extra-vigilant and double-check details with clients before making payments from emailed invoices.
Insurers believe that some galleries were tricked into paying out up to £1m.
Data protection
According to the ATG survey, nearly 60% of readers are worried about cyber security representing 66% of dealers and 89% of the auctioneers that responded.
More than 630 subscribers took part in the 2017 ATG reader survey.
Other issues of concern included the new data protection regulation that comes into effect on May 25. Businesses will have new obligations to meet when they manage customer data under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
More than half of dealers (54%) were concerned about these changes and 78% of auctioneers.
