Houston banking exec shares tips for keeping online information secure amid coronavirus threats

Guest column

You are more vulnerable to financial cyber threats in a crisis. Here are some tips for staying safe. Getty Images

While Houston residents are aware of the health and financial impacts of COVID-19, the threat to individual security due to the rise in online scams has only just begun.

Scammers have already started to prey on the unsuspecting victims who are now working, shopping and banking almost entirely online. A recent report by the Federal Trade Commission stated that due to the rise in online hacking and phishing scams, coronavirus-related frauds have already reached nearly $12 million in losses, impacting more than 15,000 Americans.

As individuals continue to become more and more dependent on technology during this extended time at home, it is important to be cautious and knowledgeable to avoid possible scams. Below are tips to consider when navigating coronavirus-related security threats.

Verify the URL

When dealing with financial matters, it is important to check the URL to ensure the site is secure and legitimate before clicking on a link provided by a third-party source or found within an email thread. Scan the link for misspellings and other abnormalities that appear to be out of place. It may also be helpful to visit the original website in a separate browser to compare the web addresses side by side. Illegitimate website links can lead to unsecure sites, viruses, and possible identity theft.

Check donation sources

Especially during this time, many Houstonians are donating to relief organizations working to fight the impacts of the coronavirus. Unfortunately, there are several faux fundraising campaigns claiming to support disaster relief, and the scammers behind these sites are preying on the goodwill of unsuspecting donors.

Consider supporting a charity that is well-known, transparent, and established, rather than a new organization with little history or information. Red flags may include sources requesting wire transfer information or a social security number, or charities applying pressure to donate immediately.

Guard financial information

It is especially important to guard financial information during this time to prevent identity theft. Many false stimulus check portals have surfaced online, encouraging visitors to provide personal information such as checking account details or credit card numbers.

The IRS encourages individuals to practice due-diligence and to be wary of details that may identify a scam. For example, noticing key words such as "Stimulus Check" or "Stimulus Payment" in place of the official term of economic impact payment.

If you have filed your taxes electronically, this payment will automatically be deposited into your bank account. For those who receive a check for the impact payment, it is important to remember that one of the best ways to protect financial assets is to be sure they are deposited in a reliable, federally insured bank account. Accounts are insured by the FDIC up to $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each account ownership category, ensuring that your money is safe and protected.

Monitor accounts regularly

With the rise of online payments, it is important that individuals examine their accounts regularly to verify spending activity. While many assume that a scammer will take a large amount from a bank account, immediately triggering security functions and resulting in a text message to the account holder, this is not always the case.

Oftentimes, scammers will begin with smaller purchases, testing limits before stealing more. Additionally, it is important to check credit activity during this time to monitor for possible identity theft.

When it comes to making purchases and payments online, it is important to practice caution, even with sites that may appear to be trustworthy. By paying attention to the details and red flags that may signify a fraudulent site, individuals may be able to avoid online scams.

This is a time of great need. Unfortunately, it is also a time of great opportunity for criminals. As Houstonians respond, as they always do, be sure to protect yourself while you are helping our community.

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Jay Rogers is the chairman and CEO of IBC Bank.
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Houston SaaS startup raises $10M to keep up with customer growth

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A Houston software company has announced its latest funding.

Liongard, an IT software provider, has raised an additional $10 million led by Updata Partners with contribution from TDF Ventures — both existing investors in the company. The funding, according to a news release, will go toward providing the best customer service for Liongard's growing customer base.

The technology is providing managed service providers, or MSPs, improved visibility across the IT stack and an optimized user experience.

“Since working with our first MSP partners, we’ve seen time and again the power of visibility into IT data, reducing the time they spend researching customer issues and allowing them to respond faster than their peers,” says Joe Alapat, CEO and co-founder of Liongard, in the release. “This investment enables us to continue to achieve our vision of delivering visibility into each element of the IT stack.”

The company has about 2,000 partners in support of more than 60,000 end customers. And has been recognized as a top employer by Forbes and Inc. magazine earlier this year.

“We are excited to deepen our commitment with Liongard,“ says Carter Griffin, general partner at Updata, in the release. “With its leading data platform for MSPs we expect continued fast-paced growth.”

Liongard's last funding round was in May of 2020 and was a $17 million series B round. Both Updata Partners and TDF ventures were involved in that round. The company's total funding now sits at over $30 million.

Rice University rises to No. 1 spot in new ranking of best college investments

money moves

By one measure, earning a degree at Rice University is the smartest move in the Lone Star State.

In its eighth annual ranking of colleges and university that give students the best return on their educational investment, personal finance website SmartAsset places Rice at No. 1 in Texas and No. 10 in the U.S. It’s the only Texas school to break into the national top 10.

To determine the best-value colleges and universities in each state, SmartAsset crunched data in these categories: scholarships and grants, starting salary for new graduates, tuition, living costs, and retention rate.

While the tuition ($47,350) and student living costs ($17,800) at Rice are the highest among the top 10 Texas schools on the list, the average amount of scholarships and grants ($43,615), average starting salary ($77,900), and retention rate (97 percent) also are among the highest.

According to Rice, tuition, fees, on-campus room and board, books, and personal expenses for the 2022-23 academic year add up to $74,110. That figure, which excludes financial aid, applies to a full-time, degree-seeking student living on campus.

“Rice University is consistently ranked as a best value in higher education and is one of America’s leading teaching and research universities,” the school’s Office of Financial Aid says. “By attending Rice, you will not only receive a superior education at a reasonable cost, you also will benefit from having a Rice degree long after graduation.”

Three other schools in or near the Houston metro area appear on SmartAsset’s list of the biggest-bang-for-your-buck schools in Texas:

  • Prairie View A&M University, No. 4. The university posted the lowest retention rate (74 percent) among the 10 schools. The remaining figures sit roughly in the middle of the pack.
  • University of Houston, No. 5. The university’s tuition ($8,913) was the lowest in the top 10, as was the average amount of scholarships and grants ($6,544).
  • Texas A&M University-College Station, No. 6. The university’s living costs are the second highest among the top 10 ($17,636), while its average starting salary for new grads lands at No. 3 ($64,400).

Other schools in the state’s top 10 are:

  • University of Texas at Austin, No. 2.
  • University of Texas at Dallas (Richardson), No. 3.
  • Texas Tech University in Lubbock, No. 7.
  • LeTourneau University in Longview, No. 8.
  • University of North Texas in Denton, No. 9.
  • Texas State University in San Marcos, No. 10.

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

Houston expert addresses the growing labor shortage within health care

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Long before COVID-19 became a part of our new normal, the concerns around shortages in health care staffing were present.

To put this in real terms, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the latest projection of employment through the end of this decade is an increase of nearly 12 million jobs. A fourth of those — 3.3 million to be exact — are expected to go towards health care and social assistance roles.

Before the pandemic, the concerns centered around managing a growing retired population and a slowing in higher education nurse enrollment. Then amid the growing shortage concerns surrounding the support for aging baby boomers, we were all thrusted into a pandemic.

The stressors on health care professional staffing have doubled down and what the increased shortage has shown us is the need to intervene and change the traditional hiring practices. Speed to place a nurse on assignment doesn’t just ensure productivity — it is a matter of life or death.

Over the past several years, the evolution of technology has drastically changed how health care facilities operate and interact with their employees as well as patients. There was a point in time where the structure in health care staffing was rigid without flexibility or varieties of employment type. Conversations around travel positions, per diem, and permanent are all now commonplace as the recent shortages caused us to normalize the discussion around role type and use of technology to influence speed to hire.

This whole evolution was put to test when April 2020 came, and the initial brunt of the pandemic was in full swing. The entire world was in panic mode. During these quarantine times, we were in a state of a health care emergency with thousands of patients seeking health care. Unfortunately, hospitals could not keep up with this demand with their existing nurse professionals, and became severely overloaded and dangerous. Due to this the United States saw unprecedented labor shortages, impacting a large number of nurses and health care workers as it pertains to both their physical and mental health.

What we are seeing now is a period classified as the “The Great Rethinking,” where nurses and health care workers alike are speaking up for what they believe in and deserve. Salary transparency and flexibility are just the tip of the iceberg for this movement.

SkillGigs is unique in that we are giving the power back to registered nurses and health care professionals, while meeting the demand created by the pandemic. Our team has been fortunate to be a catalyst to direct the change in the future of work, and we look forward to continuing to innovate.

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Bryan Groom is the division president of health care at Houston-based SkillGigs.

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