Bored Panda reached out to Paul Haskell-Dowland, a Professor of Cyber Security Practice at Edith Cowan University, Australia, to find out how to become better at staying safe online. According to him, the most commonly reported type of scam globally is concerning phishing.
"In a phishing scam, criminals attempt to obtain personal information or credentials through deceit (e.g. pretending to be the victim's bank). While these types of scams tend to be highly ineffective at the scale they are reported, they do still generate revenue for the criminals behind them," the professor explained.
Other frequent schemes people tend to fall for are investment scams. They can be highly lucrative as they often have the highest cumulative losses and prey on our optimism for unrealistic financial returns, Haskell-Dowland argued. "Often coupled with an element of a romance scam, criminals are befriending and manipulating their victims before introducing the opportunity for fantastical profits."
"Globally, scam losses are estimated in the order of tens of billions ($) but individual losses vary tremendously. Most scams don't get reported, so, the actual cost is likely significantly more — under-reporting is often attributed to feelings of embarrassment and shame."
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It’s hardly surprising, as anyone who has ever clicked on a link they shouldn’t have knows the sinking feeling they get once they realize their mistake. But it turns out that they are not alone, and many people can relate to this feeling. As 2021 research conducted by the company Tessian shows, employees receive an average of 14 malicious emails annually. Moreover, another study surveyed employees across the UK and the US and found that 43% of employees said they had made mistakes at work that had resulted in cybersecurity repercussions, while 47% of people working in tech admitted to clicking on a phishing email.
Small wonder, since phishers' tactics have become more sophisticated over the years. They can now easily access data from social media and personalize their messages to make them seem more convincing. One way they lure people into believing their claims is by using our sense of fear. "People fall for scams when they are afraid of potential bad consequences," Cleotilde Gonzalez, a Research Professor of Decision Science at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, told us.
"For example, a very common type of scam comes from authority or the 'halo' effect: when people receive an email from their 'boss' asking for help, or when they receive an email from an important organization e.g., 'IRS'."
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Another reason people fall for scams is because they are trying to avoid a loss. "For example, trying to maintain a subscription rather than seeing it 'expire' based on a scam, people might take unnecessary risks." And the last yet important factor that affects our decision-making, according to Gonzalez, is greed. "People fall for scams because of their desire for something, usually getting some wealth, money, or other benefits. For example, when they receive a potential to win a lot of money, or a 'free' something if they click on a link and provide their personal information."
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Professor Haskell-Dowland pointed out that when it comes to people who are vulnerable to scammers, we usually believe that older individuals are most likely to be targeted and fall victim. In reality, that’s not always the case. "Everyone is a target," he said. "Cyber criminals and scam artists are not interested in age or gender, it is only money that matters."
Gonzalez agreed with this line of thinking, saying that phishers, in fact, aim to scam anyone. "There is also a particular type of phishing that is called 'spear phishing' that targets high-level, important people in organizations so that they can get their credentials." This method uses targeted words toward a specific individual or group within an organization seeking unauthorized access by purporting to be from a trusted sender.
"But generally, phishers try to target everyone," Gonzalez added. "The issue is who falls for their phishing techniques. These are usually people that are in a vulnerable state of mind. For example, during the heavy time of COVID, scammers targeted people with claims regarding COVID benefits, or solutions, to try to address many people that were suffering from the illness or those that had lost people to the illness."
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When faced with an immediate threat that urges people to instantly take action, it can be hard to think clearly. But if you want to become better at noticing scams, professor Gonzalez said the most important tool is awareness of the cues of features that would suggest you’re looking at one. "We have been developing various techniques for training people in organizations by providing experience with emails of various kinds so that they learn the characteristics of scams." These include analyzing the links, stopping before clicking on links, reviewing the senders' information, and being aware of the above-mentioned biases: fear, loss aversion, and greed.
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Once you know you have encountered a scammer, you can determine your next steps. One way to react is to call them out: "[It] can be very satisfying, especially if you can string them along for a while," professor Haskell-Dowland said. "If you can occupy the teams behind the scam (and have the ability to maintain an objective mind) you will be occupying their resources (effectively denying them revenue) — i.e. you prevent them from scamming someone else."
The safest option when you recognize a scam, however, is to ignore it. "The average recipient of scam messages would be best served by simply deleting the message. Never use unsubscribe links, phone numbers, etc. as you are 'verifying' that your contact details are genuine and potentially you will end up receiving more scams (as your details will likely be more extensively shared/traded). If you recognize the scam 'after' you have fallen victim, then report it as soon as possible," Haskell-Dowland suggested.
The professor reminded us there is no shame in being scammed. "Everyone is a target and the criminals behind these scams are only interested in maximizing profits. These scams only continue because they have invested significant amounts of time, effort, and money into convincing us to do things we wouldn't normally do."
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