To find out more about the mind of the scammers, as well as the most popular online scams and what can we do protect ourselves, we reached out to Daniel Markuson, the cybersecurity expert at NordVPN.
“Usually, scammers choose their victims quite randomly,” Markuson said. “However, people who don’t take care of their digital hygiene get scammed much more often because they are much less cautious and share their personal information online a lot.”
The cybersecurity expert explained that having a lot of personal information about their victim helps criminals to make their scams look much more trustworthy.
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Interestingly, many scams are seasonal, and their cases grow depending on the time of the year. Markuson explained: “In spring, a lot of travel-themed scams start to emerge, with criminals contacting people with too-good-to-be-true holiday offers, fake travel insurance, and vacation rental scams.”
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We also wondered what online scams are the most common, and it turns out that one of the most widespread online scams is phishing. “Cybercriminals send you an email pretending to be writing from an organization you trust. If you open that email and download an attachment or click on a button or link, that’s it — they can get your sensitive information,” Markuson said.
Meanwhile, catfishing is another popular scam when scammers create fake social media profiles. “They use other people’s or celebrities’ photos, videos, and even their personal information. These fake identities are usually used to seek attention, cyberbully, or get your private information.”
Markuson warns that if you receive a pity story and a request to donate money, check it twice.Contact spamming is the oldest trick in the book, Markuson said. “A cybercriminal will hack into your email or your social media account and reach out to your friends with a message such as 'I’ve seen this amazing video, check it out!' Hopefully, your friends will recognize online scams and inform you.”
Luckily, there are proven ways to protect yourself and your data online. “The most basic thing people can do to protect themselves online is to stop oversharing on their internet platforms.”
Markuson’s advice is to keep your contact information private, and scammers will have a much more difficult time trying to contact you.
“Online privacy tools, like a VPN, are also very helpful in protecting your digital data. VPNs help to encrypt user internet traffic, thus making it impossible for third parties to intercept,” the cybersecurity expert suggested.
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