Nearly everyone has seen the suspicious emails that claim accounts have been frozen, or relatives need money immediately. Most are scams, and they can be sophisticated.
From January to May of this year alone, the FBI says there have already been more than a billion dollars in losses due to internet crime — nearly $300 million more than the same time last year.
Richard Warner, founder of the cybersecurity firm Aware Force said, “They are more and more becoming tailored to you based on the stuff you posted on your social media accounts.”
The FBI says these scams commonly push people to act quickly, so the agency is launching the “Take a Beat” campaign to urge people to resist such immediate responses.
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Christina Pullen, the FBI’s press secretary, warned, “If something seems to be too good to be true, there’s an unnecessary sense of urgency, or it’s unsolicited, take a beat, think about it and report it if you think you’ve been a victim.”
Over a five-year period from 2018 to 2022, the FBI saw an explosion of complaints about internet crime. The financial losses amounted to a staggering $27.6 billion.
Warner said, “It is a business. It’s the third-biggest economy in the world behind the United States and China.”
The FBI is stressing the importance of reporting these scams. Pullen says, “reporting it to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, ic3.gov helps us keep track of what the emerging trends are.”
You might think older people are most often victimized, but according to Warner, “If you look at the stats, the demographic that falls for cybercrime the most is people in their 20s.” That’s because they’ve grown up with devices, they’re comfortable with them and they’re used to sharing everything online, says Warner.
With the growing number of these scams, suspicion and caution are the best protection.
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