Why I am so passionate about stopping online scams, and why you should be too

About three years ago, I got a call on my mobile phone from a number I didn’t recognize. I picked up the phone and heard an automated message from the IRS about a problem with my account. It said to dial 1 for a callback. I did. That started my journey down the psychological rabbit hole of a scam.

I am a cybersecurity and fraud protection specialist. I knew it was a scam call, but I wanted to get a glimpse into the tactics of these scammers. When they asked for personal information to check my account, I gave them fake data, and surprisingly, they found a "problem" with "my" account. It escalated very quickly from "someone made a transaction that doesn’t seem right", to me (the false identity I provided) being accused of money laundering, drug smuggling and having an FBI warrant on my (fake) name, and actually having the FBI “on their way to my home” (in Texas, where I don’t really live). It was scary. I gave them fake information and yet within less than ten minutes, my heartbeat went up and I felt the stress, anxiety, and fear. I had to hang up worrying that they might have my phone number now. I wan not actually scammed but I went through a fraction of the emotional impact, and it was very scarry.

It’s all about the money - IT Scams, Romance Scams, Impersonation Scams

Online?financial scams is a method of?socially engineering?a victim, or?the use of deception, to manipulate individuals into committing an act they have not intended, for identity and financial theft. In 2021, the FBI has received 847,376 complaints of online scams, which is a 7% increase from 2020, and reported losses exceeding $6.9 billion. I put reported in bold because a lot of these scams go unreported.?Some examples of such scams include:

• Impersonation Scams - Scammers impersonate trusted officials, like customer service representatives at a bank, to convince you to transfer your money to a new account they have set up for you to keep you "safe".
• Investment Scams - Scammers try to trick you into investing money. They may lie to you or give you fake information about a real investment, or they may make up a fake investment opportunity for stocks, bonds, notes, commodities, currency, or even real estate, and most recently - Crypto! Crypto scams are growing 700% year over year.
• Romance Scams - Romance scams occur when a criminal adopts a fake online identity to gain a victim’s affection and trust. The scammer then uses the illusion of a romantic or close relationship to manipulate and/or steal from the victim.
• IT Helpdesk Scams - These scams, also known as Remote Access Tool scams, occur when a scammer persuades you to install an application to allow them to remotely take over your device to “help you” with your non-existent IT problems, just to later access your bank account from a known device.
• Business Compromise Scams - Business compromise scams are a huge deal. These scams comprise of $2.4B in 2021 out of the total $6.9B reported losses. There are two types of scams - 1. Business Email Compromise (BEC) - criminals send an email message that appears to come from a known source making a "legitimate" request, like a company CEO asks to urgently transfer money to a "vendor", a "vendor" sends an email with new bank account details for the next payment. 2. Business Compromise - these scams happen typically outside the context of the business email or messaging, over SMS, personal mail or WhatsApp. A scammer will target individuals and pose as the CEO or a sales manager, asking to buy gift cards for a customer, or sending service notifications that require immediate action, such as the case of the Twilio - Authy breach and other companies.

And the list goes on and on - Amazon scams, PayPal scams, UPS/Shipping scams, fake notices from the bank, etc. If you simply own a smartphone you know what I am talking about.

It's not just about money though. There is a huge emotional toll as well. And it can cost lives.

Let’s be honest, being scammed is not something anyone is proud of. In fact, less than 40% of victims report these scams at all. Much less. The emotional toll that these scams have on their victims can be irreversible, and some victims suffer from long lasting PTSD. It can rip families apart and even lead to suicide. There is a tremendous amount of shame and guilt by victims thinking “How could I be so stupid, so na?ve, why did I ignore the red flags? I should have known better”. The reality is that scammers can be very convincing. They train for this and use psychology against us. They target anyone who will click the link on a phishing email or respond to a text. And once someone takes the bait, they use psychological tactics ranging from fear to delight (“you’ve won this amazing cruise for free, just give me all of your personal information”). I came across this great website with video resources for scam victims, but I feel like more needs to be done.

The perception is that victims of such scams are less tech savvy,?more vulnerable, or elderly, but the reality is, it can happen to anyone. Research by Javelin Strategy & Research suggests that all age groups are equally likely to fall for a scam. They can catch you on an “off” day and get through.

Anyone can become a victim, and we need to do more to give anyone who fell victim to a scam the confidence to speak up and get help. According to a report published by AARP , while most (85%) Americans believe fraud can happen to anyone, 53% identify victims as culpable and blameworthy, based on a survey of 1,000 U.S. adults. The impact is clear - people don't seek help, they don't think they will get their money back, and they think it is just their fault. We need to change this paradigm because it is not anyone's fault. Talking about it more will get victims to speak up, law enforcement to handle more cases and regulation to drive more attention and solutions to these issues.

I am very passionate about this topic, and working on something in this space. If you read all the way down here, you must be passionate too! Reach out to me and let's chat!