You must have come across headlines like “400 million Twitter users data leaked” or “3 crore IRCTC users data leaked and up for sale on the dark web”. We often just scroll past these alerts. There’s no way anyone would be interested in your data right? What will a hacker even do with your name, email ID, and phone number?
But here’s the thing, that seemingly innocent piece of information in the hands of someone who wants to steal your money (even the pennies that are in your brokea** bank account) can be and will be used to do just that.
It is called phishing; a technique of scamming that is often targetted towards individuals.
How do scammers use data leaks? This is phishing 101:
- A data leak which may include name, username, email, phone number, full address, gender, and language preferences, is used to further steal more valuable information like your bank account details.
- For example, say the scammer gets an Indian Railways’ traveller information.
- The victim may then receive an email, phone call, or sms, offering them discounts or lucrative ticketing options to the destination they often travel to or were just searching about.
- Often, these scammers pretend to be from a reputable institution or company and they love impersonating government agencies.
- They may pose as irtcc.com or irctcticketts.com. There’s just a slight change in their names that many would miss noticing, especially our older generation who are not as tech-savvy.
- The next thing you…
