Technological advances in the 21st century have allowed us to more easily communicate with people across the planet. At the same time, they have made it easier for those with nefarious motives to fraudulently seek to convince us to part with our money.
As a matter of fact, according to the Federal Trade Commission, consumers lost more than $6.1 billion to fraud in 2021, which represents a staggering 80% increase over 2020. Sadly, many victims are elderly who are swindled out of their life savings.
There are two basic types of scams: those that directly ask for money and phishing scams, where one is tricked into revealing sensitive information such as passwords, financial data, etc.
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It is this type of scam that doesn’t appear insidious on the surface and the easiest to fall for, therefore that is the first one we will discuss.
What is a phishing scam?
Phishing is a form of fraud in which a cybercriminal purports to be an entity or person in an email or through other methods of communication, such as texts or direct messages on social media platforms. They will typically utilize phishing emails to disseminate malicious links or attachments that can possibly obtain login credentials or account information from unsuspecting victims.
More often than not, phishing messages look like legitimate messages. They commonly appear to be a well-known company or government entity, even including logos and other fraudulent information.
