Remember 2000? Smart phones were science fiction, the internet came through the mail on CDs, and if a bad actor wanted to grab your financial information, they had to either steal your wallet or pose as a temporarily displaced royal in need of a safe place to store their millions.
Times, of course, have changed. Our digital devices are smaller, smarter and more omnipresent than ever before. Entire sectors of our lives, from work and education to shopping and socialization, have moved online, and the list of errands that can’t be completed via smartphone keeps getting shorter.
Unfortunately, as the internet has become more sophisticated, so have online fraudsters and their tactics. Scam emails are still making the rounds, but now they’re disguised as legitimate communication from trusted companies. Hackers use stolen personal information to gain access to bank accounts and credit card numbers. Savvy criminals use social psychology to take advantage of our smartphone dependence and trick even experienced internet users into turning over names, numbers and passwords without a second thought.
In theory, you could protect yourself from cyber crime by avoiding the internet entirely, in the same way you could lower your chances of being struck by lightning by never leaving the house. The less drastic, more realistic alternative is to follow cyber…
