September 14, 2022
Alex Woodie
“It’s a jungle out there” may be the best way to summarize the state of cybersecurity at the moment, as recent global events coalesce into a melting pot of politically motivated hackers, the criminal underground, foreign scammers, and widespread domestic vulnerabilities.
Let’s start with everybody’s favorite topic: scams. If you’re longing for the simple days of the Nigerian 419 scams, you’re not alone, as the playing field for scams has evolved considerably in recent years. That’s not to minimize the continued threat of the 419 scam, which sometimes resulted in a physical kidnapping, or worse. But the idea of getting ripped off via world travel sounds almost quaint by today’s rough-and-tumble digital standard.
The good news is that if you’ve been scammed over the past year, you’re not alone. In fact, you’re part of growing trend across the country, according to Social Catfish, a provider of online identification services.
“Americans lost a record $6.9 billion to online scams in 2021, up from $3.5 billion in 2019,” the company wrote in its State of Internet Scams 2022 study released this week. “The amount lost has nearly doubled since the global pandemic began in 2020 as people were forced to work, shop, and date online.”
OK Zoomer, let’s put the phone down before you get scammed again.
Social…
