tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/online-scams-51895/articlesOnline scams – The Conversation2024-01-29T18:13:31Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2203542024-01-29T18:13:31Z2024-01-29T18:13:31ZSpending too much time online? Try these helpful tips to improve your digital wellness<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570536/original/file-20240122-20-unwge5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C0%2C7518%2C3301&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Impacts of excessive use of digital technologies range from physical problems to emotional concerns.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/spending-too-much-time-online-try-these-helpful-tips-to-improve-your-digital-wellness" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Using digital platforms is increasingly the only option to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/26069191">manage our daily lives</a>, from filling out forms at the doctor’s office or government offices to ordering food, booking a cab, paying taxes, banking, shopping or dating. Often, people are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1360780419857734">coerced into using apps or online platforms</a> by the absence of any other options.</p>
<p>Our social lives are equally entrenched in social media platforms. While the availability of services and opportunities on digital platforms may offer easier access or create an impression of wider connections, it also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ct/qtaa024">potentially harms our wellbeing</a>. </p>
<p>The adverse <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67716-9_13">impacts of digital use have grown since the pandemic</a>, as social isolation has increased dependence on these technologies. Impacts of excessive use of digital technologies range from physical problems such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cxo.12798">increasing eye strain or dry eye</a> to emotional concerns such as social media dependence. This in turn could trigger mental health issues due to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.06.020">online comparison and trolling</a>. </p>
<p>Other effects of platform dependence involve data privacy concerns with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2023.3297646">artificial intelligence</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/JCRPP-01-2019-0008">digital fraud</a>. Likewise, social media comes with <a href="https://highlandrambler.org/5563/feature/peer-pressure-is-now-global-thanks-to-social-media/">peer pressure</a>, including the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21611">fear of missing out</a> or <a href="https://doi.org/10.5152/eurasianjmed.2020.19076">social ostracism</a> for not following digital trends. These affect our physical, mental, emotional and financial wellbeing. </p>
<p>Recognizing and managing digital problems can improve our digital wellbeing. </p>
<p>For some, <a href="https://www.compass.info/news/article/what-is-digital-autonomy-and-why-is-it-important/">digital autonomy</a> refers to being in charge of personal data or having the right to withdraw consent from digital platforms. For others, it may be the ability to turn away from digital use and access non-digital options. </p>
<h2>Digital independence</h2>
<p>Choosing to reduce or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2019.0578">eliminate the use of digital platforms</a> might seem like a feasible option. However, the <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/4216">coercive nature</a> of these systems limits the availability of non-digital alternatives. </p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://www.niemanlab.org/2023/11/in-canadas-battle-with-big-tech-smaller-publishers-are-caught-in-the-crossfire">Meta’s refusal to share Canadian news media content</a> had real impacts, highlighting people’s dependence on platforms for important news.</p>
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<p>The question of our autonomy as digital users is complex, as seen in the current conversation around <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/tdsb-potential-new-cell-ban-policy-1.7054538">smartphone use and its potential ban</a> in classrooms. This touches on issues such as the relationship between self-regulation and government regulation. </p>
<p>Another example emerges in the choices of how schools integrate digital learning — access versus screen time for example. Schools sometimes provide devices to students, and although this bridges the digital divide, it raises the question of whether students should be constantly available on digital devices? </p>
<p>What alternatives can there be to digital platforms? How can we create an environment with varied choices while providing non-digital alternatives to accommodate individuals prone to digital addiction? Conversely, how might individuals averse to digital platforms or those lacking digital accessibility avail non-digital opportunities?</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570540/original/file-20240122-27-5b0srw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="two men sit on a bench, both looking at their mobile phones" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570540/original/file-20240122-27-5b0srw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570540/original/file-20240122-27-5b0srw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570540/original/file-20240122-27-5b0srw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570540/original/file-20240122-27-5b0srw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570540/original/file-20240122-27-5b0srw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570540/original/file-20240122-27-5b0srw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570540/original/file-20240122-27-5b0srw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Online platforms can offer opportunities for connection, but can also impact personal relationships.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<h2>Achieving balance</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/your-well-being-more-than-just-a-state-of-mind-201303065957">Wellbeing comprises of creating a pleasant flow in all areas of life</a> including physical, mental, emotional, financial and spiritual.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v11i2.6480">Digital risks</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10080279">digital overload</a> can have detrimental effects on different areas of life including interpersonal relationships, productivity, sleep patterns and the quality of life. </p>
<p>Wellbeing in the digital space largely depends on how we navigate the challenges and opportunities presented by technology. This could mean taking actions like monitoring screen-time, refraining from random scrolling, partaking in offline activities and understanding the risks of digital overuse. </p>
<p>Focusing on balanced and ethical use of technology while addressing the potential negative consequences can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2023.100436">help deflect negative impacts</a>.</p>
<p>Yet there are larger roles and responsibilities for platform creators and government bodies to protect us from digital dependence, such as offering non-digital options. While we do not yet have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2053951715621569">complete agency over our data privacy</a>, we can gain agency over our digital usage by encouraging opportunities for non-digital alternatives. </p>
<h2>Tools for digital wellbeing</h2>
<p>To manage digital dependence and overload, service providers can offer non-digital options. Engaging with technology without becoming dependent on it can contribute to physical, psychological, social and financial wellbeing. Incorporating some daily practices, creating new digital habits, and striking a <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300227017/mindful-tech/">healthy balance</a> between digital use and non-use can support wellbeing. </p>
<p><strong><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2021.101778">Tracking</a></strong>
Paying attention to our daily digital usage and monitoring screen time helps us understand how, why and when we get drawn to our devices. Using the devices purposefully may assist in finding alternative activities.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.proquest.com/openview/df688b33737c61643c01154dbc2d4fed/1">Taking screen breaks</a></strong>
Turning off notifications or completely switching off for some time each day encourages us to take notice of the surroundings. </p>
<p><strong><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448221105428">Creating a digital curfew</a></strong>
Setting up a specific cut-off time for digital devices some hours before bedtime can improve sleep hygiene.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12599-022-00747-x">Tech-free days</a></strong>
Assigning a day in a week or month which is tech-free helps to unplug digitally, limit digital dependence and help regain a sense of autonomy. </p>
<p><strong><a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445076">Assigning a specific space for devices</a></strong>
Allotting a space for all devices helps to keep them away from certain areas of the home which are meant for rest.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570537/original/file-20240122-27-nzm0px.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="someone sitting cross-legged on a forest floor holding green leaves" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570537/original/file-20240122-27-nzm0px.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570537/original/file-20240122-27-nzm0px.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570537/original/file-20240122-27-nzm0px.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570537/original/file-20240122-27-nzm0px.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570537/original/file-20240122-27-nzm0px.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570537/original/file-20240122-27-nzm0px.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570537/original/file-20240122-27-nzm0px.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Spending time offline and in nature can help improve a sense of wellbeing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p><strong><a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4663/7/6/141">Nature-based activities</a></strong>
Spending time in nature, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-015-0614-7">yoga</a> and relaxation offer several health benefits. Likewise, practising <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2015.01.006">mindfulness</a> helps reconnect with present surroundings.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.06.022">Forming offline social connections</a></strong>
Staying away from digital devices while meeting friends in person can curb digital usage and bolster social connections. </p>
<p><strong><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0004865814521224">Being wary of digital red flags</a></strong>
Learning how to identify a scam and validating websites before making online payments helps to avoid financial scams. Similarly, exercising due diligence when navigating online sites and social media platforms can help avert falling prey to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49570-1_24">cat-fishing</a> which can lead to both emotional and financial losses.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220354/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mary Lynn Young receives funding from SSHRC. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bindiya Dutt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The growing absence of non-digital alternatives to everyday tasks, like government services and health care, is contributing to digital dependence. This, in turn, affects people’s wellbeing.Bindiya Dutt, Doctoral Candidate, Media and Communication, University of StavangerMary Lynn Young, Professor, School of Journalism, Writing and Media, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2074662024-01-29T13:35:03Z2024-01-29T13:35:03ZCybercrime victims who aren’t proficient in English are undercounted – and poorly protected<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571294/original/file-20240124-17-fn5zlh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5472%2C3645&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">People in the U.S. with limited English proficiency are particularly vulnerable to cybercrime.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/couple-paying-bills-royalty-free-image/1177949333">LPETTET/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the United States, the Internet Crime Complaint Center serves as a critical component in the FBI’s efforts to combat cybercrime. The <a href="https://www.ic3.gov/">center’s website</a> provides educational resources to help individuals and businesses protect themselves from cyberthreats and also allows them to report their victimization by submitting complaints related to internet crimes. The Internet Crime Complaint Center also publishes <a href="https://www.ic3.gov/Home/AnnualReports">annual reports</a> summarizing the current state of internet crime, trends and notable cases. </p>
<p>However, the information and resources, including the reporting form, posted on the center’s website are only available in English. This excludes a substantial number of internet users and victims of cybercrime: people with limited English proficiency. In addition to leaving out many people who are more vulnerable to cyberthreats, one consequence is that the Internet Crime Complaint Center’s annual Internet Crime Reports are incomplete and inaccurate. </p>
<p>The lack of information and resources on cybersecurity and internet safety in languages other than English on the Internet Crime Complaint Center website further widens the “<a href="https://cltc.berkeley.edu/underserved_populations/">security gap</a>,” a divide that has emerged between those who can manage and mitigate potential cybersecurity threats and those who cannot. Because there isn’t an appropriate reporting mechanism and structure for people with limited English proficiency to report their victimization, data and statistics on cyber victimization within this population are severely limited.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">This U.S. Justice Department video explains why government agencies must provide meaningful access to services to people with limited English proficiency.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Cybercrime and prevention</h2>
<p>I’m a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=ruz_DVsAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">criminologist</a>. My colleagues and I conducted focus groups with a sample of adult internet users with limited English proficiency to <a href="https://doi.org/10.52306/2578-3289.1160">examine their experiences with nine forms of cybercrime</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15564886.2024.2329765">explore their knowledge of cybersecurity</a>.</p>
<p>We recruited 18 Spanish- and six Vietnamese-speaking internet users for the study based on the evidence that limited English proficiency individuals in the U.S. <a href="https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=19019">tend to be Latino or Asian</a>, and among the Asian ethnic groups Vietnamese Americans are <a href="https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/vietnamese-immigrants-united-states-5">the least proficient in English</a>.</p>
<p>We asked participants whether they had encountered any of the following during the previous 12 months: </p>
<ul>
<li>They received a phishing email, which is a deceptive message with the intent of tricking them into divulging sensitive information such as login credentials, personal details or financial information.</li>
<li>Their computer was infected with a computer virus. </li>
<li>They received online harassment; for example, a message from someone that threatened, insulted or harassed them. </li>
<li>They were the victim of an online scam; for example, they sent money to an individual or organization that they encountered online and later found to have misrepresented themselves. </li>
<li>They were notified that their financial account had been hacked. </li>
<li>They were notified that their email, social media, shopping or other account had been hacked. </li>
</ul>
<p>Study participants encountered all nine types of cybercrime. The most common types of cyber victimization they experienced were computer virus, reported by seven participants; phishing emails, reported by six participants; notification that their financial account had been hacked and their personal data was at risk, reported by six participants; and notification that another type of account had been hacked, reported by six participants.</p>
<p>We asked participants whether they had engaged in the following cybersecurity measures during the previous 12 months: </p>
<ul>
<li>Have antivirus, anti-spyware, or firewall software installed on their computer and laptop. </li>
<li>Create strong passwords for their online accounts. </li>
<li>Employ two-factor authentication procedure. </li>
<li>Avoid unsecured wireless networks such as free Wi-Fi at airports. </li>
<li>Avoid websites that are not protected by Secure Sockets Layer, or SSL, encryption, meaning look for URLs to begin with https rather than http.</li>
<li>Use a strong password or encryption to secure their home’s wireless network. </li>
<li>Employ email filters to block suspicious senders and attachments. </li>
<li>Check email senders and attachments to avoid phishing and online scams. </li>
<li>Be cautious when providing personal information to a third party.</li>
<li>Take extra steps such as shredding documents with personal information to prevent data theft. </li>
</ul>
<p>The answer choices were yes, no and I don’t know. In all cases except creating strong passwords, more participants reported “no” than “yes,” and in all cases, the combination of participants who reported “no” and “I don’t know” significantly exceeded the number of participants who reported “yes.”</p>
<h2>Closing the security gap</h2>
<p>Executive Order 13166, signed in 2000, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/crt/executive-order-13166">requires federal agencies to improve access</a> to services for people with limited English proficiency. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a memorandum on Nov. 21, 2022, directing the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division to <a href="https://www.justice.gov/d9/pages/attachments/2022/11/21/attorney_general_memorandum_-_strengthening_the_federal_governments_commitment_to_language_access_0.pdf">share best practices and exchange information</a> about language access with other federal agencies.</p>
<p>I believe that it’s important to close the security gap and attain accurate data and statistics on cyber victimization. Internet- and computer-based crime is <a href="https://www.statista.com/topics/2588/us-consumers-and-cyber-crime/#topicOverview">one of the fastest-growing security threats</a> in the U.S. </p>
<p>Getting a full and accurate picture of the problem requires that data and statistics on cybercrime and cyber victimization include victims who have limited English proficiency as well as those who are English-proficient. </p>
<p>And just as public campaigns related to health and safety tend to be available in multiple languages to reach diverse audiences, I believe all users, regardless of their language skills, should have the knowledge and skills to protect themselves from cybercrime.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207466/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>I, Fawn Ngo, received an internal grant, the Creative Scholarship Grant, from my institution, the University of South Florida, to provide gift cards for the focus group participants. To compensate for their time, each participant received a $25 Target gift card. I did not receive any external funding.</span></em></p>The federal government’s web portal for reporting cybercrimes is of little use if you have limited proficiency with English.Fawn Ngo, Associate Professor of Criminology, University of South FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2161982023-12-14T13:40:03Z2023-12-14T13:40:03ZPhishing scams: 7 safety tips from a cybersecurity expert<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558278/original/file-20231108-27-qgt394.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Phishers are crafty and their scams are always evolving.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">weerapatkiatdumrong</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Recently, one of my acquaintances, Frank, received an email late on a Monday afternoon with the subject line, “Are you still in the office?” It appeared to come from his manager, who claimed to be stuck in a long meeting without the means to urgently purchase online gift vouchers for clients. He asked for help and shared a link to an online platform, from which Frank bought R6,000 (about US$325) worth of gift vouchers. Once he’d sent the codes he received a second email from the “boss” requesting one more voucher.</p>
<p>At that point, Frank reached out to his boss through WhatsApp and discovered he’d been duped. Frank had fallen prey to a phishing scam. </p>
<p>This is just one example of many from my own circles. Other friends and relatives – some of them seasoned internet users who know about the importance of cybersecurity – have also fallen prey to phishing scams. </p>
<p>I am a cybersecurity professional who conducts <a href="https://www.wits.ac.za/staff/academic-a-z-listing/m/mau-maz/thembekilemayayisewitsacza/">research</a> on and teaches various cybersecurity topics. In recent years I have noticed (and confirmed through <a href="https://iacis.org/iis/2023/4_iis_2023_294-310.pdf">research</a>) that some organisations and individuals seem fatigued by cybersecurity awareness efforts. Is it possible that they assume most people are technologically astute and constantly well-informed? Or could it simply be that fatigue has set in because of the demanding nature of cybersecurity awareness campaigns? Though I have no definitive answer, I suspect the latter.</p>
<p>The reality is that phishing scams are here to stay and the methods employed in their execution continue to evolve. Given my expertise and experience, I would like to offer seven tips to help you stay safe from phishing scams. This is especially important during the festive season as people shop for gifts and book holidays online. These activities create more opportunities for cybercriminals to net new victims. However, these tips are appropriate throughout the year. Cybercriminals don’t take breaks – so you shouldn’t ever drop your guard.</p>
<h2>What is phishing?</h2>
<p>“Phishing” is a strategy designed to deceive people into revealing sensitive information such as credit card details, login credentials and, in some instances, identification numbers. </p>
<p>The most common form of phishing is via email: phishers send fraudulent emails that appear to be from legitimate sources. The messages often contain links to fake websites designed to steal login credentials or other sensitive information. The same email will be sent to many addresses. Phishers can obtain emails from places such as corporate websites, existing data breaches, social media platforms, business cards or other publicly available company documents.</p>
<p>Cybercriminals know that casting their net wide means they’ll surely catch some.</p>
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<p>Voice phishing (vishing) is another form of this scam. Here, perpetrators use voice communication, like a phone call in which the caller falsely claims to be a bank official and seeks to assist you in resetting your password or updating your account details. Other common vishing scams centre on offering discounts or rewards if you join a vacation club, provided you disclose your personal credit card information.</p>
<p>Social media phishing, meanwhile, happens when scammers create fake accounts purporting to be real people (for instance, posing as Frank’s boss). They then start interacting with the real person’s connections to deceive them into giving up sensitive information or performing financial favours.</p>
<p>Cybercriminals also employ SMS phishing (smishing), using text messages to target individuals to reveal sensitive information such as login credentials or credit card details by clicking on malicious links or downloading harmful attachments. </p>
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<p>Who is behind these scams? Typically, these are seasoned and cunning scammers who have honed their skills in the world of phishing over an extended period. Some work alone; others belong to syndicates.</p>
<h2>Phishing skills</h2>
<p>Successful phishers have a variety of skills. They combine psychological tactics and technical prowess. </p>
<p>They are master manipulators, playing on victims’ emotions. Individuals are deceived into believing they’ve secured a substantial sum, often millions, through a jackpot win. This scheme falsely claims that their cellphone number or email was used for entry. Consequently, the victim doesn’t seek clarification. Excited about getting the windfall payment quickly, they give their personal information to cybercriminals.</p>
<p>These scammers even tailor their approach to match individuals’ personal beliefs. For example, if you have an affinity for ancestral worship, be prepared for a message from someone claiming to be a medium, asserting that your great-great-grandfather is requesting a money ritual involving a deposit to a particular account and promising multiplication of your funds – even though your ancestors have communicated no such information. </p>
<p>Likewise, if you are a devout Christian, someone claiming to be “Prophet Profit” might attempt to contact you through a messaging platform, suggesting that a monetary offering to their ministry will miraculously resolve all your financial challenges. It’s simply too good to be true.</p>
<h2>Seven tips</h2>
<p>So, how can you avoid e-mail phishing scams? Here are my tips.</p>
<p><strong>1.</strong> Before acting on an email that seems to be from a trusted colleague or friend – especially if it involves an unusual request – check whether the communication is authentic. Contact them directly through a telephone call.</p>
<p><strong>2.</strong> If you encounter suspicious emails at work and are unsure of what to do, promptly report them to your IT department.</p>
<p><strong>3.</strong> Exercise caution when disclosing your contact information, such as email addresses and phone numbers, on public platforms. Malicious individuals may exploit this information for harmful purposes.</p>
<p><strong>4.</strong> Be vigilant when responding to unsolicited emails or messages that request personal information or immediate action.</p>
<p><strong>5.</strong> Validate the sender’s email address. When in doubt, use official contact details from an organisation’s official website to get in touch instead of replying to the message.</p>
<p><strong>6.</strong> Don’t click on dubious links. Always double-check the URL before entering sensitive data.</p>
<p><strong>7.</strong> Keep your devices, anti-spam and anti-malware software up to date. Use strong and unique passwords or multi-factor authentication.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216198/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thembekile Olivia Mayayise received research funding from the Diversifying Academy Grant at Wits University.
</span></em></p>Cybercriminals don’t take breaks, so you shouldn’t ever drop your guard.Thembekile Olivia Mayayise, Senior Lecturer, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2182942023-12-08T16:14:45Z2023-12-08T16:14:45ZHow to protect yourself from cyber-scammers over the festive period<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562490/original/file-20231129-26-z85wnz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6134%2C3228&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">As online shopping increases over the festive period, so does the risk of cyber-scams. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/merry-xmas-eve-online-shopping-store-2089436578">Chay Tee/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The festive season is a time for joy, family and festive cheer. However, it’s also a prime target for cybercriminals. As online shopping ramps up, so does the risk of falling prey to cyber-attacks. That’s why it’s crucial to be extra vigilant about your <a href="https://blog.tctg.co.uk/12-cyber-security-tips-of-christmas">cybersecurity</a> during this time. </p>
<p>Here are some essential tips to safeguard yourself and your data during the festive period:</p>
<h2>Phishing</h2>
<p>Phishing is when criminals use scam emails, text messages or phone calls to trick their victims. Their <a href="https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/phishing-scams">goal</a> is often to make you visit a certain website, which may download a virus on to your computer, or steal bank details or other personal data. </p>
<p>This type of scam tends to <a href="https://www.egress.com/blog/phishing/holiday-phishing-scam-guide">increase</a> at this time due to the amount of people having bought or received new gadgets and technology. </p>
<p>Look out for there being no direct reference to your name in any communications, with wording such as “Dear Sir/Madam” or other terms such as “valued customer” being used instead. Grammar and spelling mistakes are also often present. </p>
<p>Be wary of any suspicious links or attachments within emails too, and don’t click them. It’s better to contact the company directly to check if the message is genuine. You can also <a href="https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/phishing-scams">report</a> suspicious messages and phishing scams to the government’s National Cyber Security Centre. </p>
<h2>Shopping safely online</h2>
<p>The convenience of online shopping is undeniable, especially during the festive season. However, it’s crucial to prioritise your security when buying online. </p>
<p>Before entering your personal and financial information on any website, ensure it’s legitimate and secure. Look for the “https” in the address bar and a <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-vast-majority-of-us-have-no-idea-what-the-padlock-icon-on-our-internet-browser-is-and-its-putting-us-at-risk-216581">padlock</a> icon, which indicates a secure and encrypted connection. </p>
<p>When creating passwords for online shopping accounts, use strong, unique combinations of letters, numbers and symbols. Avoid using the same password for multiple accounts, as a breach on one site could compromise all your others.</p>
<p>As with shopping in the real world, be cautious when encountering offers that are significantly below usual prices or which make extravagant promises. Always conduct thorough research on the seller and product before making a purchase. If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. </p>
<p>And if you are out shopping in towns or city centres, there will often be a large number of public wifi options available to you. However, criminals can intercept the data that is transferred across such open and unsecured wifi. So, avoid using public wifi where possible, especially when conducting any financial transactions. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A person sits at a laptop with a coffee surrounded by festive packages." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562672/original/file-20231130-21-u6r9en.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562672/original/file-20231130-21-u6r9en.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562672/original/file-20231130-21-u6r9en.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562672/original/file-20231130-21-u6r9en.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562672/original/file-20231130-21-u6r9en.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562672/original/file-20231130-21-u6r9en.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562672/original/file-20231130-21-u6r9en.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Stay vigilant, exercise caution and don’t let your excitement for gifts and deliveries compromise your cybersecurity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/christmas-online-shopping-top-view-female-520279837">Prostock-studio/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<h2>Social media</h2>
<p>While social media platforms provide people with a means to keep in touch with family and friends over the festive period, they are often a goldmine for <a href="https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/how-to-spot-a-social-media-scam-aMtwF3u1XKGt">scams</a> and malware (software designed to disrupt, damage or gain unauthorised access to a computer). In the spirit of the festive season, people often share an abundance of personal information on social media, often without considering the potential consequences. </p>
<p>This trove of data can make people vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Scammers can exploit this information to gain unauthorised access to social media accounts, steal personal information, or even commit identity theft. To protect yourself, be mindful of what you share. </p>
<p>Be wary when interacting with posts and direct messages, especially if they contain suspicious links or attachments. Before clicking on anything, hover over the link to verify its destination. If it shows a website you don’t recognise or seems unrelated to the message, do not click on it. If you receive a message from someone you know but the content seems strange or out of character, contact them directly through a trusted channel to verify its authenticity. </p>
<p>Likewise, be wary of messages containing urgent requests for money or personal information from businesses. Genuine organisations will never solicit sensitive details through social media.</p>
<p>There are many buy and sell platforms available on social media. But while such platforms can be a great place to find a unique gift, it is also important to remember that not all sellers may be legitimate. So, it’s vital that you don’t share your bank details. If the seller sends a link to purchase the item, do not use it. When meeting to collect an item, it’s generally safer to use cash rather than transferring funds electronically.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aO858HyFbKI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Advice for staying safe online.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Package delivery scams</h2>
<p>As well as being a time for giving and receiving gifts, the festive season is also ripe for cybercriminals to exploit the excitement surrounding <a href="https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/about-us1/media/press-releases/scams-linked-to-parcel-deliveries-come-top-in-2023/">package deliveries</a>. </p>
<p>Scammers often pose as legitimate delivery companies, sending emails or text messages claiming that a delivery attempt was unsuccessful or requiring additional fees for processing, or even customs clearance. Typically, these messages contain links or phone numbers that, when clicked or called, lead to fake websites or automated phone systems designed to collect personal information or payments.</p>
<p>To protect yourself, always verify the legitimacy of any delivery notifications you receive. Check the sender’s email address or phone number against the official contact information for the delivery company. If the information doesn’t match or seems suspicious, don’t click any links or provide personal details. </p>
<p>Legitimate delivery companies will never ask for upfront payment or sensitive information through unsolicited messages or calls. </p>
<p>Remember, cybercriminals are skilled at manipulating the festive spirit to their advantage. Stay vigilant, exercise caution, and don’t let your excitement for gifts and deliveries compromise your cybersecurity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218294/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachael Medhurst does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Cyber-scams tend to ramp up at this time of year, with criminals and scammers eager to exploit people’s generosity and excitement.Rachael Medhurst, Course Leader and Senior Lecturer in Cyber Security NCSA, University of South WalesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2086652023-09-20T20:06:34Z2023-09-20T20:06:34ZWhy do I get so much spam and unwanted email in my inbox? And how can I get rid of it?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549270/original/file-20230920-21-1bu16q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=83%2C143%2C3910%2C2850&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Spam might not have brought an end to the internet or email, as some dire predictions <a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/why-spam-could-destroy-the-internet/">in the early 2000s</a> claimed it could – but it’s still a massive pain.</p>
<p>Despite all the spam being removed by spam-filtering technologies, most people still receive spam every day. How do these messages end up flooding our inboxes? And are there any legal consequences for the senders?</p>
<h2>What is spam?</h2>
<p>The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) noted in 2004 “there does not appear to be a widely agreed and workable definition for spam” across jurisdictions – and this remains true today. </p>
<p>That said, “spam” generally <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/232784860063.pdf?expires=1693541947&id=id&accname=ocid177499&checksum=D0C5BDAC49951DF353618B8E38483253">refers to</a> unsolicited electronic messages. These are often sent in bulk and frequently advertise goods or services. It also includes scamming and phishing messages, according to the OECD.</p>
<p>Most people think of spam in the form of emails or SMS messages. However, what we now call spam actually predates the internet. In 1854, a spam telegram was sent to British politicians advertising the opening hours of dentists who <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/aug/09/why-spammers-are-winning-junk-mail">sold tooth-whitening powder</a>. </p>
<p>The first spam email came more than 100 years later. It was reportedly sent to 600 people on May 3 1978 <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080628205216/http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-spam11may11001420,1,5168218,full.story">through ARPAnet</a> – a precursor to the modern internet. </p>
<p>As for how much spam is out there, the figures vary, possibly due to the various <a href="https://www.spamhaus.org/consumer/definition/">definitions of “spam”</a>. One source reports the average number of spam emails sent daily in 2022 was about <a href="https://dataprot.net/statistics/spam-statistics/">122.33 billion</a> (which would mean more than half of all emails were spam). As for text messages, another source reports a daily average of 1.6 billion <a href="https://thesmallbusinessblog.net/spam-text-statistics/">spam texts</a>. </p>
<h2>Where do spammers get my details?</h2>
<p>Each time you enter your email address or phone number into an e-commerce website, you may be handing it to spammers.</p>
<p>But sometimes you may even receive spam from entities you don’t recognise. That’s because businesses will often transfer customers’ contact information to related companies, or sell their data to third parties such as data brokers.</p>
<p>Australia’s Privacy Act 1988 somewhat limits the transfer of personal information to third parties. However, these laws <a href="https://theconversation.com/accc-says-consumers-need-more-choices-about-what-online-marketplaces-are-doing-with-their-data-182134">are weak</a> – and <a href="http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/unsworks_75600">weakly enforced</a>. </p>
<hr>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/this-law-makes-it-illegal-for-companies-to-collect-third-party-data-to-profile-you-but-they-do-anyway-190758">This law makes it illegal for companies to collect third-party data to profile you. But they do anyway</a>
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<p>Some entities also use “address-harvesting” software to search the internet for electronic addresses that are captured in a database. The collector then uses these addresses directly, or sells them to others looking to send spam. </p>
<p>Many jurisdictions (including <a href="http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/cth/consol_act/sa200366/s19.html">Australia</a>) prohibit these harvesting activities, but they are still <a href="https://www.projecthoneypot.org/statistics.php">common</a>.</p>
<h2>Is spamming against the law?</h2>
<p>Australia has had legislation regulating spam messaging since 2003. But the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2016C00614">Spam Act</a> surprisingly does not define the word “spam”. It tackles spam by prohibiting the sending of <a href="http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/cth/consol_act/sa200366/s15.html">unsolicited commercial electronic messages</a> containing offers, ads or other promotions of goods, services or land.</p>
<p>However, if the receiver <a href="http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/cth/consol_act/sa200366/sch2.html">consented</a> to these types of messages, the prohibition does not apply. When you buy goods or services from a company, you will often see a request to click on a “yes” button to receive marketing promotions. Doing so means you have consented.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if your phone or inbox are hit by commercial messages you haven’t agreed to receive, that is a breach of the <a href="https://austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdb/au/legis/cth/consol_act/sa200366/">Spam Act</a> by the sender. If you originally signed up to receive the messages, but then unsubscribed and the messages kept coming after <a href="https://austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/cth/consol_act/sa200366/sch2.html">five business days</a>, that is also illegal. Senders must also include a <a href="https://austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/cth/consol_act/sa200366/s18.html">functioning unsubscribe facility</a> in every commercial message they send.</p>
<p>Spammers can be penalised for breaches of the Spam Act. In the past few months alone, <a href="https://www.acma.gov.au/articles/2023-06/commonwealth-bank-penalised-355-million-spam-breaches">Commonwealth Bank</a>, <a href="https://www.acma.gov.au/articles/2023-08/doordash-penalised-2-million-spam-breaches">DoorDash</a> and <a href="https://www.acma.gov.au/articles/2023-06/mycar-tyre-auto-penalised-1m-spam-breaches">mycar Tyre & Auto</a> were fined more than A$6 million in total for breaches. </p>
<p>However, most spam comes from outside Australia where the laws aren’t the same. In the United States spam is legal under the <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business">CAN-SPAM Act</a> until you opt out. Unsurprisingly, the US <a href="https://talosintelligence.com/reputation_center/email_rep#spam-country-senders">tops the list</a> of countries where the most spam originates. </p>
<p>Although spam sent to Australia from overseas <a href="https://austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/cth/consol_act/sa200366/s16.html">can still breach</a> the Spam Act – and the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) co-operates with overseas regulators – overseas enforcement actions are difficult and expensive, especially if the spammer has disguised their true identity and location. </p>
<p>It’s worth noting that messages from political parties, registered charities and government bodies aren’t prohibited – nor are messages from educational institutions to students and former students. So while you might consider these messages as “spam”, they can legally be <a href="http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/cth/consol_act/sa200366/sch1.html">sent freely without consent</a>. Factual messages (without marketing content) from businesses are also legal as long as they include accurate sender details and contact information. </p>
<p>Moreover, the Spam Act generally only covers spam sent via email, SMS/MMS or instant messaging services, such as WhatsApp. Voice calls and faxes aren’t covered (although you can use the <a href="https://www.donotcall.gov.au/">Do Not Call Register</a> to block some commercial calls).</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ai-generated-spam-may-soon-be-flooding-your-inbox-and-it-will-be-personalized-to-be-especially-persuasive-201535">AI-generated spam may soon be flooding your inbox -- and it will be personalized to be especially persuasive</a>
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<h2>Staying safe from spam (and cyberattacks)</h2>
<p>Spam isn’t only annoying, it can also be dangerous. Spam messages can contain indecent images, scams and <a href="https://www.cyber.gov.au/learn-basics/explore-basics/watch-out-threats/phishing-emails-and-texts">phishing attempts</a>. Some have <a href="https://www.cyber.gov.au/threats/types-threats/malware">malware</a> (malicious software) designed to break into computer networks and cause harm, such as by stealing data or money, or shutting down systems. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.cyber.gov.au/protect-yourself/securing-your-email/email-security/protect-yourself-malicious-email">Australian Cyber Security Centre</a> and <a href="https://www.acma.gov.au/dealing-with-spam">ACMA</a> provide useful tips for reducing the spam you get and your risk of being hit by cyberattacks. They suggest to:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>use a spam filter and block spammers – email and telecommunications providers often supply useful tools as part of their services</p></li>
<li><p>unsubscribe from any emails you no longer want to receive – even if you originally agreed to receive them</p></li>
<li><p>remove as much of your contact details from websites as you can and always restrict the sharing of your personal information (such as name, birth date, email address and mobile number) when you can – beware of pre-ticked boxes asking for your consent to receive marketing emails </p></li>
<li><p>install cybersecurity updates for your devices and software as you get them</p></li>
<li><p>always think twice about opening emails or clicking on links, especially for messages promising rewards or asking for personal information – if it looks too good to be true, it probably is </p></li>
<li><p>use <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-multi-factor-authentication-and-how-should-i-be-using-it-191591">multi-factor authentication</a> to access online services so even if a scam compromises your login details, it will still be difficult for hackers to break into your accounts</p></li>
<li><p>report spam to your email and telecommunications providers, and to <a href="https://www.acma.gov.au/dealing-with-spam#complain-or-forward-spam-to-the-acma">ACMA</a>. </p></li>
</ol>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australians-lost-more-than-3bn-to-scammers-in-2022-here-are-5-emerging-scams-to-look-out-for-204018">Australians lost more than $3bn to scammers in 2022. Here are 5 emerging scams to look out for</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208665/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kayleen Manwaring receives funding from the UNSW Allens Hub for Technology, Law & Innovation, and the Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre.</span></em></p>One of the first ‘spam’ messages on record was sent in 1854.Kayleen Manwaring, Senior Research Fellow, UNSW Allens Hub for Technology, Law & Innovation and Senior Lecturer, School of Private & Commercial Law, UNSW Law & Justice, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2116652023-08-22T20:07:55Z2023-08-22T20:07:55Z‘My brother will pick it up, what’s your PayID?’ How to avoid this scam when selling stuff online<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543858/original/file-20230822-29-9e3281.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1023%2C251%2C4113%2C2658&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/7JRPca6UqXc">Jenny Ueberberg/Unsplash</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>You’ve done it. You’ve finally bought that new sofa you wanted so much. The old one is still perfectly good to sit on, so you jump online to try and get a little bit of cash for it.</p>
<p>Every day, thousands of Australians list their unwanted things on online trading sites such as Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree. It’s a fast and convenient option, not to mention <a href="https://theconversation.com/rethinking-the-big-spring-clean-chuck-out-frenzy-how-keeping-old-things-away-from-the-landfill-can-spark-joy-in-its-own-way-195568">it helps us to divert goods from landfill</a>.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, scammers constantly target unsuspecting buyers and sellers. More than <a href="https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/research-and-resources/scam-statistics?scamid=15&date=2022">A$45 million</a> was reported lost through fraudulent buying and selling schemes in 2022. </p>
<p>The popularity of online marketplaces has made them a fertile ground for fraudsters. There have been <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-04/what-can-you-do-to-protect-yourself-when-selling-online/102555278">recent reports</a> of offenders using these platforms to physically attack those selling goods.</p>
<p>However, it is more likely scammers will try to gain money through payment methods. The PayID scam is a popular example of this, with Australians <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-07/payid-scam-send-money-to-unlock-business-account/101935092">losing more than $260,000</a> through this specific approach in 2022. </p>
<h2>What is PayID?</h2>
<p>PayID is a legitimate form of electronic payment introduced <a href="https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2018/sep/the-new-payments-platform-and-fast-settlement-service.html">in Australia in 2018</a> to overcome incorrect payments as well as reduce fraud – by showing the recipient’s name to the person making the transaction. It aims to simplify the transfer of money. Importantly, PayID reduces the need to remember bank account and BSB numbers, and overcomes the issue when these are entered incorrectly.</p>
<p>To set up a PayID, consumers can use their phone number, email address or ABN as a form of identification. The bank will verify the person owns this information, and then link the person’s bank account to this unique identifier. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543856/original/file-20230822-28-dk5oub.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and blue text box outlining how the service works and warning people it has been the target of scams." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543856/original/file-20230822-28-dk5oub.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543856/original/file-20230822-28-dk5oub.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543856/original/file-20230822-28-dk5oub.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543856/original/file-20230822-28-dk5oub.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543856/original/file-20230822-28-dk5oub.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543856/original/file-20230822-28-dk5oub.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543856/original/file-20230822-28-dk5oub.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Screenshot of the official PayID website.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://payid.com.au/">PayID</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To transfer money using PayID, most online banking systems will ask for the PayID of the recipient. By simply typing in the phone number, email address or ABN, it will show the name of the intended recipient. If it is correct, the customer can authorise payment to be made. If the name shown is incorrect, the customer can easily cancel the transaction.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/payid-data-breaches-show-australias-banks-need-to-be-more-vigilant-to-hacking-123529">PayID data breaches show Australia's banks need to be more vigilant to hacking</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How does the PayID scam work?</h2>
<p>If you’re advertising an item online, a scammer will make contact to purchase the item. They usually will not question the price, and they are unlikely to even want to view the item. In many cases, they will say a family member or friend will collect it from you.</p>
<p>The offender will then urge you to accept payment through PayID. Once you’ve shared your PayID (usually phone number or email address) and the scammer has this information, a few things may happen. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543854/original/file-20230822-17-t6ojlq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two messages in various styles stating a family member will pick up an item and asking for payID details" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543854/original/file-20230822-17-t6ojlq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543854/original/file-20230822-17-t6ojlq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=194&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543854/original/file-20230822-17-t6ojlq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=194&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543854/original/file-20230822-17-t6ojlq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=194&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543854/original/file-20230822-17-t6ojlq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543854/original/file-20230822-17-t6ojlq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543854/original/file-20230822-17-t6ojlq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Examples of PayID scam messages received via Facebook Marketplace.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The offender will say they have made the payment, but it cannot be processed because you don’t have a suitable PayID account. You will be told you either need to “upgrade” the account and/or make an additional payment to release the funds.</p>
<p>The offender will then say they have paid the extra amount required and ask you to reimburse the additional funds they have spent. If you do transfer any money, it will go straight to the scammer and be lost. </p>
<p>As part of this, offenders will create text messages and emails that appear to be from PayID, confirming payments or advising of problems. Scarily, such messages may even appear in an existing SMS thread with your bank. You may think they are genuine, but they are fake, designed to deceive you into transferring money to the offender.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/scammers-can-slip-fake-texts-into-legitimate-sms-threads-will-a-government-crackdown-stop-them-200644">Scammers can slip fake texts into legitimate SMS threads. Will a government crackdown stop them?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How do I avoid a PayID scam?</h2>
<p>There are several warning signs to look out for when selling goods online:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>PayID is a free service. There are no costs associated with using it, and therefore no fees will ever need to be paid</p></li>
<li><p>PayID is administered through individual banks. PayID will never communicate directly with customers through texts, emails, or phone calls. Any correspondence which says it is “from PayID” is fake</p></li>
<li><p>a genuine buyer will usually inspect and collect any goods. A buyer who says they will send a family member or friend to collect the item is a red flag, especially if they are unwilling to pay in cash.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>What to do if you have been scammed?</h2>
<p>If you think you have been a victim of a PayID scam, you should contact your bank or financial institution immediately. The quicker you can do this, the better. </p>
<p>You can report any financial losses to <a href="https://www.cyber.gov.au/report-and-recover/report">ReportCyber</a>, an online police reporting portal for cyber incidents. </p>
<p>You can also <a href="https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/report-a-scam">report the incident to Scamwatch</a> to assist with education and awareness activities.</p>
<p>If you have had any of your personal information compromised, you can <a href="https://www.idcare.org/support-services/individual-support-services">access support from IDCARE</a>. </p>
<p>In 2023 so far, Australians have reported more than <a href="https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/research-and-resources/scam-statistics?scamid=15&date=2023">$32 million</a> lost to buying and selling schemes, including the PayID scam. Stay vigilant when buying or selling goods online, and <a href="https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/types-of-scams/product-and-service-scams">consult the Scamwatch website</a> for details on other types of scams.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/being-bombarded-with-delivery-and-post-office-text-scams-heres-why-and-what-can-be-done-167975">Being bombarded with delivery and post office text scams? Here's why — and what can be done</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211665/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cassandra Cross has previously received funding from the Australian Institute of Criminology and the Cybersecurity Cooperative Research Centre.</span></em></p>All you wanted was to sell your sofa online. So why are so many ‘buyers’ suddenly insisting on using your PayID?Cassandra Cross, Associate Dean (Learning & Teaching) Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2106632023-08-10T12:25:02Z2023-08-10T12:25:02ZAI threatens to add to the growing wave of fraud but is also helping tackle it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541723/original/file-20230808-19-q8t3ng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C24%2C5452%2C3812&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The government, banks and other financial organisations are now dealing with fraud by using increasingly sophisticated detection methods.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/internet-fraud-darknet-data-thiefs-cybercrime-1716862513">Maksim Shmeljov/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There were <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/natureoffraudandcomputermisuseinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2022">4.5 million</a> reported incidents of fraud in the UK in 2021/22, up 25% on the year before. It is a growing problem which costs billions of pounds every year. </p>
<p>The COVID pandemic and the cost of living crisis have created <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55769991">ideal conditions</a> for fraudsters to exploit the vulnerability and desperation of many households and businesses. And with the use of AI increasing in general, we will likely see a further increase in <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/blog/auditandassurance/2023/generative-ai-and-fraud-what-are-the-risks-that-firms-face.html">new types of fraud</a> and is probably contributing to the increased frequency of fraud we are seeing today. </p>
<p>Already, the ability of AI to absorb personal data, such as emails, photographs, videos and <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/scammers-ai-mimic-voices-loved-ones-in-distress/#:%7E:text=Artificial%20intelligence%20is%20making%20phone,mounting%20losses%20due%20to%20fraud.">voice recordings</a> to imitate people is proving to be a new and unprecedented challenge. </p>
<p>But there is also an upside. The government, banks and other financial organisations are now fighting back with increasingly sophisticated fraud-detection methods. AI and machine learning models could be a <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/04/as-generative-ai-gains-pace-industry-leaders-explain-how-to-make-it-a-force-for-good/">part of the solution</a> to deal with the increasing complexity, sophistication and prevalence of such scams.</p>
<p>The rising gap between prices and people’s incomes appears to have made people more <a href="https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/about-us1/media/press-releases/over-40-million-targeted-by-scammers-as-the-cost-of-living-crisis-bites/">receptive</a> to scams which offer grants, rebates and support payments. </p>
<p>Fraudsters often target individuals by posing as genuine organisations. Examples include pretending to be your bank or posing as the government telling you that you are eligible for a lucrative scheme, in order to steal your identity details and then money. </p>
<p>This follows a dramatic rise in recent years of fraudulent applications to government and regional support packages, mainly implemented in response to the pandemic. Here fraudsters often pose as fake businesses to secure multiple loans or grants. </p>
<p>One of the <a href="https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/man-who-pretended-greggs-bakery-27251086">most outlandish examples</a> of this was a Luton man who posed as a Greggs bakery to swindle three local authorities in England out of almost £200,000 worth of COVID small business grants.</p>
<p>The hurried roll out of such schemes for faster economic impact made it difficult for officials to effectively review applications. The UK government’s Department for Business and Trade now <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59504943">estimates</a> that 11% of such loans, roughly £5 billion, were fraudulent. By March 2022 only £762 million <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-issue-briefing-tackling-error-and-fraud-in-the-covid-19-support-schemes/tackling-error-and-fraud-in-the-covid-19-support-schemes">had been recovered</a>.</p>
<h2>Fraud detection</h2>
<p>Over the past few years, complex mathematical models combining traditional statistical techniques and machine learning analysis have shown promise in the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/acfi.12742">early detection</a> of financial statement fraud. This is when companies typically misrepresent or deceive investors into believing they are more profitable than they really are.</p>
<p>One of the breakthroughs has been the incorporation of both financial and non-financial information into data analysis systems. For example, the risk of fraud decreases if there is <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/acfi.12742">better corporate governance</a> and a lower proportion of directors who are also executives. </p>
<p>In a small business context, we can think about this as promoting transparency and making sure that important positions do not have sole authority to make significant decisions. </p>
<p>Such data analytics models can be used to rank applications in terms of potential fraud risk, so that the riskiest applications get additional scrutiny by government officials. We are now starting to see implementations of such systems to tackle <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jul/11/use-of-artificial-intelligence-widened-to-assess-universal-credit-applications-and-tackle">universal credit</a> fraud, for example.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.ft.com/content/0dca8946-05c8-11e8-9e12-af73e8db3c71">Banks, financial services providers</a> and <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/d3bd46cb-75d4-40ff-a0cd-6d7f33d58d7f">insurers</a> are developing machine-learning models to detect financial fraud too. A Bank of England survey published in October 2022 <a href="https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/report/2022/machine-learning-in-uk-financial-services">revealed</a> that 72% of financial services firms are already testing and implementing them. </p>
<p>We are also seeing new collaborations in the industry, with the likes of Deutsche Bank partnering with chip maker Nvidia to <a href="https://www.db.com/news/detail/20221207-deutsche-bank-partners-with-nvidia-to-embed-ai-into-financial-services">embed AI</a> into their fraud detection systems.</p>
<h2>Risks of AI systems</h2>
<p>However, the advent of new automated AI systems bring with it worries of potential unintended biases within them. In a <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66133665">recent trial</a> of a new AI fraud detection system by the Department of Work and Pensions, campaign groups were worried about potential biases. </p>
<p>A common issue that needs to be overcome with such systems is that they work for the majority of people, but are often biased against minority groups. This means if left unadjusted they are disproportionately more likely to flag applications from ethnic minorities as risky.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/scams-deepfake-porn-and-romance-bots-advanced-ai-is-exciting-but-incredibly-dangerous-in-criminals-hands-199004">Scams, deepfake porn and romance bots: advanced AI is exciting, but incredibly dangerous in criminals' hands</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But AI systems should not be used as a fully automated process to detect and accuse fraud but rather <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/2df33fc5-981a-4952-8dc6-d4eee7343acc">as a tool</a> to assist assessors. They can help auditors and civil servants, for example, to identify cases where greater scrutiny is required and to reduce processing time.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210663/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrian Gepp has received funding from the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand. He is also affiliated with the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laurence Jones does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Fraud was up 25% in the UK in 2021/22.Laurence Jones, Lecturer in Finance, Bangor UniversityAdrian Gepp, Professor of Data Analytics, Bangor UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2101242023-08-04T12:29:00Z2023-08-04T12:29:00ZOnline romance scams: Research reveals scammers’ tactics – and how to defend against them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540850/original/file-20230802-18-uz84g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C12125%2C7478&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sometimes, true love is too good to be true.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/romance-scam-dating-scam-cyber-crime-hacking-royalty-free-illustration/1304684845">kate3155/iStock via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the Netflix documentary “<a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81254340">The Tinder Swindler</a>,” victims exposed notorious con artist <a href="https://www.deseret.com/entertainment/2023/1/17/23559144/the-tinder-swindler-where-is-simon-leviev-now">Simon Leviev</a>, who posed as a wealthy diamond mogul on the popular dating app Tinder to deceive and scam numerous women out of millions of dollars. Leviev is a flashy example of a dating scammer, but criminal operations also prey on emotionally vulnerable people to gain their trust and exploit them financially. </p>
<p>The internet has revolutionized dating, and there has been a <a href="https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/cyber.2021.29219.editorial">surge in U.S. adults using apps to find ideal matches</a> post-pandemic. While these apps offer convenience for connecting with romantic partners, they also open the door to online romance scams. Criminals create both deceptive profiles and urgent scenarios to carry out the scam.</p>
<p>The Federal Trade Commission reports that <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/data-visualizations/data-spotlight/2023/02/romance-scammers-favorite-lies-exposed">nearly 70,000 Americans fell victim to online romantic scams in 2022</a>, with reported losses topping US$1.3 billion. </p>
<p>Online romance scams exploit people through calculated online social engineering and deliberately deceptive communication tactics. In a series of research projects, my colleagues from <a href="https://ebcs.gsu.edu/">Georgia State University</a>, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=ecCbt3MAAAAJ">University of Alabama</a>, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=08ks5G0AAAAJ">University of South Florida</a> and I focused on understanding how scammers operate, the cues that may prompt changes in their tactics and what measures people can take to defend themselves against falling victim to this scam. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ev0VEqxpKxg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Simon Leviev, the ‘Tinder Swindler,’ conned several women by posing as a diamond mogul.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How online romantic scams work</h2>
<p>Online romance scams are not coincidental. They’re carefully planned schemes that follow distinct stages. Research has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/sj.2012.57">identified five stages</a>: </p>
<ul>
<li>Baiting victims with attractive profiles. </li>
<li>Grooming victims with intimacy. </li>
<li>Creating crises to extract money.</li>
<li>On occasion manipulating victims with blackmail. </li>
<li>Revealing the scam. </li>
</ul>
<p>In short, scammers do not swindle victims by chance. They plan their actions in advance, patiently following their playbooks to ensure profitable outcomes. Scammers worm their way into a victim’s heart to gain access to their money through false pretenses.</p>
<p>In a previous study, my colleague <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=wHPMweEAAAAJ&hl=en">Volkan Topalli</a> and I analyzed victim testimonials from the website stop-scammers.com. Our research revealed scammers’ use of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-022-09706-4">various social engineering techniques and crisis stories</a> to prompt urgent requests. Scammers leveraged social norms, guilt and supposed emergencies to manipulate victims. Scammers also paid close attention to communication patterns and adapted their tactics based on victims’ responses. This interplay significantly influenced the overall operation of the scam. </p>
<p>Across the globe, online romance scammers use different techniques that vary across cultures to successfully defraud victims. In my recent research, for example, I looked closely into an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15564886.2022.2051109">online romance scam in China</a> called “Sha Zhu Pan,” which loosely translates to “Pig Butchering Scam.” In Sha Zhu Pan, scammers bait and groom victims for financial exploitation through well-structured group setups. Multiple scammers across four groups – hosts, resources, IT and money laundering – persuade victims through romantic tactics to invest in fake apps or use fake gambling websites, convincing them to pay more and more without ever receiving their money back. Hosts interact with victims, resources members identify targets and collect information about them, IT creates the fake apps and websites, and the money launderers process the ill-gotten gains.</p>
<h2>Deterrence and rewards</h2>
<p>Like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/42.2.337">street robbers</a>, online romance scammers can be influenced both positively and negatively by a range of situational cues that serve as incentives or deterrents. </p>
<p>Our investigation showed that deterrent messages <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.21428/cb6ab371.c6eae022">can significantly affect scammers’ behavior</a>. Here’s an example of a deterrent message: “I know you are scamming innocent people. My friend was recently arrested for the same offense and is facing five years in prison. You should stop before you face the same fate.” Based on live conversations with active scammers online, our recent analysis suggests that receiving deterrent messages reduced scammers’ response rate and their use of certain words, and increased the likelihood that when they sought further communications, they admitted they had done something wrong. </p>
<p>Our observations indicate that scammers not only <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2023.2197547">diversify their approaches</a> to prompt more responses, such as appealing to their romantic relationships, asking for identifying information and requesting victims switch to private chat platforms, but they also use several techniques for getting victims to <a href="https://www.crimrxiv.com/pub/zgfxej63">overcome their misgivings</a> about sending the scammers more money. For example, scammers subtly persuade victims to see themselves as holding more power in the interaction than they do. </p>
<h2>Blocking scammers</h2>
<p>There are methods that could help users defend against online romance scams. </p>
<p>In experimental findings, my colleagues and I suggest online apps, especially dating apps, implement warning messages. An example would be applying linguistics algorithms to identify keywords like “money,” “MoneyGram” and “bank” in conversations to alert potential victims of the scam and deter scammers from engaging further. </p>
<p>In addition, apps can use tools to detect counterfeit profile pictures and other types of image fraud. By concentrating on identifying scammers’ use of counterfeit profile pictures, this advanced algorithm holds the potential to preemptively hinder scammers from establishing fake profiles and initiating conversations from the outset. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-HF5UL69eG0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The FBI gives advice on how to protect yourself from romance scams.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How to protect yourself</h2>
<p>Online dating app users can take precautions when talking to strangers. There are five rules users should follow to steer clear of scammers: </p>
<ol>
<li>Avoid sharing financial information with or sending money to strangers. </li>
<li>Refrain from sending private photos to strangers. </li>
<li>Pay attention to spelling and grammar because scammers often claim to reside in English-speaking countries when they actually operate in non-Western countries. </li>
<li>Use image and name-reverse searches.</li>
<li>Confide in family and friends if you grow suspicious. </li>
</ol>
<p>One last piece of advice to empower those who have fallen victim to online romance scams: Don’t blame yourself. </p>
<p>Take the courageous step of breaking free from the scam and seek support. Reach out to your loved ones, trustworthy third-party organizations and law enforcement agencies for help. This support network is essential in helping you restart your life and move forward.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210124/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fangzhou Wang does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Dating apps have given an ancient profession, confidence scamming, a high-tech boost.Fangzhou Wang, Assistant Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Texas at ArlingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2040182023-04-21T03:39:42Z2023-04-21T03:39:42ZAustralians lost more than $3bn to scammers in 2022. Here are 5 emerging scams to look out for<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522269/original/file-20230421-15-jncq5b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=228%2C213%2C1377%2C1003&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Facebook</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s latest <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/Targeting%20scams%202022.pdf">Targeting Scams report</a> indicates Australians reported more than A$3 billion lost to fraud in 2022. This is about a $1 billion increase on <a href="https://theconversation.com/australians-lost-2b-to-fraud-in-2021-this-figure-should-sound-alarm-bells-for-the-future-186459">reported losses from 2021</a>. </p>
<p>Year upon year, we’re witnessing a rise in monetary losses to fraud. Behind these figures sit millions of Australians who experience a range of financial and non-financial <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-05/29-1314-FinalReport.pdf">harms</a>. </p>
<p>Here’s what we’ve learned from the latest report – and some advice on what to look out for in the year ahead. </p>
<h2>2022 at a glance</h2>
<p>Of the reported $3 billion lost, about half was stolen as part of investment schemes – more than double the $701 million figure from 2021. A desire to invest in cryptocurrency has driven up these losses, with potential investors inadvertently transferring money to offenders advertising a range of falsehoods. </p>
<p>Remote access schemes – in which a scammer convinces the victim to grant them access to their computer – jumped into second place, with $229 million in reported losses. This was followed by payment redirection scams (also known as business email compromise fraud). </p>
<p>Those who reported directly to Scamwatch lost an average of $19,654 – an increase of 54% from the $12,742 reported in 2021. </p>
<p>The report also shows not all victims are targeted equally; people aged 65 years and older reported the highest losses across all demographics. Indigenous Australians, people with a disability, and those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds were also overrepresented.</p>
<p>For the first time in many years, text message was the most popular method for offenders to target victims. And while bank transfers were the most popular way to send funds to offenders, <a href="https://theconversation.com/crypto-theft-is-on-the-rise-heres-how-the-crimes-are-committed-and-how-you-can-protect-yourself-176027">cryptocurrency transfers</a> continue to increase in popularity – rising 162.4% in one year. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522276/original/file-20230421-2632-p8wwc0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522276/original/file-20230421-2632-p8wwc0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522276/original/file-20230421-2632-p8wwc0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=286&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522276/original/file-20230421-2632-p8wwc0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=286&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522276/original/file-20230421-2632-p8wwc0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=286&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522276/original/file-20230421-2632-p8wwc0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522276/original/file-20230421-2632-p8wwc0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522276/original/file-20230421-2632-p8wwc0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Scammers are always looking for new ways to deceive people, and this often involves trying to build rapport.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michael Lucy</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There was, however, a reduction in fraudulent phone calls. This is likely attributable to the introduction of <a href="https://www.commsalliance.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/72150/C661_2022.pdf">regulatory action</a> to block known scam calls. It’s a bright spot in an otherwise dark report.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/scammers-can-slip-fake-texts-into-legitimate-sms-threads-will-a-government-crackdown-stop-them-200644">Scammers can slip fake texts into legitimate SMS threads. Will a government crackdown stop them?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Trends to look out for</h2>
<p>The Targeting Scams report demonstrates the many ways offenders seek to defraud victims. On one hand, people are becoming more aware of common scam tactics. On the other, criminals are adjusting their methods to gain the upper hand. </p>
<p>Here are five types of relatively lesser-known frauds everyone should be aware of.</p>
<p><strong>1. Romance baiting</strong></p>
<p>Also known as “<a href="https://news.sophos.com/en-us/2021/05/12/fake-android-and-ios-apps-disguise-as-trading-and-cryptocurrency-apps/">cryptorom</a>” or “<a href="https://krebsonsecurity.com/2022/07/massive-losses-define-epidemic-of-pig-butchering/">pig butchering</a>”, this scam is a convergence of investment fraud and traditional romance fraud approaches. </p>
<p>The offender first initiates a relationship with the victim – through dating apps, websites or social media platforms. Once they’ve established trust, they encourage the victim to put their money into an “investment” opportunity, often cryptocurrency. The victim will then unknowingly transfer their money to the offender, who is under a different guise. </p>
<p>This kind of romance baiting raises fewer red flags than directly asking for money, and is targeting a younger demographic compared to more traditional romance fraud. </p>
<p>Such deceptions are coded under investment schemes. This is likely driving the surge in investment scheme losses reported in recent years, while also accounting for a lack of substantial increases in romance fraud.</p>
<p><strong>2. Online shopping fraud</strong></p>
<p>Offenders are skilled at creating fake websites and product advertisements that look genuine.</p>
<p>Often these fake sites will have only subtle differences from their real counterparts. Consumers may not be able to tell the difference. Criminals can directly access funds through victims’ credit card details obtained on these sites. </p>
<p>Online shopping fraud targets a range of demographics. It’s happening on stand-alone websites, social media platforms and online marketplaces.</p>
<p><strong>3. Jobs and employment fraud</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://research.qut.edu.au/centre-for-justice/wp-content/uploads/sites/304/2022/02/Briefing-Paper-Series-Feb2022-Issue21-17022022.pdf">Research</a> has indicated that working from home and flexible working conditions are strong indicators of a fraudulent job listing.</p>
<p>But in a post-COVID world, flexibility at work is often a key criterion for job seekers, if not a deal-breaker. Offenders have noticed this, and are responding by posting attractive job advertisements that offer flexibility and high incomes. </p>
<p>Victims submit their CVs and personal credentials (setting themselves up for identity crime), or may be required to pay upfront for training or materials costs for a job that doesn’t exist. </p>
<p>Employment scams are targeting younger people in particular, as they’re more likely to have <a href="https://australiainstitute.org.au/report/youth-unemployment-and-the-pandemic/">experienced job loss and insecurity</a> in the wake of the pandemic. </p>
<p><strong>4. Recovery schemes</strong></p>
<p>Many fraud victims will want to take whatever action possible to recover lost funds. </p>
<p>To exploit this, offenders will trade the details of victims with each other. They will then pose as authorities (often law enforcement, banks or private agencies) who are aware of the victim’s circumstances and promote their ability to regain the missing funds for a fee. </p>
<p>In this way, victims who are desperate to recover losses are manipulated into paying even more money to offenders.</p>
<p><strong>5. Remote access schemes</strong></p>
<p>Receiving a phone call from a computer technician advising of a problem with your computer and offering to fix it is a common experience for many. While this approach isn’t new, it made a strong resurgence in 2022 – particularly targeting older people. </p>
<p>These scam calls often come through landlines and prey on people’s fear for the security of their bank details and other personal data. The fraudsters often invoke a sense of urgency about needing to rectify the “problem”, and victims are persuaded to give the offender remote access to their computer. </p>
<p>The criminal can then access a wealth of personal information. They can gain direct entry to bank accounts to transfer funds, and can access identity credentials and other sensitive details to commit identity crime in the future. </p>
<h2>Change is needed to protect the public</h2>
<p>The threat of fraud will only increase alongside technological evolution. Experts are concerned about artificial intelligence tools such as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/mar/08/darktrace-warns-of-rise-in-ai-enhanced-scams-since-chatgpt-release">ChatGPT</a> and image and video generators giving cybercriminals yet another tool to add to their arsenal.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/scams-deepfake-porn-and-romance-bots-advanced-ai-is-exciting-but-incredibly-dangerous-in-criminals-hands-199004">Scams, deepfake porn and romance bots: advanced AI is exciting, but incredibly dangerous in criminals' hands</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The latest Scamwatch report is further evidence banks and financial institutions need to implement measures to help reduce fraud losses; among these, the checking of account names against BSB numbers for all transactions. The UK has a <a href="https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/policy-and-guidance/guidance/confirmation-payee">confirmation-of-payee</a> policy that does this. </p>
<p>The government is attempting to address the continued surge in fraud losses through the revision of its <a href="https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/about-us/our-portfolios/cyber-security/strategy/2023-2030-australian-cyber-security-strategy">cybersecurity strategy</a> and the potential establishment of a <a href="https://consultation.accc.gov.au/accc/national-anti-scams-centre-survey/">National Anti-Scams Centre</a>. </p>
<p>These are both positive steps but it’s clear there’s a need for more work to be done.</p>
<p><em>If you or someone you know has been a victim of fraud, you can report it to <a href="https://www.cyber.gov.au/report-and-recover/report">ReportCyber</a>. For support, contact <a href="https://www.idcare.org/">iDcare</a>. For prevention advice, consult <a href="https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/">Scamwatch</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204018/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cassandra Cross has previously received funding from the Australian Institute of Criminology and the Cybersecurity Cooperative Research Centre.</span></em></p>Losses have surged, and change is needed to better protect Australians into the future.Cassandra Cross, Associate Dean (Learning & Teaching) Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1940642022-11-13T19:04:09Z2022-11-13T19:04:09ZCrypto scams will increase over the holidays – here’s what you need to know to not fall victim<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494580/original/file-20221110-10877-y72lq2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=309%2C973%2C5415%2C3067&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/clN4DePMfm4">Tim Mossholder/Unsplash</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Each year, as the festive season arrives, we must also keep an eye out for potential scammers trying to ruin the fun. This is because scammers become more active <a href="https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/scam-statistics?scamid=all&date=2021">during the holidays</a>, targeting us while we have our guard down.</p>
<p>So far in 2022, Australians have lost around <a href="https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/scam-statistics?scamid=all&date=2022">half a billion dollars to scams</a>, which is already significantly more than had been lost by this time last year. The majority of these losses – <a href="https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/scam-statistics?scamid=26&date=2022">around $300 million</a> – have involved investment or cryptocurrency scams. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494108/original/file-20221108-14-vbvqlj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A chart showing a steady rise of crypto scams, with a spike in April 2022" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494108/original/file-20221108-14-vbvqlj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494108/original/file-20221108-14-vbvqlj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494108/original/file-20221108-14-vbvqlj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494108/original/file-20221108-14-vbvqlj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494108/original/file-20221108-14-vbvqlj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494108/original/file-20221108-14-vbvqlj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494108/original/file-20221108-14-vbvqlj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Investment scams 2019-2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">scamwatch.gov.au</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Researchers from <a href="https://cybercentre.org.au/">Deakin University’s Centre for Cyber Security Research and Innovation</a> had a opportunity to interview recent victims of these scams. Here is what we found.</p>
<h2>Anyone can fall for a scam</h2>
<blockquote>
<p>I was shocked and could not accept that this happened to me although I was very careful […] I was numb for a couple of minutes as it was a large amount of money. – (26-year-old female office manager from South Australia)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>These scams have become highly sophisticated and criminals have become less discriminating about whom they target. This is reflected in recent victim demographics, showing a wide variety of backgrounds, a more even distribution across several age groups, and an almost even split on gender.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494408/original/file-20221109-21-4mauh4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A bar chart showing most age groups are almost equally targeted" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494408/original/file-20221109-21-4mauh4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494408/original/file-20221109-21-4mauh4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494408/original/file-20221109-21-4mauh4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494408/original/file-20221109-21-4mauh4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494408/original/file-20221109-21-4mauh4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494408/original/file-20221109-21-4mauh4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494408/original/file-20221109-21-4mauh4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Age groups of scam victims.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">scamwatch.gov.au</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A radial chart showing female scam victims comprise 49%, male 48% and gender X the rest" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494409/original/file-20221109-24-24ku3v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494409/original/file-20221109-24-24ku3v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494409/original/file-20221109-24-24ku3v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494409/original/file-20221109-24-24ku3v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494409/original/file-20221109-24-24ku3v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494409/original/file-20221109-24-24ku3v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494409/original/file-20221109-24-24ku3v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gender distribution for reported scams.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">scamwatch.gov.au</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So, how can you spot these scams and where can you get help if you have fallen victim?</p>
<h2>If it sounds too good to be true, it might just be a scam</h2>
<blockquote>
<p>I was dumbfounded, to say that ground shattered under my feet would be an understatement, it will take me a very long time to recover from it, financially and mentally. – (36-year-old female, legal practitioner from Victoria)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Most crypto scams involve getting the victim to buy and send cryptocurrency to the perpetrator’s account for what appears to be a legitimate investment opportunity.</p>
<p>Cryptocurrency is the currency of choice for this type of crime, because it’s unregulated, untraceable and transactions cannot be reversed. </p>
<p>Victims of such scams are targeted using a number of different methods, which include:</p>
<p><strong>Investment scams:</strong> scammers pretend to be investment managers claiming high returns on crypto investments. They get the victim to transfer over funds and escape with them.</p>
<p><strong>“Pump and dump”:</strong> scammers usually hype up a new cryptocurrency or an <a href="https://www.kaspersky.com/resource-center/preemptive-safety/how-to-avoid-nft-scams">NFT project</a> and artificially increase its value. Once enough victims invest, the scammers sell their stake, leaving the victims with worthless cryptocurrency or NFT.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nfts-an-overblown-speculative-bubble-inflated-by-pop-culture-and-crypto-mania-174462">NFTs, an overblown speculative bubble inflated by pop culture and crypto mania</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Romance scams:</strong> involves scammers using dating platforms, social media or direct messaging to engage with you, gain your trust and pitch an amazing investment opportunity promising high returns, or ask for cryptocurrency to cover medical or travel expenses.</p>
<p><strong>Phishing scams:</strong> an old but still effective scam involving malicious emails or messages with links to fake websites promising huge returns on investment or just outright stealing credentials to access users’ digital currency wallets.</p>
<p><strong>Ponzi schemes:</strong> a type of investment scam where the scammers use cryptocurrency gathered from multiple victims to repay high interest to some of them; when victims invest more funds, the scammers escape with all the investments.</p>
<p><strong>Mining scams:</strong> scammers try and convince victims to buy cryptocurrency to use in mining more of it, while in reality there is no mining happening – the scammers just make transfers that look like returns on the investment. Over time, the victim invests more, and the scammers keep taking it all.</p>
<p>Although methods evolve and change, the telltale signs of a potential scam remain relatively similar:</p>
<ul>
<li>very high returns with promises of little or no risk</li>
<li>proprietary or secretive strategies to gain an advantage</li>
<li>lack of liquidity, requiring a minimum accumulation amount before funds are released.</li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/crypto-theft-is-on-the-rise-heres-how-the-crimes-are-committed-and-how-you-can-protect-yourself-176027">Crypto theft is on the rise. Here's how the crimes are committed, and how you can protect yourself</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Where to seek help if you’ve been scammed</h2>
<blockquote>
<p>I felt helpless, I didn’t know what to do, who to reach out to, I was too embarrassed and just kept blaming myself. – (72-year-old male, accountant from Victoria)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>If you think you have fallen victim to one of these scams, here is what you need to do next:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>inform the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) <a href="https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/report-a-scam">here</a> or reach out to relevant authorities <a href="https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/get-help/where-to-get-help">as per advice on the ScamWatch website</a></p></li>
<li><p>reach out to your friends and family members and inform them of the scam; they can also be a source of help and support during such times</p></li>
<li><p>as these events can have a psychological impact, it’s recommended you talk to your GP, a health professional, or someone you trust</p></li>
<li><p>you can also reach out to counselling services such as <a href="http://www.lifeline.org.au/">LifeLine</a>, <a href="https://www.beyondblue.org.au/">beyond blue</a>, <a href="http://www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au/">Sucide Call Back Service</a>, <a href="http://www.mensline.org.au/">Mens Line</a>, and <a href="https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/get-help/where-to-get-help">more</a> for help and support.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>If you ever find yourself in a difficult situation, please remember help and support is available.</p>
<p>Finally, to prevent yourself becoming the next statistic over the holiday period, keep in mind the following advice:</p>
<ul>
<li>don’t share your personal details with people online or over a call</li>
<li>don’t invest in something you don’t understand</li>
<li>if in doubt, talk to an expert or search online for resources yourself (don’t believe any links the scammers send you).</li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-there-so-many-data-breaches-a-growing-industry-of-criminals-is-brokering-in-stolen-data-193015">Why are there so many data breaches? A growing industry of criminals is brokering in stolen data</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194064/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The work has been supported by the Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre Limited whose activities are partially funded by the Australian government’s Cooperative Research Centres Programme.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>The work has been supported by the Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre Limited whose activities are partially funded by the Australian government’s Cooperative Research Centres Programme.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeb Webb does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As criminals become more indiscriminate, anyone can fall for a scam – even you. But there are ways to stay vigilant and seek help.Ashish Nanda, CyberCRC Research Fellow, Centre for Cyber Security Research and Innovation (CSRI), Deakin UniversityJeb Webb, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Cyber Security Research and Innovation (CSRI), Deakin UniversityJongkil Jay Jeong, CyberCRC Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Cyber Security Research and Innovation (CSRI), Deakin UniversityMohammad Reza Nosouhi, CyberCRC Research Fellow, Centre for Cyber Security Research and Innovation (CSRI), Deakin University, Deakin UniversitySyed Wajid Ali Shah, CSCRC Research Fellow, Centre for Cyber Security Research and Innovation, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1839302022-06-10T12:27:00Z2022-06-10T12:27:00ZHow Ivorian cyber-scammers help us to understand the magic of the internet<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468194/original/file-20220610-28923-texcho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1888%2C1413&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In Côte d'Ivoire, brouteurs are known for chasing a life of fame and fortune. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alexander Newell</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Societies that identify as “modern” tend to categorise people who believe in an invisible world of magic and spirits as irrational and superstitious, thereby excluding them from modernity. But have they ever considered the invisible forces of the digital world might not be that far away from those of witchcraft?</p>
<h2>Overlapping worlds</h2>
<p>African studies have long wrestled with how to represent the phenomena of witchcraft, magic and spirits in cultural life across Africa. Scholars fear that writing about these topics encourages stereotypes about African superstition, yet many recognise the occult is an unavoidable part of the lives of those about whom they are writing. </p>
<p>At the same time, in the global North and almost everywhere else in the world, over the last 20 years our lives have been invaded by invisible agents of which most of us have very little understanding, agents that follow us everywhere, record our every preference and purchase, our personal exchanges with others, our very footsteps. I’m talking about our smartphones.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">An extract from <em>Vivre Riche</em> (“To live rich”), a documentary by Joël Akafou about <em>brouteurs</em>.</span></figcaption>
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<p>I was taught to see the Internet this way in <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/modernity-bluff-crime-consumption-and-citizenship-in-cote-divoire/oclc/1172630868">Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire</a>, where my research into <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/abs/hackers-of-the-heart-digital-sorcery-and-virtual-intimacy-in-cote-divoire/6E33C4B9BB253B3BAC7930B46A18093B">cybercrime and sorcery</a> made me believe we can use the virtual worlds of sorcery to understand the virtual worlds of the Internet. Because we all share experiences of the Internet, this comparison may also help readers imagine what it feels like to live in a world where witchcraft and magic are part of everyday experience.</p>
<h2>The art of masquerade: life as a <em>brouteur</em> in Côte d’Ivoire</h2>
<p><em>Brouteurs</em>, or “cyber-scammers” in local slang, are seen as Robin Hood figures who take from the global rich to give to the people, eventually reaping the benefits of celebrity and a luxurious lifestyle. They operate by building social media avatars that surf the web in search of romantic relations with comparatively wealthy residents of the global North. When they find a <em>mougou</em> (victim), they build a relationship of intimacy and trust using their fake digital persona, deploying deft cultural performances and seductive craft to manipulate the mind of their target. Though most <em>brouteurs</em> are young African men, they present themselves most often as white women, crossing both racial and gender lines in their performances.</p>
<p>The goal is to eventually get the <em>mougou</em> to open his or her wallets, not once, but as many times as can plausibly be requested. Here, <em>brouteurs</em> will typically resort to stories involving gender and race stereotypes: abusive parents, misadventures while on business or tourist ventures in Africa, lost passports, cancelled flights, corrupt police officers, and life-threatening illness are common tales of the trade.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465680/original/file-20220527-13-bmp45d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465680/original/file-20220527-13-bmp45d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465680/original/file-20220527-13-bmp45d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465680/original/file-20220527-13-bmp45d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465680/original/file-20220527-13-bmp45d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465680/original/file-20220527-13-bmp45d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465680/original/file-20220527-13-bmp45d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Ivorians gather at a <em>fête des brouteurs</em>.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alexander Newell</span></span>
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<p>Lured by the lucrative prospects of the trade, most <em>brouteurs</em> will tap into a new form of sorcery called <a href="http://www.informationssansfrontieres.com/conflits/191.html"><em>zamou</em></a> that aims to influence people across the Internet. This might involve a number of spells, such as <a href="https://www-cairn-info.ezproxy.ulb.ac.be/revue-autrepart-2014-3-page-195.htm">attaching amulets to their computers or phones</a> in the hope of enhancing their power.</p>
<p>Witnessing the <em>brouteurs</em>’ lavish spending, fast cars and conspicuous drinking, Ivorians often question their morality. There are rumours that they will go to any lengths to get rich through the Internet, including engaging in human sacrifice, forming pacts with spirits to sacrifice their fertility, or even trading future years of their own life for a present filled with fame and fortune. For their critics, this explains the many deadly car crashes involving <em>brouteurs</em>, whose lives end abruptly when they must settle their dues to the genies whom they have dealt with.</p>
<h2>Second dimensions</h2>
<p>As in many parts of Africa, the invisible realm of witchcraft and magic is conceived as a <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/kinshasa-tales-of-the-invisible-city/oclc/1049716012">second world</a> that overlaps with visible reality. All creatures and things have a double in that world – a second version of themselves that is linked to their everyday material body.</p>
<p>When someone attacks another person through occult means, they pass into the second invisible world and target their double there. Not long afterwards, terrible things will happen to the victim’s real body: a car crash, a building collapse, or illness. Thus, inexplicable misfortune is understood to be the result of actions in this shared virtual space, actions visible only to those with “a second pair of eyes” to see in that world. In talking to Ivorians about Internet scammers and their digital sorcery, I realised there were strong similarities between the technological capacities of digital worlds and the occult possibilities in the second world. Indeed, for Ivorians, these spheres often overlap.</p>
<p>The anthropologists Neil Whitehead and Sverker Finnström have <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/virtual-war-and-magical-death-technologies-and-imaginaries-for-terror-and-killing/oclc/871675638&referer=brief_results">similarly argued</a> contemporary warfare that relies on virtual representations to kill one’s enemies (for example, piloted drones, cyber-warfare, night vision or satellite surveillance) perfectly resonates with the already existing imagination of witchcraft and magic as virtual spaces through which one can attack and kill others invisibly.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465690/original/file-20220527-25-wn11rc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465690/original/file-20220527-25-wn11rc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465690/original/file-20220527-25-wn11rc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465690/original/file-20220527-25-wn11rc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465690/original/file-20220527-25-wn11rc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465690/original/file-20220527-25-wn11rc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465690/original/file-20220527-25-wn11rc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption"><em>Brouteurs</em> are perhaps cannier than most Westerners in their recognition of the magical forces that shape the Internet.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alexander Newell</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Internet is also riven with invisible forces through which capitalist entrepreneurs and criminals alike drain our income and gather our data, often without our awareness. Gossip and “fake news” that circulate through viral pathways of social networks play an important role in determining the moral and political shape of our world, helping to elect presidents, undermine election results and destroy reputations overnight. Just as a placebo can heal when presented as true medicine, it is possible to kill through symbols by convincing someone they will die.</p>
<h2>Recognising the magic of the Internet: from e-mails to data surveillance</h2>
<p>Last but not least, digital technologies can drastically shake our trust in social relations around us, be they shifting avatars, e-mails masquerading as official bank communications, or advertisements customised to respond to our movements in physical and digital space. Is it any wonder such a world – where rumour and news co-exist on the same media platforms – sees us believe that <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-flashing-warning-of-qanon">Satanic US politicians could be trafficking children</a>, or that in Côte d’Ivoire, close family members might secretly be witches selling their own kin’s bodies for profit?</p>
<p>Ivorians engage with both forms of the virtual at once, and it is no wonder that they see the Internet as full of nefarious and often inhuman agents with unseen powers to enrich, impoverish, create and destroy. <em>Brouteurs</em> employ digital sorcery, literally and figuratively, to enrich themselves and, as they put it, take back the “colonial debt” they are owed by “the West.”</p>
<p>Understanding these Ivorian digital performances as potent magic helps to see these tales of the occult as insightful theories rather than irrational superstition. Indeed, most of us engage the magic of Internet with very little technical understanding of the forces that make it possible, nor the dangerous enchantment it has wrought, entangling the very pathways of intimacy with <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/age-of-surveillance-capitalism-the-fight-for-the-future-at-the-new-frontier-of-power/oclc/1028528731">data surveillance</a>, private profit, and openings for the dark arts of digital sorcery.</p>
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<p><em>Sasha Newell presented his work at the symposium « Modernités africaines. Conversations, circulations, décentrement » (« African modernities. Conversations, circulation, de-centring »), which took place from 9 to 11 June 2022 at the École normale supérieure (ENS). Please find the full program of the event here <a href="https://humanitesglobales.ens.psl.eu/pages/">here</a> .</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183930/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexander Newell a reçu des financements du F.R.S.-FNRS, Actions de Recherches Concertées ULB, Mellon Fellowship, et la Fondation Wenner Gren. </span></em></p>By casting spells and creating online persona to fool their victims, the Ivorian figure of the “brouteur” reveals the connections between the occult and virtual dimensions.Alexander (Sasha) Newell, Anthropologist, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1774192022-05-05T20:05:52Z2022-05-05T20:05:52ZTo keep people — and their money — safe online, regulate dating platforms<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461301/original/file-20220504-16-xbr9yf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5472%2C3628&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An increasing number of people are falling victim to cryptocurrency scams on dating websites.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>You meet an attractive stranger on a dating site. They live in your city and you hit it off right away. Soon, you’re texting with them frequently and making plans to meet in person. You’ve been lonely and isolated amid lockdowns, and this person relieves the anguish, so you seem to be spending all your time chatting with them. </p>
<p>What’s even better is that they’re doing great, financially. They got into the crypto investment boom at the right time and have seen their savings balloon. You really like them, so when they encourage you to take the dip together and put your own savings into crypto assets, it feels natural.</p>
<p>Like <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/21/technology/crypto-scammers-new-target-dating-apps.html">thousands around the world</a>, you have been scammed. </p>
<p>The crypto exchange you’ve put your money in is fake, a front set up by the same scammers who created the persona of your online partner — who doesn’t exist. You can go to the authorities, but the money cannot be traced. It now makes up part of the <a href="https://time.com/nextadvisor/investing/cryptocurrency/common-crypto-scams/">US$14 billion estimated to have been stolen this way</a> during the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>
<h2>Online connections</h2>
<p>During a period when social distancing became synonymous with personal and public safety, online technologies have facilitated connection with other people. In my ongoing research on how Haitian gay migrants in North America and Europe develop romantic relationships with partners in Haiti, I have seen how dating and messaging apps enable and support connections across borders. </p>
<p>The past few years have seen constant hype surrounding cryptocurrencies — new forms of digital currency that promise to revolutionize the global economy through decentralization. </p>
<p>But their ease of use, together with a lack of government oversight and regulation, have created the perfect conditions for new kinds of cyber-financial crimes around the world. For example, the “pig-butchering” scam uses promises of love and financial gain to lure unsuspecting people into investing in bogus cryptocurrency trading platforms. And <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8707720/alberta-woman-conned-money-online-lothario/">the number of victims is on the rise</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/organized-crime-has-infiltrated-online-dating-with-sophisticated-pig-butchering-scams-177445">Organized crime has infiltrated online dating with sophisticated 'pig-butchering' scams</a>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">A crypto ad broadcast during the 2022 Super Bowl event.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Mainstream media reports of people making <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnhyatt/2022/04/05/the-richest-crypto-and-blockchain-billionaires-in-the-world-2022/?sh=4719577b580d">vast overnight fortunes through cryptocurrencies are frequent</a>. But this is only one side of the story — the media hype has drowned out stories about how cryptocurrencies have become the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/4169ea4b-d6d7-4a2e-bc91-480550c2f539">top form of payment for criminal activity thanks to their anonymity and privacy</a>. </p>
<p>And criminal gangs have capitalized on the increased interest: posing online as successful crypto traders, they take advantage of their marks’ lack of experience.</p>
<h2>Keeping Canadians safe</h2>
<p>Online scams have major emotional and financial consequences for their victims. Some of them have seen their entire life savings vanish, leaving them to deal with <a href="https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/she-lost-240000-in-pig-butchering-cryptocurrency-scam-after-fraudster-courted-her-for-months">insurmountable debts</a> in addition to <a href="https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/they-re-bloodsuckers-montreal-man-says-he-lost-nearly-400-000-in-cryptocurrency-scam-1.5671525">symptoms arising</a> from <a href="https://bc.ctvnews.ca/hugely-traumatizing-romance-scams-on-the-rise-in-metro-vancouver-police-warn-1.5678069">post-traumatic stress</a>, as well as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/jan/10/it-felt-like-losing-a-husband-the-fraudsters-breaking-hearts-and-emptying-bank-accounts">victim-blaming and shame</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461304/original/file-20220504-21-3qzxxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="two women appear shocked as they look at a laptop screen" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461304/original/file-20220504-21-3qzxxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461304/original/file-20220504-21-3qzxxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461304/original/file-20220504-21-3qzxxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461304/original/file-20220504-21-3qzxxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461304/original/file-20220504-21-3qzxxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461304/original/file-20220504-21-3qzxxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461304/original/file-20220504-21-3qzxxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Online scams can leave victims traumatized and ashamed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>Authorities are reacting, although late. The United Kingdom was the first country to introduce an Online Safety Bill to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/mar/08/internet-scams-now-included-in-uk-online-safety-bill">stop fraudsters using fake online adverts</a>. To force institutions to tackle online scams, such as romance scams, the bill will make <a href="https://www.pymnts.com/news/security-and-risk/2022/uk-online-safety-bill-can-reduce-authorized-push-payment-fraud/">reimbursements mandatory to victims</a>.</p>
<p>In the United States, the <a href="https://www.koin.com/top-stories/fbi-issues-new-warning-about-scam-using-dating-sites-crypto/">Federal Bureau of Investigation</a> has launched media campaigns to increase awareness about sophisticated scams. In the same vein, Biden signed <a href="https://time.com/nextadvisor/investing/cryptocurrency/biden-executive-order-crypto-expert-reaction/">an executive order to regulate the cryptocurrency industry</a>. </p>
<p>In 2018, India considered <a href="https://www.medianama.com/2022/03/223-cryptocurrency-regulation-india-legal-anatomy/">banning cryptocurrencies altogether</a>, before imposing a tax as a form of regulation instead. And some banks and governmental institutions in France have sent out alerts to app users warning them about <a href="https://www.cafedelabourse.com/actualites/crypto-monnaie-gare-arnaques-sites-blacklistes">scams impersonating their organizations</a>. </p>
<h2>National regulation</h2>
<p>Given the <a href="https://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/features-vedette/2022/02/romance-rencontre-eng.htm">alarming number of victims of online dating scams in Canada</a>, the federal government should include strengthened safeguards against online scams in its <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/harmful-online-content.html">new commitment to keep Canadians safe online</a>. </p>
<p>The new regulatory framework for online safety that <a href="https://www.thestar.com/politics/political-opinion/2022/04/19/elon-musks-attempt-to-buy-twitter-should-be-setting-off-alarm-bells-in-ottawa.html">the Canadian government is currently developing</a> must include provisions to hold online services accountable. These services include cryptocurrency trading and exchange platforms, online banking, dating apps and social media.</p>
<p>As the government moves toward creating safer online experiences for Canadians, there should also be a concerted effort to combat growing dating and crypto investment scams.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177419/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carlo Handy Charles receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada as a Vanier Scholar. He is also a Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholar. He is a fellow at the Convergence Migration Insitute in Paris.</span></em></p>Online dating scams are costing site users millions of dollars. Regulation needs to hold companies accountable for fraud committed on their platforms.Carlo Handy Charles, Ph.D. Candidate, Sociology and Geography, McMaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1772152022-03-22T12:15:15Z2022-03-22T12:15:15ZOlder Americans are given the wrong idea about online safety – here’s how to help them help themselves<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453445/original/file-20220321-5945-qesnne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C5%2C4000%2C2652&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Telling elders scary stories about online scammers is not the best way to keep them safe.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/midsection-of-senior-woman-using-mobile-phone-royalty-free-image/1306726470">Olga Gavrilenko/EyeEm via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Recently, the U.S. Social Security Administration <a href="https://blog.ssa.gov/my-social-security-what-to-know-about-signing-up-or-signing-in/">sent out an email</a> to subscribers of its official blog explaining how to access social security statements online. Most people know to be suspicious of seemingly official emails with links to websites asking for credentials. </p>
<p>But for older adults who are wary of the prevalence of scams targeting their demographic, such an email can be particularly alarming since they have been told that the SSA <a href="https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-2020/social-security-email.html#:%7E:text=Social%20Security%20will%20never%20send,in%20exchange%20for%20a%20payment.">never sends emails</a>. From <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3465217">our research</a> designing <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3411764.3445071">cybersecurity safeguards</a> for older adults, we believe there is legitimate cause for alarm. </p>
<p>This population has been schooled in a tactical approach to online safety grounded in fear and mistrust – even of themselves – and focused on specific threats rather than developing strategies that enable them to be online safely. Elders have been taught this approach by organizations they tend to trust, including <a href="https://www.aarp.org/about-aarp/info-2021/oats-senior-planet.html">nonprofits that teach older adults how to use technology</a>.</p>
<p>These organizations present a view of older adults as highly vulnerable and encourage them to defend themselves in ways that could put them at risk. As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=_VdWyEcAAAAJ&hl=en">information technology</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=u3BoLzgAAAAJ&hl=en">researchers</a>, we believe it doesn’t need to be this way.</p>
<h2>Older adults and online safety</h2>
<p>Older adults may be at heightened risk of cybersecurity breaches and <a href="https://www.lifelock.com/learn/identity-theft-resources/seniors-victims-of-identity-theft">fraudulent behavior</a> because they lack experience with internet technology and represent a <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/scams-older-adults_n_1317285">financially attractive target</a>. Older adults may also be more susceptible because they struggle with their confidence in using technology even as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2010.06.020">they recognize its benefits</a>. </p>
<p>We have been <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445071">developing technology tools</a> that help aging Americans maintain their own online safety no matter what challenges they may face, <a href="https://www.usenix.org/system/files/soups2020-mcdonald.pdf">including cognitive decline</a>. To do so, we needed to understand what and how the people we study are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3465217">learning about cybersecurity threats</a> and what strategies they are being taught to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300573">reduce their vulnerabilities</a>. </p>
<p>We have found that older adults attempt to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3465217">draw on personal experience</a> to develop strategies to reduce privacy violations and security threats. For the most part, they are successful at detecting threats by being on the lookout for activities they did not initiate – for example, an account they do not have. However, outside experts <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3432954">have an inordinate amount of influence</a> on those with less perceived ability or experience with technology.</p>
<h2>What ‘experts’ are telling older Americans</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, the guidance that older adults are getting from those who presumably have authority on the matter is less than ideal. </p>
<p>Perhaps the loudest of those voices is <a href="https://www.aarp.org/">AARP</a>, a U.S. advocacy group that has been carrying out a mission to “empower” individuals as they age for over six decades. In that time, it has established a commanding print and online presence. Its magazine reached <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aarp-the-magazine-has-the-highest-readership-of-all-us-magazines-mri-finds-300573427.html">over 38 million mailboxes in 2017</a>, and it is an <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/heres-why-ill-never-ever-join-the-aarp/2016/11/11/f95c14de-a790-11e6-8042-f4d111c862d1_story.html">effective advocacy group</a>. </p>
<p>What we found was that the AARP communiqués on cybersecurity use storytelling to create cartoonish folktales of internet deception. A regularly featured diet of sensational titles like “<a href="https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-2017/military-scams-fd.html">Grandparent Gotchas</a>,” “<a href="https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-05-2010/spring_swindles.html">Sweepstakes Swindles</a>” and “<a href="https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-10-2011/fraud-scams-to-watch-for-2012.html">Devilish Diagnoses</a>” depict current and emerging threats. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453433/original/file-20220321-27-jwsvp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses types on a laptop computer" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453433/original/file-20220321-27-jwsvp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453433/original/file-20220321-27-jwsvp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453433/original/file-20220321-27-jwsvp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453433/original/file-20220321-27-jwsvp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453433/original/file-20220321-27-jwsvp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453433/original/file-20220321-27-jwsvp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453433/original/file-20220321-27-jwsvp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Much of the cybersecurity advice given to elders fosters the cartoonish misconception that flesh-and-blood scam artists lurk in their midst.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/hacker-man-with-laptop-stealing-personal-data-from-royalty-free-image/1093756844">5m3photos/Moment via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>These scenarios appeal to readers the way crime shows have historically appealed to TV audiences: by using narrative devices to alarm and thrill. Ultimately they also delude viewers by leaving them with the misconception that they can use what they’ve learned in those stories to defend themselves against criminal threats. </p>
<h2>Folktales and foibles</h2>
<p>One job of folktales is to spell out the hazards that a culture wants its members to learn in childhood. But by presenting cyber-risk as a set of ever-evolving stories that focuses on particular risks, the AARP advisories shift attention away from basic principles to anecdotes. This requires readers to compare their online experiences with specific stories, which puts themselves at the center of the narrative. </p>
<p>Our analysis of hundreds of blog posts issued by AARP from 2004 to 2020, as well as our ongoing <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3465217">research on</a> <a href="https://www.usenix.org/conference/soups2020/presentation/mcdonald">older couples</a> over the last four years, shows that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3610039">this narrative approach can encourage engagement</a>. We used <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Discourse+Analysis%2C+3rd+Edition-p-9781119257691">discourse analysis</a>, which is a common social science technique for analyzing the meaning of text, to assess the themes people were exposed to and posit what the effects might be. </p>
<p>Readers are implicitly encouraged to assess the plausibility of particular scenarios with questions like, Is it possible that I have any unpaid back taxes? And, Do I actually have an extended warranty? It requires people to catalogue each of these stories and then work out for themselves each time whether an unsolicited message is a real threat based on its content, rather than the person’s circumstances.</p>
<h2>No, it’s not personal</h2>
<p>Through this inventory of stories and characters, we also found that the AARP was personalizing what is, at root, a set of structural threats, impersonal by nature. The stories often characterize scammers as people in the reader’s very midst who use local news to manipulate older adults. </p>
<p>Real threats are not “sweepstake swindlers” or “Facebook unfriendlies,” with a live scam artist sensitive to the needs and foibles of each intended victim. There is rarely a human relationship between the cyber-scammer and the victim – no con artists behind the notorious “grandparents scam.” The AARP bulletins and advisories imply that there is – or, at least, implicitly foster that old-fashioned view of a direct relationship between swindler and victim.</p>
<h2>Don’t engage</h2>
<p>Perhaps even more worrisome, according to our analysis of 162 AARP blog posts randomly selected from 518 relevant articles about internet security and privacy, AARP advisories appear to encourage investigation into scenarios, when engagement of any sort puts people at risk.</p>
<p>In one post alerting people to “<a href="https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-2017/military-scams-fd.html">8 Military-Themed Imposter Scams</a>,” they discuss “prices too good to be true,” when the very concept of buying a car on Craigslist, or an “active-duty service member” urgently selling a car, should be a red flag discouraging any form of engagement.</p>
<p>Internet users of any age, but especially more vulnerable populations, should be urged to withdraw from threats, not be cast as sleuths in their own suspense stories.</p>
<h2>Protecting older adults in the age of surveillance capitalism</h2>
<p>In order to reduce everyone’s risk while online, we believe it’s important to provide a set of well-curated principles rather than presenting people with a set of stories to learn. Everyone exposed to threats online, but especially those most at risk, needs a checklist of cautions and strong rules against engagement whenever there is doubt. </p>
<p>In short, the best strategy is to simply ignore unsolicited outreach altogether, particularly from organizations you don’t do business with. People need to be reminded that their own context, behaviors and relationships are all that matter. </p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?nl=weekly&source=inline-weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Because, in the end, it’s not just about tools, it’s about worldview. Ultimately, for everyone to make effective, consistent use of security tools, people need a theory of the online world that educates them about the <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-surveillance-capitalism-and-how-does-it-shape-our-economy-119158">rudiments of surveillance capitalism</a>. </p>
<p>We believe people should be taught to see their online selves as reconstructions made out of data, as unreal as bots. This is admittedly a difficult idea because people have a hard time imagining themselves as separate from the data they generate, and recognizing that their online lives are affected by algorithms that analyze and act on that data. </p>
<p>But it is an important concept – and one that we see older adults embracing in our research when they tell us that while they are frustrated with receiving spam, they are learning to ignore the communications that reflect “selves” they don’t identify with.</p>
<p>The Conversation asked AARP for comment. A spokesperson pointed out that this unpublished study has not yet been peer reviewed. He said that the AARP feels it misrepresents their robust anti-fraud work done in partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Postal Service and many state attorneys general. Nearly 100,000 people sought help last year from the AARP’s Fraud Watch Network, according to the organization.</p>
<p><em>Editor’s note: This article has been amended to include more information about the scholars’ methodology and to include a statement from the AARP.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177215/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nora McDonald receives funding from the National Science Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helena M. Mentis receives funding from the National Science Foundation. </span></em></p>Older Americans are often taught to be fearful of hackers and scammers in their midst while also being told to investigate potential threats. Better advice is to not engage.Nora McDonald, Assistant Professor of Information Technology, University of Cincinnati Helena M. Mentis, Professor of Information Systems, University of Maryland, Baltimore CountyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1760272022-02-03T05:59:33Z2022-02-03T05:59:33ZCrypto theft is on the rise. Here’s how the crimes are committed, and how you can protect yourself<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444197/original/file-20220203-17-bixps8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=47%2C35%2C7940%2C4455&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2022/02/02/blockchain-bridge-wormhole-suffers-possible-exploit-worth-over-250m/">News emerged</a> overnight of the potential theft of more than US$326 million (A$457.7 million) of Ethereum tokens from a blockchain bridge (which connects two blockchains so cryptocurrency can be exchanged between them). </p>
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<p>It’s no surprise. Crypto crime has been on the rise – especially since the pandemic began. How are these crimes committed? And what can you do to stay ahead of scammers? </p>
<h2>Direct theft vs scams</h2>
<p>There are two main ways criminals obtain cryptocurrency: stealing it directly, or using a scheme to trick people into handing it over. </p>
<p>In 2021, crypto criminals directly stole a record US$3.2 billion (A$4.48 billion) worth of cryptocurrency, according to <a href="https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/2022-crypto-crime-report-introduction/">Chainalysis</a>. That’s a <a href="https://go.chainalysis.com/2021-Crypto-Crime-Report.html">fivefold increase</a> from 2020. But schemes continue to overshadow outright theft, enabling scammers to lure US$7.8 billion (A$10.95 billion) worth of cryptocurrency from unsuspecting victims. </p>
<p>Crypto crime is a fast-growing enterprise. The rise of the crypto economy and decentralised finance (or DeFi), coupled with <a href="https://time.com/nextadvisor/investing/cryptocurrency/bitcoin-record-high-price/">record</a> cryptocurrency prices in 2021, has provided criminals with lucrative opportunities.</p>
<p>Australian data confirm the global trends. The <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/publications/targeting-scams-report-on-scam-activity/targeting-scams-report-of-the-accc-on-scam-activity-2020">Australian Consumer and Competition Commission reported</a> more than A$26 million was lost to scams involving cryptocurrency in 2020 from 1,985 reports. In December, federal police <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-08/cryptocurrency-scams-targeting-australians-losing-millions/100678848?utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web">told the ABC</a> crypto scam losses for 2021 exceeded A$100 million. That’s despite many incidents likely left unreported, often due to embarrassment by victims. </p>
<h2>Theft from exchanges</h2>
<p>Most consumers obtain cryptocurrency from an <a href="https://www.finder.com.au/cryptocurrency/exchanges">exchange</a>. This involves opening an account and depositing currency, such as Australian dollars, before converting it to a chosen cryptocurrency. </p>
<p>Typically the cryptocurrency is held in a “custodial wallet”. That means it’s assigned to the consumer’s account, but the private keys that control the cryptocurrency are held by the exchange. In other words, the exchange stores the cryptocurrency on the consumer’s behalf. </p>
<p>But just as a bank doesn’t hold all of its deposits in cash, an exchange will only hold enough cryptocurrency in “hot” wallets (connected to the internet) to facilitate customer transactions. For security, the remainder is held in “cold” wallets (not connected to the internet). </p>
<p>Unlike a bank, however, the government does not have a <a href="https://www.apra.gov.au/about-financial-claims-scheme">financial claims scheme</a> to guarantee cryptocurrency deposits if the exchange goes bust. </p>
<p>The recent BitMart hack is a cautionary tale. On December 4, <a href="https://support.bmx.fund//hc/en-us/sections/360000817854-Media-">the exchange announced</a> it had “identified a large-scale security breach” resulting in the theft of about US$150 million (A$210.6 million) in crypto assets from hot wallets. </p>
<p>BitMart temporarily suspended withdrawals and later promised it would use its “own funding to cover the incident and compensate affected users”. It’s unclear when this will happen, with the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/07/cryptocurrency-theft-bitmart-still-owes-victims-of-200-million-hack.html">CNBC reporting in January</a> that customers were still unable to access their cryptocurrency. BitMart wasn’t the first exchange to be hacked, and it won’t be the last. </p>
<p>Similarly, consumers may be left with losses if an exchange fails for commercial reasons, rather than theft. Australians were left stranded in December when liquidators were <a href="https://publishednotices.asic.gov.au/browsesearch-notices/notice-details/myCryptoWallet-Pty-Ltd-619265548/cf805712-a08f-46f2-8ace-45ab1300cb10">appointed over Melbourne-based exchange myCryptoWallet</a>. </p>
<p>One way consumers can protect themselves from exchange theft, or insolvency, is to transfer their cryptocurrency from the exchange to a software wallet (a secure application installed on a computer or smartphone) or a hardware wallet (a hardware device that can be disconnected from the computer and internet). </p>
<p>The cryptocurrency will then be under your direct control. But be warned, if you lose your private keys, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/15/uk-man-makes-last-ditch-effort-to-recover-lost-bitcoin-hard-drive.html">you lose your cryptocurrency</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-metaverse-is-money-and-crypto-is-king-why-youll-be-on-a-blockchain-when-youre-virtual-world-hopping-171659">The metaverse is money and crypto is king – why you'll be on a blockchain when you're virtual-world hopping</a>
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<h2>Types of scams</h2>
<p>Drawing on the ACCC’s latest edition of <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/publications/the-little-black-book-of-scams">the Little Black Book of Scams</a>, the following types of scam are commonly observed in the cryptocurrency space, where the scammer is not personally known to the target: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Email phishing</p>
<p>The scammer sends unsolicited emails asking for personal login details, which can be used to steal cryptocurrency. Alternatively, they may offer “prizes” or “rewards” in exchange for a deposit. </p></li>
<li><p>Investment scams</p>
<p>The scammer creates a website that resembles a legitimate investment trading platform. It may be a fraudulent copy of a real business, or a completely bogus one. They may even post fake advertisements on social media platforms, with fake celebrity endorsements. In the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/03/andrew-forrest-launches-criminal-action-against-facebook-over-scam-ads-that-used-his-image">latest news</a>, billionaire mining magnate Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest has launched criminal proceedings against Meta (previously Facebook) for allowing scam ads using his image.
<br><br>
More sophisticated operations will have multiple scammers emailing and calling victims to give the impression of being a legitimate organisation. After cryptocurrency deposits are made, victims may be able to “trade” on the fake platform but can’t withdraw their supposed earnings. Delay tactics include asking for further deposits to be made for fees or taxes. </p></li>
<li><p>Romance scams</p>
<p>The scammer creates a fake profile and matches with victims on a dating app or website. They may then ask for funds to help them with a personal crisis, such as needing a surgery. Or they may say they’re trading cryptocurrency and encourage the target to get involved, leading the victim into an investment scam, as described above. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>If a victim doesn’t already have a cryptocurrency exchange account, scammers may also coach them on how to open one. Some will mislead victims into installing remote access software on their computer, granting the scammer direct access to their internet banking or exchange account. </p>
<h2>Practical challenges</h2>
<p>There are practical legal challenges in the crypto crime environment. While <a href="https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/report-a-scam">reporting scams</a> can be helpful in providing data and intelligence for regulators and law enforcement, it’s unlikely to result in the recovery of funds.</p>
<p>Taking civil legal action may be possible, too, but identifying perpetrators is difficult. Since cryptocurrency is by its very nature global and decentralised, payments are often made to parties outside of Australia. </p>
<p>So prevention is easier than a cure. The main way to avoid being scammed is to ensure you know exactly who you’re dealing with, transact through a reputable exchange and ensure all the channels you go through are verified. If an offer sounds too good to be true, it almost certainly is. </p>
<h2>Regulation on the horizon</h2>
<p>In Australia, cryptocurrency exchanges must be registered with <a href="https://www.austrac.gov.au/">AUSTRAC</a>, in compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terror financing obligations. But there are currently no other licensing requirements (such as capital requirements or cybersecurity, for example). </p>
<p>Last year, the Senate Select Committee into Australia as a Technology and Financial Centre <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Financial_Technology_and_Regulatory_Technology/AusTechFinCentre/Final_report">recommended</a> a more comprehensive licensing framework. The Australian government <a href="https://treasury.gov.au/publication/p2021-231824">agreed with the recommendation</a>, and the federal treasury department is due to begin consulting on what this will look like. </p>
<p>Mandatory measures to curb cryptocurrency crime at the exchange level will likely be high on the agenda.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176027/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aaron M. Lane works for the RMIT University Blockchain Innovation Hub and holds honorary research positions at the UCL Centre for Blockchain Technologies and the University of Divinity. Aaron is a member of the Digital Commerce Committee of the Law Council of Australia. Aaron is also Special Counsel at law firm Duxton Hill where he advises on matters involving cryptocurrency. </span></em></p>Although it’s estimated illicit activity amounts to less than 1% of all cryptocurrency transactions, figures of losses are still staggering – and on the rise.Aaron M. Lane, Senior Lecturer in Law, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1630382021-06-21T15:02:44Z2021-06-21T15:02:44Z‘Scambaiting’: why the vigilantes fighting online fraudsters may do more harm than good<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407444/original/file-20210621-35715-x3lcrx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1050%2C385%2C3715%2C2772&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/malaysia-april-14-2018-mini-figure-1073300447">zaidi razak/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Fraud has reached “<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55769991">epidemic</a>” levels in the UK over the past 12 months, costing up to <a href="https://rusi.org/publication/occasional-papers/silent-threat-impact-fraud-uk-national-security">£190 billion a year</a> and constituting what the Royal United Services Institute has called a “national security threat” in need of an urgent institutional response.</p>
<p>But it’s clear that the police are struggling to keep pace with fraudsters. A 2018 <a href="https://www.which.co.uk/news/2018/09/exclusive-more-than-96-of-reported-fraud-cases-go-unsolved/">Which?</a> report found that an estimated 96% of fraud cases reported to Action Fraud go unsolved. And with scams seemingly <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-there-so-many-text-scams-all-of-a-sudden-161909">on the rise</a>, <a href="https://rusi.org/sites/default/files/cyber_enabled_fraud_bp_final_web_version.pdf">54%</a> of which involve the internet, the problem of online fraud appears to be getting worse.</p>
<p>There are <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-handsome-soldier-with-a-medical-bill-how-romance-scammers-make-you-fall-in-love-with-them-127820">romance scammers</a> forming bogus online relationships with their victims, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-avoid-scams-when-buying-a-pet-online-153138">pet scammers</a> setting up thousands of websites selling animals that don’t exist, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/phishing-scams-are-becoming-ever-more-sophisticated-and-firms-are-struggling-to-keep-up-73934">phishing scammers</a> using fear and urgency to obtain sensitive personal information from victims.</p>
<p>In response to the growing threat of online fraud, volunteers have taken the matter of policing scams into their own hands, with some forming vigilante groups of “<a href="https://conversation.which.co.uk/money/what-is-scambaiting-romance-fraud-explained/">scambaiters</a>” who seek to identify and disrupt scammers where police forces have failed.</p>
<p>But while scambaiters may be effective in reducing online fraud, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1756061621000276">our study</a> has shown they’re also controversial, with some communities rewarding scambaiters who humiliate or inflict harm on scammers. On closer inspection, this form of vigilante justice may actually do more harm than good.</p>
<h2>What is scambaiting?</h2>
<p>The most basic form of scambaiting sets out to waste a scammer’s time. At a minimum, scambaiters attempt to make scammers answer countless questions or perform pointless and random tasks. By keeping a scammer busy, scambaiters claim they’re preventing the scammer from defrauding a real victim. </p>
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<p>Scambaiting may also be conducted with a specific purpose in mind. Sometimes scambaiters attempt to obtain an offender’s bank account information, for instance, which they then report to a financial institution. But there are other, less benevolent motives in the scambaiting community.</p>
<p>Thousands of scambaiters are organised on the 419eater forum, which describes itself as the “largest scambaiting community on earth”, with over 1.7 million forum threads. The forum was <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/nigerian-scams">first established in 2003</a> to tackle the growing issue of <a href="https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/a-z-of-fraud/419-emails-and-letters">419 emails</a> – a scam that promises people huge sums of cash in return for a small upfront fee.</p>
<p>419eater provides a particularly interesting case study because members are incentivised and rewarded for their scambaits through a unique system of icons, regarded as trophies, that they can obtain in their profile’s signature lines. </p>
<h2>Hunting trophies</h2>
<p>These trophies can be fairly benign. Some icons are awarded for exceptionally long scambaits, or for securing a photo or video of the scammer. But other trophies may cause lasting damage to an offender’s physical and mental wellbeing. </p>
<p>The yin yang trophy symbol, for example, represents an offender getting a permanent tattoo. Given that those targeted are often located in some of the poorest communities in West Africa, this exposes the offender to a greater risk of HIV transmission. </p>
<p>Another more sought-after trophy is the pith helmet. This is awarded when an offender travels a minimum of 200 miles on a round trip, which may result in the offender being stranded and therefore forcing them to take desperate measures to return home. </p>
<p>To get offenders hooked into performing these tasks, the scambaiters will use a number of social engineering techniques (just like the scammers themselves) such as by inventing fictitious scenarios, forging documents, or by bringing in multiple scambaiters when a concentrated effort is required.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/vigilantes-and-private-security-are-policing-the-internet-where-governments-have-failed-132040">Vigilantes and private security are policing the internet where governments have failed</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>If one examines some of the scambaits on 419eater in greater depth, it’s easy to see why scholars have criticised the forum for its face-value <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1470412914546845">racism</a>. One scambait, for example, resulted in an offender dressing up as the fictional character Curious George, with a hired monkey. Sections of the 419eater community appear to treat their predominantly West African targets with racial prejudice and the community seems set up to reward rather than condemn these acts.</p>
<p>Scambaiting has also received a recent boost in popularity, with YouTubers like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBNG0osIBAprVcZZ3ic84vw">Jim Browning</a> now promoting their own scambaiting activities. Jim Browning’s techniques are controversial because he hacks offenders’ computers to transfer files to his own computer and yet they’re seemingly tolerated; Browning was even the focus of a recent <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000fzx2">BBC documentary series</a>.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cZ9LUS2F1cA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>Scambaiting can also be dangerous, especially for those who are new and inexperienced. Scammers have previously employed a retribution technique known as “<a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/30/us/swatting-what-is-explained/index.html">swatting</a>” in cases where they’ve encountered a scambaiter. Swatting involves an offender making a hoax call to a police department in an attempt to elicit an emergency response from the police. In some instances, victims of swatting <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-stop-swatting-before-it-happens-seattle/?redirectURL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wired.com%2Fstory%2Fhow-to-stop-swatting-before-it-happens-seattle%2F">have been killed</a>.</p>
<h2>Fighting fraud responsibly</h2>
<p>So scambaiting appears both controversial and risky. But voluntary responses to online fraud needn’t be this way. For instance, the primary author of this article, Jack, helped set up <a href="https://petscams.com/">Petscams.com</a>, an organisation which attempts to deal with the growing number of pet scam websites and uses a disruption approach as opposed to the confrontation tactics used in scambaiting.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-avoid-scams-when-buying-a-pet-online-153138">How to avoid scams when buying a pet online</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Petscam.com volunteers have created a database of fraudulent pet and shipping websites, and have joined the US Federal Trade Commission’s <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/consumer-sentinel-network/data-contributors" title=") so that victims of this scam have a facility that they can send their complaints to. Volunteerism has also been incorporated into the private sector with Cisco’s [Phishtank](http://phishtank.org/ "">consumer sentinel network</a>, which provides a facility through which volunteers can report phishing websites.</p>
<p>Our research also suggets that state-led initiatives could play a more prominent role in tackling online fraud. Since 2011, the National Crime Agency in the UK has run a scheme, using “<a href="https://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/Cyber_Specials">Cyber Specials</a>” with relevant skills to volunteer as <a href="https://nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/careers/how-to-join-the-nca/nca-specials">special constables</a>. Yet the uptake has so far been poor, and a <a href="https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmicfrs/wp-content/uploads/fraud-time-to-choose-an-inspection-of-the-police-response-to-fraud.pdf">2019 review</a> found that 16 police forces and three regional units weren’t using volunteers to tackle cybercrime.</p>
<p>Voluntary initiatives like 419eater have shown there’s an appetite from the public to tackle scams. If state bodies can harness them in a more ethical and effective way, we may be able to better address the epidemic of fraud currently sweeping the UK.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163038/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Button receives funding from Home Office to research fraud (but not directly related to this article). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jack Mark Whittaker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The scambaiting community aims to disrupt online scammers – but some of their activity is ethically troubling.Jack Mark Whittaker, PhD Candidate, Criminology (Cybercrime), University of SurreyMark Button, Professor of Security and Fraud, University of PortsmouthLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1621712021-06-18T00:46:39Z2021-06-18T00:46:39Z‘We have filed a case under your name’: beware of tax scams — they’ll be everywhere this EOFY<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406903/original/file-20210617-21-jjbdpz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=309%2C0%2C7630%2C4044&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The end of the financial year is near. So all of us — especially those scrambling at the last minute to get their receipts in order — should keep an eye out for the accompanying onslaught of tax scams. </p>
<p>Posing as the Australian Taxation Office in particular has been a key vehicle for scammers to target victims, with considerable success over the years.</p>
<p>According to an <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/scammers-capitalise-on-pandemic-as-australians-lose-record-851-million-to-scams">Australian Competition and Consumer Commission report</a>, scams targeting Australians last year cost an estimated A$851 million. Reported financial losses over the past five years show a clear upward trajectory. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405996/original/file-20210612-27-1dqmmwz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405996/original/file-20210612-27-1dqmmwz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405996/original/file-20210612-27-1dqmmwz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405996/original/file-20210612-27-1dqmmwz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405996/original/file-20210612-27-1dqmmwz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405996/original/file-20210612-27-1dqmmwz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405996/original/file-20210612-27-1dqmmwz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Reported financial losses from scams over the last five years (data from ACCC)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>And while this is clearly concerning, it only represents a proportion of the overall problem, as many victims are <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi518">unlikely to report being scammed</a>.</p>
<h2>Bargaining psychology</h2>
<p>Scams come in various forms. Often they will use <a href="https://www.csoonline.com/article/2124681/what-is-social-engineering.html">social engineering</a> to convince victims to reveal personal information or to participate in their scheme. They rely on the same <a href="https://brasco.marketing/9-emotional-triggers-influence-customer-buying-behaviors/">emotional triggers</a> marketers use to <a href="https://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/6945/volumes/v16/NA-16">encourage purchasing</a>. </p>
<p>The excitement of chasing (and getting) a good deal leads to a feeling of self-satisfaction that’s hard to resist. Bargain-hunting, in other words, <a href="https://www.inc.com/peter-roesler/study-finds-deal-hunting-makes-consumers-feel-smart-encourages-shoppers.html">makes us feel smart</a>. But it doesn’t mean we <em>are</em> smart.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-there-so-many-text-scams-all-of-a-sudden-161909">Why are there so many text scams all of a sudden?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>Criminals rely on this to bypass a potential victim’s rational brain and appeal directly to their emotions. Scams will often frighten victims with threats of financial or even <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-23/scam-call-threatens-arrest-warrant-legal-action-ato/9686796">criminal penalties</a>.</p>
<p>Scammers will use any event or entity as an opportunity to undertake fraudulent behaviour. The ATO therefore presents them a valuable opportunity, as having to interact with it at some point is a near-universal experience for Australians.</p>
<p>Scams based on the ATO are so common that the body has a <a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/general/online-services/identity-security/scam-alerts/">dedicated page</a> to alert taxpayers with <a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/general/online-services/identity-security/scam-alerts/#Previousalerts">examples</a> from the preceding two years. </p>
<p>Phone scams in particular have attracted a lot of attention. The ATO has even provided a <a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/uploadedFiles/Content/CR/downloads/Media_centre/30095054.MP3">real example</a> online to warn the public.</p>
<p><audio preload="metadata" controls="controls" data-duration="27" data-image="" data-title="" data-size="82989" data-source="ATO" data-source-url="" data-license="" data-license-url="">
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">ATO</span><span class="download"><span>81 KB</span> <a target="_blank" href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/audio/2201/30095054.mp3">(download)</a></span></span>
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<p>Tax time is the <a href="https://www.pickr.com.au/news/2021/tax-scams-kick-in-for-2021-because-its-nearly-tax-time/">perfect opportunity for scammers</a>, as taxpayers are often time-poor, working to a deadline and are conscious of the legal consequences of failing to comply.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406904/original/file-20210617-15-1n3zbk7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406904/original/file-20210617-15-1n3zbk7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406904/original/file-20210617-15-1n3zbk7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406904/original/file-20210617-15-1n3zbk7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406904/original/file-20210617-15-1n3zbk7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406904/original/file-20210617-15-1n3zbk7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406904/original/file-20210617-15-1n3zbk7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406904/original/file-20210617-15-1n3zbk7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Scammers rely on victims behaving impulsively.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>Receiving an email, SMS or voice call at this time of year with a tax-related matter has an air of legitimacy (we expect them) and a sense of urgency (we don’t want to be fined).</p>
<p>But illegitimate <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/new-phone-scam-impersonates-the-ato,-claims-your-tax-file-numbe/13180694">demands for payment</a> and requests for information can lead to huge financial losses and identity fraud.</p>
<h2>How to spot scams</h2>
<p>While the ATO does phone and send text messages to individuals, it will never ask you to make a payment to nullify an arrest warrant, nor will it threaten you with revoking your Tax File Number, as is done in some scams. It also won’t ever call you using prerecorded messages. </p>
<p>These messages are known as “<a href="https://whatphone.com.au/guide/what-are-robocalls-and-what-should-you-do-if-you-get-one">RoboCalls</a>”. They can range from sounding quite genuine to being almost laughable. In either case, if you ever wish to follow up you should contact the ATO directly. Do not respond to the message, and do not provide any information.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1290845454796693504"}"></div></p>
<p>Moreover, don’t trust an email or website based simply on its appearance. Anyone can <a href="https://www.mailguard.com.au/blog/ato-spoofed-in-new-phishing-email-scam">copy the ATO’s website and branding</a>.</p>
<p>Requests for unusual payment methods, such as via <a href="https://www.westernunion.com/content/dam/wu/fraudawareness/fa_au_australian_taxation_scam_article.pdf">Western Union</a> or <a href="https://micky.com.au/bitcoin-tax-scam-warning/">cryptocurrency</a>, are also indicators of a tax scam. Similarly, any requests to <a href="https://www.redlandcitybulletin.com.au/story/5892101/logan-victim-buys-9000-worth-of-gift-cards-in-ato-scam/">pay your tax with gift cards</a> should be reported.</p>
<p>If you are suspicious of a communication you’ve received, the best way to react is to not react. Take a breath, count to five and ask yourself whether what you’re looking at seems legitimate. Is it unusual in any way? </p>
<p>Scammers rely on victims acting quickly on impulse. Pausing and reflecting is the best weapon against social engineering. Take time to consider who the message is from. What are they asking you to do, and why?</p>
<p>The ATO provides a useful <a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/General/Online-services/Identity-security/Verify-or-report-a-scam/#Whoelsetonotify2">set of examples</a> and <a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/General/Online-services/Identity-security/Verify-or-report-a-scam/">advice</a> regarding how scammers try to convince victims of their legitimacy.</p>
<h2>What to do if you get scammed</h2>
<p>If you know you’ve been scammed, or suspect you may have been, the first step is to contact the ATO (always using the phone number on the official <a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/General/Online-services/Identity-security/Verify-or-report-a-scam/">website</a>). You can also report the incident directly via the ATO’s <a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/reportascam/#reportscam">report a scam</a> page, or through <a href="https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/">ScamWatch</a>.</p>
<p>If you’ve already lost money to scammers, unfortunately there are limited options because most scams send stolen money to offshore accounts, making recovery almost impossible. If you’ve bought gift cards you can <a href="https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/news-alerts/payment-demanded-by-gift-card-its-a-scam">talk with the retailer</a>, but most are non-refundable. </p>
<p>If you have made a funds transfer or credit card payment, you should contact your bank to see if the funds can be recovered (and speed is <a href="https://moneysmart.gov.au/banking/unauthorised-and-mistaken-transactions">crucial here</a>). </p>
<p>Year after year, we can’t avoid doing our taxes. But if we’re careful, calm and aware, we can at least avoid being taken advantage of by scammers.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/2-5-billion-lost-over-a-decade-nigerian-princes-lose-their-sheen-but-scams-are-on-the-rise-141289">$2.5 billion lost over a decade: 'Nigerian princes' lose their sheen, but scams are on the rise</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162171/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As winter draws in, Australians don’t just have to prepare for tax time — they must also be on the watch for scams.Paul Haskell-Dowland, Associate Dean (Computing and Security), Edith Cowan UniversityNathalie Collins, Academic Director (National Programs), Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1559552021-02-25T03:44:36Z2021-02-25T03:44:36ZWe can’t trust big tech or the government to weed out fake news, but a public-led approach just might work<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386331/original/file-20210225-13-w6761x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=81%2C88%2C4839%2C3186&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The federal government’s <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/bd/bd2021a/21bd048#_Toc64377324">News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code</a>, which passed the Senate today, makes strong points about the need to regulate misinformation. </p>
<p>In response, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, TikTok, Redbubble and Twitter have agreed to abide by a code of conduct targeting misinformation. </p>
<p>Suspiciously, however, the so-called Australian Code of Practice on Disinformation and Misinformation was developed by, well, <a href="https://digi.org.au/major-technology-companies-adopt-new-australian-code-of-practice-on-disinformation-and-misinformation/">these same companies</a>. Behind it is the Digital Industries Group (DIGI), an association <a href="https://digi.org.au/about/">formed by</a> them and some other companies. </p>
<p>In self-regulating, they hope to show the government they’re addressing the proliferation of misinformation (false content spread despite intent to deceive) and disinformation (content that intends to deceive) on their platforms.</p>
<p>But the only real commitment under the code would be to <em>appear</em> to be doing something. Since the code is voluntary, the platforms signed up can basically “opt in” to the measures at their own discretion.</p>
<h2>A modest goal</h2>
<p>The code suggests platforms might release data trends about known misinformation, or might label known false content or content spread by seemingly unreliable sources. They might identify and restrict paid <a href="https://www.facebook.com/business/help/167836590566506?id=288762101909005">political ads</a> trying to deceive users, or they might reveal the sources of misinformation. </p>
<p>These are all great actions the platforms “might” take, as they aren’t bound by the code. Rather, the code will likely encourage them to police misinformation around an “issue of the day” by taking visible action around one topic, without confronting the spread of other <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/21670811.2018.1556314?journalCode=rdij20">profitable</a> false information on their platforms.</p>
<p>The consequences of this would be great. False “news” can lead to dangerous <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/52847648">conspiracies</a> and <a href="https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/news/a51268/what-is-pizzagate/">armed attacks</a>. It can even influence elections, which we saw in 2019 when Facebook hosted posts claiming the Labor party would introduce a “death tax” on inheritance. Things quickly <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jun/08/it-felt-like-a-big-tide-how-the-death-tax-lie-infected-australias-election-campaign">spiralled</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1320533760123703296"}"></div></p>
<p>The government has promised <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/feb/22/australian-government-ready-to-pursue-facebook-and-twitter-if-misinformation-code-doesnt-work">tougher regulation of misinformation</a> if it feels the voluntary code isn’t working. Although, we should <a href="https://theconversation.com/lies-obfuscation-and-fake-news-make-for-a-dispiriting-and-dangerous-election-campaign-115845">be careful about allowing the powerful</a> regulate the powerful. </p>
<p>It’s unclear, for instance, whether the Morrison government would view posts about a supposed Labor “death tax” as being a real threat to democracy — even though this is misinformation.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-political-parties-legally-harvest-your-data-and-use-it-to-bombard-you-with-election-spam-148803">How political parties legally harvest your data and use it to bombard you with election spam</a>
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<h2>There are better options</h2>
<p>Regulating speech on the internet <em>is</em> difficult. In particular, misinformation is hard to define because often the distinction between genuinely dangerous misinformation, and valued myth or opinion, is <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-misinformation-is-a-global-issue-but-which-myth-you-fall-for-likely-depends-on-where-you-live-143352">based on a community’s values</a>. </p>
<p>The latter is information that may not be accurate but which people still have a right to express. For instance:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Nickelback is the best band on the planet. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is <em>probably</em> untrue. But the statement is relatively harmless. While the actual “truthfullness” is lacking, its subjective nature is clear. Considering this nuance, the solution then is for misinformation to be policed by the community itself, not an elite body. </p>
<p>Reset Australia, an independent group that targets digital threats to democracy, recently <a href="https://theconversation.com/laws-making-social-media-firms-expose-major-covid-myths-could-help-australias-vaccine-rollout-153887">proposed a project</a> in which interested tech platforms and members of the public could be subscribed to <a href="https://au.reset.tech/news/big-tech-acts-too-little-too-late-to-tackle-misinformation/">a live list</a> of the most popular misinformation content.</p>
<p>A citizen-run jury could monitor the list to help ensure public oversight. This would involve the whole public sphere in the debate about misinformation, not just the government and platforms. </p>
<p>Once fake news is in the open, it becomes easier for public figures, journalists and academics to expose. </p>
<h2>Who can you trust more?</h2>
<p>Another effective strategy would be to create a national register of misinformation sources and content. Anyone could register what they think is misinformation to the Australian Communications and Media Authority, helping it quickly identify malicious sources and alert the platforms. </p>
<p>Digital platforms already do this internally, both through moderators and and by allowing the public to report posts. But they don’t show how posts are judged and don’t release the data. By creating a public register, ACMA could monitor whether platforms are self-regulating effectively.</p>
<p>Such a register could also keep a record of legitimate and illegitimate information sources and give each one a “reputation score”. People who accurately reported misinformation could also receive high ratings, similar to Uber’s ratings for drivers and passengers. </p>
<p>While this wouldn’t restrict anyone’s right to expression, it would be easier to point to the reliability of the source of information. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386336/original/file-20210225-15-w6hi9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386336/original/file-20210225-15-w6hi9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386336/original/file-20210225-15-w6hi9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386336/original/file-20210225-15-w6hi9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386336/original/file-20210225-15-w6hi9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386336/original/file-20210225-15-w6hi9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386336/original/file-20210225-15-w6hi9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386336/original/file-20210225-15-w6hi9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How much of our collective potential do we sacrifice when we leave critical challenges, such as eradicating misinformation, to the government and to elite business people?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It’s worth noting this type of community-based peer review system would be open to potential abuse. Movie review site <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/23/18637464/rotten-tomatoes-audience-verified-score-trolls-brigading-review-bombing">Rotten Tomatoes</a> has had serious problems with people trolling film reviews. </p>
<p>For example, Captain Marvel was awarded a low audience rating because toxic online communities decided they didn’t like the idea of a female superhero, so they coordinated to rate the film poorly. But the platform was able to identify this pattern of behaviour. </p>
<p>The site ultimately protected the film’s score by ensuring only people who had bought a ticket to see the movie could rate it. While any system is open to abuse, so is ‘self regulation’ and communities have shown they can (and are willing to) solve such problems.</p>
<p>Wikipedia is another community-driven peer review resource and one which most people consider highly valuable. It works because there are enough people in the world who care about the truth. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386338/original/file-20210225-19-co73yz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Wiki logo" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386338/original/file-20210225-19-co73yz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386338/original/file-20210225-19-co73yz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386338/original/file-20210225-19-co73yz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386338/original/file-20210225-19-co73yz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386338/original/file-20210225-19-co73yz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386338/original/file-20210225-19-co73yz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386338/original/file-20210225-19-co73yz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wikipedia has remained ad-free since its creation in 2001. But there’s a history of debate on whether the site should consider hosting ads for more revenue.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Judging the accuracy of claims made in public allows for a consensus that is open to be challenged. On the other hand, leaving decisions about truth to private companies or political parties could actually exacerbate the misinformation problem.</p>
<h2>A chance to move news into the 21st century</h2>
<p>The news media bargaining code has finally passed. Facebook is set to bring news back to Australia, as well as start making deals to pay local news publishers for content.</p>
<p>The agreement between the government and Facebook — which serves the interests of those parties — seems like just another echo of the past. Large media players will retain some revenue and Google and Facebook will continue to expand their immense control of the internet.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, users remain reliant on the benevolence of tech platforms to do just enough about misinformation to satisfy the government of the day. We should be careful about surrendering power to both platforms <em>and</em> governments. </p>
<p>This new code won’t force significant change out of either, despite the pressing need for it.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/google-is-leading-a-vast-covert-human-experiment-you-may-be-one-of-the-guinea-pigs-154178">Google is leading a vast, covert human experiment. You may be one of the guinea pigs</a>
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</p>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155955/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tauel Harper does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Google, Facebook, TikTok and Twitter have all agreed to a voluntary code of conduct targeting misinformation. But the only real commitment is to appear as though they’re taking action.Tauel Harper, Lecturer, Media and Communication, UWA, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1531382021-01-13T12:26:49Z2021-01-13T12:26:49ZHow to avoid scams when buying a pet online<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378307/original/file-20210112-21-1asvo0g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=88%2C253%2C6787%2C4572&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Buying puppies online can be a dangerous activity.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/litter-terrier-mix-puppies-playing-dog-336435884">Anna Hoychuk/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For many people, the pandemic has been a lonely experience. Because of this, it might be tempting to go on the internet and look for a new animal companion. Whether it is a puppy, kitten or even an exotic bird, animal companions can <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0882596310003374">relieve the stress</a> of spending prolonged periods indoors.</p>
<p>My <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0004865820957077">recent study</a>, however, has found <a href="https://petscams.com/category/pet-scammer-list/">there are thousands</a> of fraudulent pet and shipping websites waiting to scam potential pet owners. These have been created by opportunistic cybercriminals for the sole purpose of defrauding unsuspecting buyers by selling animals which do not exist.</p>
<h2>How it works</h2>
<p>Luckily, the anatomy of how offenders organise pet scams is fairly simple and there are some early warning signs to spot them.</p>
<p>Pet scams are usually organised into two stages: a hook and a sting. In the first stage of the scam, offenders will typically seek to build trust with the unsuspecting buyer by using scripted messages which promise pet wellbeing items and after-sale documentation.</p>
<p>Pictures and videos stolen from legitimate breeders will often be sent to victims as part of this process to convince the buyer that the animal exists. The purpose at this stage is to rush the victim into paying a deposit, which will usually be requested in the form of a non-refundable payment.</p>
<p>Once the unsuspecting buyer is hooked, the offender will move onto their second stage of the scam, the sting.</p>
<p>Scammers will typically operate a second website, a pet shipping company. Using this, they will attempt to get more money from the buyer by asking for more fees. This will continue until the victim either runs out of money or twigs they are involved in a scam.</p>
<p>The most common fee usually requested during this stage of the scam is for some sort of refundable cargo crate, often one which they claim is “temperature controlled” despite planes already having pressure and climate control in their cargo areas. The offenders may also create their own fictitious scenarios and stories. One victim’s comment that I found described paying US$10,000 (£7,306) after being informed that there had been a plane crash and the transaction had incurred significant legal costs.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iiXZ4HuXNrI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">How a puppy scam actually works.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Usually, pet scammers would only target buyers in geographically larger countries such as the US, Australia, and Canada where buyers don’t normally visit their pet before purchase. However, Action Fraud in the UK has recently <a href="https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/news/animal-lovers-looking-for-pets-in-lockdown-defrauded-of-nearly-300000-in-two-months">reported</a> consumer losses from pet scams of over £280,000 over a two-month period, due to the fact that prospective buyers have not been able to travel to see their desired pet in person during the pandemic.</p>
<h2>A growing problem</h2>
<p>Pet scams are not a new problem. The US Better Business Bureau found in a 2017 study that <a href="https://www.bbb.org/globalassets/local-bbbs/council-113/media/scam-studies/puppy-scams-bbb-study.pdf">up to 80%</a> of all sponsored advertising links to pet websites were created by these offenders to advertise their websites.</p>
<p>However, the number of victims and the estimated cost of this scam for consumers is estimated to be increasing. Victim complaints made to the US Better Business Bureau, for example, <a href="https://www.bbb.org/article/news-releases/23354-bbb-study-update-puppy-scams-rising-in-2020">have quadrupled</a> between 2017 and 2020 to well over 4,000.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/puppy-farmed-dogs-show-worse-behaviour-suffer-ill-health-and-die-young-so-adopt-dont-shop-83267">Puppy-farmed dogs show worse behaviour, suffer ill health and die young – so adopt, don't shop</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>For those seeking to buy a pet online, especially during the pandemic, the acid test of finding out whether you are interacting with a scammer is to have a video chat with any prospective seller. In normal circumstances, this can be taken one step further by always visiting the pet in person. Another good resource available to prospective buyers is my site, <a href="https://petscams.com/">petscams.com</a>, which is the largest publicly accessible website dedicated to documenting fraudulent pet and shipping websites.</p>
<p>For researchers seeking to explore non-delivery fraud websites further, there is a significant opportunity. One promising avenue in the case of pet scams is to explore the willingness of domain name registrars to take down these websites in light of the growing threat that they present to consumers. <a href="https://krebsonsecurity.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/rogue_registrars_2012_DRAFT.pdf">Previous research</a> on fraudulent pharmaceutical websites, for instance, has found that they congregate towards certain “rogue registrars”, while other registrars who do take down these domains can <a href="https://www.usenix.org/legacy/event/leet11/tech/full_papers/Liu.pdf">significantly disrupt</a> the activities of scammers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153138/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jack Mark Whittaker runs petscams.com, but doesn't make any money from it. </span></em></p>There are thousands of fraudulent websites waiting to scam potential pet owners.Jack Mark Whittaker, PhD Candidate, Sociology of Cybercrime, University of SurreyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1468972020-10-06T12:16:44Z2020-10-06T12:16:44ZDoing your holiday shopping online? Here are 10 tips for avoiding scams<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361435/original/file-20201002-15-8vndk8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5742%2C3794&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A little digging can help you avoid those too-good-to-be-true traps when shopping online.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/woman-victim-of-credt-card-fraud-royalty-free-image/590049284?adppopup=true">martin-dm/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Online shopping is already booming this holiday season. While last year’s big increase in holiday e-commerce due to the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t going to be repeated this time around, November and December online shopping is <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/21/holiday-shopping-2021-4-ways-shoppers-have-changed-since-the-pandemic-began.html">projected to top US$200 billion for the first time</a>. And as online shopping increases, so do <a href="https://www.kare11.com/article/news/online-scams-covid-virus/89-c644180f-cdc1-414e-8567-e5824a821cc7">online scams</a>. </p>
<p>Already, multiple companies from outside the U.S. are advertising relatively unchecked on the internet, selling – or even just pretending to sell – all manner of products. The items are typically advertised using designs stolen from legitimate businesses and artists, often ripped off from Etsy, especially if those designs have been featured on popular sites like Bored Panda. </p>
<p>When people buy these scam products, what arrives is typically of <a href="https://www.boredpanda.com/funny-online-shopping-scams-fails-expectation-reality/">low quality</a>. That’s if anything ever arrives. Often the company just shutters and renames itself without sending anything. In worst-case scenarios, they also steal customers’ credit card information.</p>
<p>So how to shop smart and spot scams? Here are some clues to watch for.</p>
<h2>1. Is it too good to be true?</h2>
<p>Does the product pictured match the price? Know the market. An amazing product for a low price is cause for suspicion. For example, Instagram was featuring photos of a “Halloween Advent Calendar.” The ad listed a price of US$59.99, but available for a limited time for $29.80. At first glance you might think you’re getting a great deal, but take a moment to think it through. That price would barely cover the cost of shipping and handling for a product of that size. The original product, <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/Halloweenadventhouse">sold on Etsy</a>, retails for over US$1,800, and the creator has a backlog of orders. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361438/original/file-20201002-22-mynytj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="three screenshots featuring the same product image of a Halloween haunted house advent calendar sculpture" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361438/original/file-20201002-22-mynytj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361438/original/file-20201002-22-mynytj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361438/original/file-20201002-22-mynytj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361438/original/file-20201002-22-mynytj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361438/original/file-20201002-22-mynytj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=574&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361438/original/file-20201002-22-mynytj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=574&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361438/original/file-20201002-22-mynytj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=574&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Two online ads, left and top right, that use a product image taken from an Etsy vendor after the vendor’s ‘Halloween Advent’ product, bottom right, was featured on Better Homes and Gardens, Pinterest and OddityMall sites.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Screenshots by H. Colleen Sinclair</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>2. When in doubt: Google it</h2>
<p>Perhaps you’re not familiar enough with Etsy workmanship to recognize a likely ripoff. When in doubt, search the product name or download the image and run a <a href="https://www.google.com/imghp?hl=EN">Google image search</a>. You are likely to find the original source. If the product really exists – unlike this <a href="https://youtu.be/eGnTvvW0eN4">CG baby shark</a> that one company used as an ad for its alleged baby shark robot toy – you can choose to pay the original artist for their hard work or take the risk and try to get the knockoff. The search will also reveal whether there are multiple alleged businesses selling the same “unique” and “exclusive” items using the same exact pictures. Once you start seeing double or more, that’s a warning sign. </p>
<h2>3. Check the business reputation</h2>
<p>Searching for the business name will likely just take you to the business’s site. Instead, search the business name with the word “scam.” You will be able to tell pretty quickly if there is a worrisome history associated with the business. You can also try <a href="https://www.scamvoid.net/">Scamvoid</a>, which is dedicated to identifying the trustworthiness of online links. There may be a Better Business Bureau listing for the company, but <a href="https://money.cnn.com/2015/09/30/news/better-business-bureau/index.html">be careful about relying on these</a>. You can also find Facebook groups, like this one for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Fashionmia-Dresslilly-and-Rosegal-Scam-Victims-747218318687386/">fashion-related scams</a>, that track untrustworthy sites.</p>
<h2>4. Too new to trust</h2>
<p>In some cases the business is so new that you won’t be able to find a track record. This is a red flag. They are likely one of those companies that close up once they’ve gotten enough orders then set up a new name and new domain and do it all over again. There is a chance that it’s a legitimate new businesses trying to open shop during a pandemic. To tell the difference between a legitimate new business and a fly-by-night operation, apply some of the following steps to judge them. </p>
<h2>5. Review the reviews</h2>
<p>Take a close look at the reviews. If there aren’t any, back away. If there are, check for the following warning signs. The reviews are few and unanimously five stars with no comments. If there are comments, they are loaded with broken English or vague praise that could have been copied and pasted from any product. None of the reviews includes pictures of the actual received product. There aren’t any negative reviews, which is a red flag because even the best legitimate businesses can’t please everyone all the time. As a side note, if you are looking at a legitimate product offering, be careful not to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/13/smarter-living/trust-negative-product-reviews.html">read too much into the negative reviews</a>.</p>
<h2>6. Is it a ‘good’ site?</h2>
<p>Does the business have a website, and not just a Facebook page? If not, that’s a big no. If they do, is it a complete website, or is it barely there? Check that the business has a phone number that works, and when you search the number it doesn’t have 12 other “businesses” associated with it. Check that it lists a mailing address, preferably one that isn’t just a post office box. </p>
<p>Check the site’s “about us” page. Doesn’t have one? That’s another no. Does the “about us” include a year the business started? Does it include information about the products’ creators? If the page has a photo purporting to be of the owner or artist, you can do a Google image search to see if it’s a photo copied from another webpage, a stock photo or a fake created by an AI system. Do their claims about themselves hold up to scrutiny? For example, does the site claim to be an American Black-owned business but their <a href="https://www.scamvoid.net/whois-tool/">WHOIS domain information</a> lists a company in China?</p>
<h2>7. Social media presence: Do they have one?</h2>
<p>Similarly, do they have a social media presence outside of the ad that pops up in your newsfeed? If not, steer clear. If so, you can click on the poster’s name to see where the person or business is located and when the page was started. You can also see how far back their posts go, as well as check the quality of those posts and chatter about the company.</p>
<h2>8. Beware the ‘going out of business’ story</h2>
<p>During the pandemic, <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/41-of-businesses-listed-on-yelp-have-closed-for-good-during-the-pandemic-2020-06-25">legitimate businesses are, in fact, closing</a>. Illegitimate businesses have been latching onto this as a tool to tug at people’s heartstrings to trick shoppers. It is <a href="https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2017/07/going-out-business-sales-are-deals-real">illegal for American businesses to do this</a>, but businesses outside of the U.S. are not subject to the same laws. One way to tell the legitimate businesses from the frauds is to check the starting date on <a href="https://www.scamvoid.net/whois-tool/">website domain registrations</a> and social media sites. If the business popped up during the pandemic just in time to go out of business, steer clear.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361440/original/file-20201002-14-ux0903.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="two screenshots featuring the same image of felt hats" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361440/original/file-20201002-14-ux0903.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361440/original/file-20201002-14-ux0903.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361440/original/file-20201002-14-ux0903.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361440/original/file-20201002-14-ux0903.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361440/original/file-20201002-14-ux0903.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=666&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361440/original/file-20201002-14-ux0903.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=666&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361440/original/file-20201002-14-ux0903.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=666&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Suspicious advertisements on Instagram, left, and Facebook, right, with pandemic going-out-of-business stories that use a product image taken from a legitimate business, Lalabug Designs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Screenshots by H. Colleen Sinclair</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>9. Fad ad clickbait</h2>
<p>Watch out for fad items. Knockoffs and ripoffs abound on any hot or trendy item. Nowadays marketers are also picking up on political trends. Businesses crop up with names like “WeLuvTrump,” “FemPower” and “BlackGoodness.” The same tends to happen with political news. For example, RBG items were all the rage in the wake of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death in 2020. Again, following the steps above will help you sort out which products are legitimate.</p>
<h2>10. Social influence tricks</h2>
<p>Also watch out for the common marketing techniques originally uncovered by social psychologist <a href="https://youtu.be/cFdCzN7RYbw">Robert Cialdini</a> that are used by legitimate and illegitimate businesses alike. The most common you are likely to see in scam sites are claims of exclusive access, which appeal to your <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/321947">need for uniqueness</a>, claims of limited supply or time running out on a “sale,” which play on the <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/persuasion-bias-and-choice/201812/4-ways-use-scarcity-persuade-and-influence">psychological value</a> people place on scarce items, and claims like “Karen S. from Indianola just purchased this item,” which are “<a href="https://buffer.com/library/social-proof/#:%7E:text=Social%20proof%20is%20a%20psychological,behavior%20for%20a%20given%20situation">social proof</a>” that a behavior is safe or appropriate because others have done it.</p>
<p>Ultimately, if these 10 tips seem like too much to go through just to get that unique toy for your grandkid, buy instead from a trusted source you have counted on in the past. It’s also a good idea to use credit cards or payment services like PayPal that protect consumers from fraudulent charges. </p>
<p>Shop wisely. Your bank account is counting on you.</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of an article originally published on October 6, 2020.</em></p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146897/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>H. Colleen Sinclair does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Fraudulent sites are easy to set up and it’s easy to get fooled, according to a psychologist who has advice on how to check out online merchants.H. Colleen Sinclair, Associate Professor of Social Psychology, Mississippi State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1440602020-08-18T20:09:41Z2020-08-18T20:09:41ZFake COVID-19 testing kits and lockdown puppy scams: how to protect yourself from fraud in a pandemic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353301/original/file-20200818-16-10a618i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Fraudsters are ruthless and will use any means necessary to gain financial advantage. </p>
<p>Earlier this year, as Australians were battling the devastating <a href="https://theconversation.com/beware-of-bushfire-scams-how-fraudsters-take-advantage-of-those-in-need-129549">bushfires</a>, fraudsters were tailoring their approaches to <a href="https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/news-alerts/bushfires-and-scams-0">exploit</a> the good intentions of citizens wanting to help victims. </p>
<p>And come March and the declaration of COVID-19 as a <a href="https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---11-march-2020">global pandemic</a>, offenders have seamlessly shifted their approaches to take advantage of yet another crisis.</p>
<h2>Online fraud on the rise during COVID-19</h2>
<p>Given the known links between <a href="https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/after-storms-watch-out-scams">natural disasters</a> and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228634781_Finding_a_Pot_of_Gold_at_the_End_of_an_Internet_Rainbow_Further_Examination_of_Fraudulent_Email_Solicitation">fraud</a>, it is unsurprising offenders are using COVID-19 to target potential victims. While there are limited statistics on crime rates during this period, evidence suggests fraud and other online scams have spiked.</p>
<p>The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) <a href="https://7news.com.au/travel/coronavirus/huge-spike-in-id-scams-during-covid-19-c-1243904">issued</a> an alert this week warning of a dramatic spike in identity theft, with some 24,000 reports of stolen personal information this year, a 55% increase over the same time last year.</p>
<p>Further, Scamwatch has received more than <a href="https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/types-of-scams/current-covid-19-coronavirus-scams">3,600 reports</a> specifically mentioning COVID-19, with victims so far claiming losses of about $2.3 million. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1293446626309287936"}"></div></p>
<p>Fraud costs millions of dollars annually, as shown in the ACCC’s latest <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/1657RPT_Targeting%20scams%202019_FA.pdf">Targeting Scams</a> report. It found that in 2019, Australians reported losing more than $634 million to fraud, a dramatic increase from <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/Targeting%20scams%E2%80%94Report%20of%20the%20ACCC%20on%20scams%20activity%202018.pdf">$489 million</a> in 2018. </p>
<p>Fraud is an <a href="https://eprints.qut.edu.au/122426/">underreported</a> crime, so these figures are likely to be a fraction of the actual losses incurred by victims. In addition, there are many <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi518">barriers</a> to victims reporting scams. They might not realise they are a victim, for example, or might not know where to report such crimes. Some people also feel a strong sense of shame and embarrassment at having been deceived. </p>
<p>The government is putting more attention on the threat of fraud and other cybercrime with its newly released <a href="https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/about-us/our-portfolios/cyber-security/strategy">cybersecurity strategy</a>, which will see a record $1.67 billion invested in cybersecurity and cybercrime prevention over the next decade.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/some-crimes-have-seen-drastic-decreases-during-coronavirus-but-not-homicides-in-the-us-142718">Some crimes have seen drastic decreases during coronavirus — but not homicides in the US</a>
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<h2>What types of fraud are occurring now</h2>
<p>There is nothing new in the ways offenders are targeting potential victims at the moment. Rather, we are seeing well-established schemes reappearing under the guise of COVID-19. </p>
<p><strong>Online shopping fraud</strong></p>
<p>With more people at home during the pandemic, there has been a substantial <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-20/coronavirus-sends-shoppers-online-retailers-reconsider-stores/12259808">increase in online shopping</a>. Consequently, there has also been an increase in online shopping fraud. </p>
<p>Some of these schemes involve <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-12/warning-coronavirus-scams-increase-as-online-shopping-targeted/12239102">fake websites and social media pages</a> being set up to sell goods to people that never arrive, including <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6756483/scammers-target-people-trying-to-protect-themselves-from-covid-19/">personal protective equipment</a> and even <a href="https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/news-alerts/dont-get-scammed-looking-for-a-lockdown-puppy">puppies</a>. </p>
<p>There has also been a rise in online sales of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/apr/30/darknet-investigation-finds-hundreds-of-coronavirus-cures-vaccines-and-expensive-ppe">products</a> that simply do not exist or work as promised, such as <a href="https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/beware-fraudulent-coronavirus-tests-vaccines-and-treatments">coronavirus testing kits</a> or <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-22/how-to-avoid-covid-19-scams/12476456">supposed cures for the virus</a>. </p>
<p><strong>Phishing</strong></p>
<p>Fraudsters use phishing emails and text messages as a means of getting personal information from victims, like bank account details and passwords. Phishing attempts usually come from what appear to be legitimate sources, persuading recipients to click on a link or reply with required personal information. </p>
<p>In the context of COVID-19, phishing attempts are being launched under the guise of <a href="https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/types-of-scams/current-covid-19-coronavirus-scams#phishing-government-impersonation-scams">government departments</a>. Some messages claiming to be from health authorities say the recipient has had contact with a known case of the virus, for instance, while others advertise the need for testing. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/working-from-home-risks-online-security-and-privacy-how-to-stay-protected-134599">Working from home risks online security and privacy – how to stay protected</a>
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<p>Others have pretended to be the <a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/general/online-services/identity-security/scam-alerts/">Australian Taxation Office</a> with offers of tax refunds or the availability of government benefits or support payments.</p>
<p>In addition, offenders have also used the pretext of <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6708076/250-supermarket-voucher-too-good-to-be-true-scamwatch-warns/">legitimate businesses</a> like Coles and Woolworths, appearing to offer services or discounts to those who are struggling. Other approaches are using the Australia Post logo to ask people to pay additional <a href="https://auspost.com.au/about-us/about-our-site/online-security-scams-fraud/scam-alerts">fees for delivery</a> of purchased items. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1295239443423485952"}"></div></p>
<h2>Increased vulnerability to fraud</h2>
<p>These examples highlight how offenders exploit anxiety to take advantage of people in uncertain times. They play on people’s fears and anxieties.</p>
<p>Everyone is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRDgOGf5VAM">vulnerable</a> to fraud. Research suggests there is “<a href="http://fraudresearchcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Scams-Schemes-%20Swindles-FINAL_11.20.121.pdf">no typical fraud victim</a>”. However, COVID-19 has arguably made more people vulnerable to fraud across large sections of society. </p>
<p>Isolation and loneliness can increase vulnerability. Without the presence and accessibility of support networks (such as family and friends), individuals may be more responsive to fraudulent approaches. </p>
<p>Economic hardship could also make people more susceptible to fraud. Offenders do not need to offer outrageous returns for their approaches to be attractive to potential victims. People are more motivated than ever to improve their financial situations, which plays into the hands of fraudsters.</p>
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<h2>How you can protect yourself</h2>
<p>It is important people understand how fraudsters work and are using the crisis to their advantage, so they can take the necessary steps to protect themselves. Here are a few tips to prevent becoming a victim.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Stay connected to family, friends and colleagues, even in a virtual environment. Offenders relish the isolation of victims to increase the success of their attempts. </p></li>
<li><p>Talk about what is happening. Ask someone directly if they have received any strange emails or phone calls. Offenders rely on <a href="https://eprints.qut.edu.au/118434/">secrecy and shame</a> to keep people silent about their victimisation.</p></li>
<li><p>Be vigilant with emails, phone calls, texts and even those who knock on your door. Do not feel you have to respond to anything immediately and take the time to think about and seek advice. Offenders rely on immediate responses from people that overcome any rational thought. </p></li>
<li><p>Report any fraud attempts or losses you may have incurred to <a href="https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/report-a-scam">Scamwatch</a> or <a href="https://www.cyber.gov.au/acsc/report">ReportCyber</a>. Also, contact your bank if you have lost money, or a service like <a href="https://www.idcare.org/">IDcare</a> if you have had your identity compromised. It is important for these organisations to be able to gain accurate figures on the prevalence of fraud during these times. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>COVID-19 has thrown the world into uncertainty. But one thing that’s clear is fraudsters will remain active and continue to target victims. We need to recognise this changing environment, support each other and collectively do as much as possible to guard against fraud victimisation.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/beware-of-bushfire-scams-how-fraudsters-take-advantage-of-those-in-need-129549">Beware of bushfire scams: how fraudsters take advantage of those in need</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/144060/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cassandra Cross is affiliated with the Cybersecurity Cooperative Research Centre (CRC). She has also received funding from the Australian Institute of Criminology.</span></em></p>There has been a dramatic spike in identity theft and online shopping scams this year as fraudsters try to take advantage of people’s vulnerability during uncertain times.Cassandra Cross, Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Law, Cybersecurity Cooperative Research Centre, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1386132020-05-28T03:29:24Z2020-05-28T03:29:24ZDon’t be phish food! Tips to avoid sharing your personal information online<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337870/original/file-20200527-141320-1a7ikl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=44%2C14%2C4947%2C3308&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/anonymous-mask-hide-identity-on-computer-518835055">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Data is the <a href="https://www.wired.com/insights/2014/07/data-new-oil-digital-economy/">new oil</a>, and online platforms will siphon it off at any opportunity. Platforms increasingly demand our personal information in exchange for a service. </p>
<p>Avoiding online services altogether can limit your participation in society, so the advice to just opt out is easier said than done. </p>
<p>Here are some tricks you can use to avoid giving online platforms your personal information. Some ways to <a href="https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/get-help/protect-yourself-from-scams">limit your exposure</a> include using “alternative facts”, using guest check-out options, and a burner email.</p>
<h2>Alternative facts</h2>
<p>While “alternative facts” is a term coined by <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-00813-0_4">White House press staff</a> to describe factual inaccuracies, in this context it refers to false details supplied in place of your personal information.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hackers-are-now-targeting-councils-and-governments-threatening-to-leak-citizen-data-126190">Hackers are now targeting councils and governments, threatening to leak citizen data</a>
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<p>This is an effective strategy to avoid giving out information online. Though platforms might insist you complete a user profile, they can do little to check if that information is correct. For example, they can check whether a phone number contains the correct amount of digits, or if an email address has a valid format, but that’s about it.</p>
<p>When a website requests your date of birth, address, or name, consider how this information will be used and whether you’re prepared to hand it over. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1147173290181627904"}"></div></p>
<p>There’s a distinction to be made between which platforms <a href="https://www.wired.com/2014/04/why-we-need-online-alter-egos-now-more-than-ever/">do or don’t warrant</a> using your real information. If it’s an <a href="https://www.avg.com/en/signal/website-safety">official</a> banking or educational institute website, then it’s important to be truthful.</p>
<p>But an online shopping, gaming, or movie review site shouldn’t require the same level of disclosure, and using an alternative identity could protect you.</p>
<h2>Secret shopper</h2>
<p>Online stores and services often encourage users to set up a profile, offering convenience in exchange for information. Stores value your profile data, as it can provide them additional revenue through targeted advertising and emails. </p>
<p>But many websites also offer a guest checkout option to streamline the purchase process. After all, one thing as valuable as your data is your money. </p>
<p>So unless you’re making very frequent purchases from a site, use guest checkout and skip profile creation altogether. Even without disclosing extra details, you can still track your delivery, as tracking is provided by transport companies (and not the store). </p>
<p>Also consider your payment options. Many credit cards and payment merchants such as PayPal provide additional <a href="https://www.paypal.com/au/smarthelp/article/what-is-paypal-buyer-protection-faq1269">buyer protection</a>, adding another layer of separation between you and the website. </p>
<p>Avoid sharing your bank account details online, and instead use an intermediary such as PayPal, or a credit card, to provide additional protection. </p>
<p>If you use a credit card (even prepaid), then even if your details are compromised, any potential losses are limited to the card balance. Also, with credit cards this balance is effectively the bank’s funds, meaning you won’t be charged out of pocket for any fraudulent transactions.</p>
<h2>Burner emails</h2>
<p>An email address is usually the first item a site requests. </p>
<p>They also often require email verification when a profile is created, and that verification email is probably the only one you’ll ever want to receive from the site. So rather than handing over your main email address, consider a burner email.</p>
<p>This is a fully functional but disposable email address that remains active for about 10 minutes. You can get one for free from online services including <a href="https://maildrop.cc/">Maildrop</a>, <a href="https://www.guerrillamail.com/">Guerilla Mail</a> and <a href="https://10minutemail.com/">10 Minute Mail</a>.</p>
<p>Just make sure you don’t forget your password, as you won’t be able to recover it once your burner email becomes inactive.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337853/original/file-20200527-141287-1igcflj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337853/original/file-20200527-141287-1igcflj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337853/original/file-20200527-141287-1igcflj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=276&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337853/original/file-20200527-141287-1igcflj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=276&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337853/original/file-20200527-141287-1igcflj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=276&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337853/original/file-20200527-141287-1igcflj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337853/original/file-20200527-141287-1igcflj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337853/original/file-20200527-141287-1igcflj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The 10 Minute Mail website offers free burner emails.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://10minutemail.com/">screenshot</a></span>
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<h2>The risk of being honest</h2>
<p>Every online profile containing your personal information is another potential target for attackers. The more profiles you make, the greater the chance of your details being breached.</p>
<p>A breach in one place can lead to others. Names and emails alone are sufficient for email <a href="https://www.staysmartonline.gov.au/protect-yourself/recover-when-things-go-wrong/phishing">phishing attacks</a>. And a phish becomes more convincing (and more likely to succeed) when paired with other details such as your recent purchasing history. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/google-survey-finds-two-users/">Surveys indicate</a> about <a href="https://blog.avast.com/strengthening-passwords-on-world-password-day">half of us</a> recycle passwords across multiple sites. While this is convenient, it means if a breach at one site reveals your password, then attackers can hack into your other accounts.</p>
<p>In fact, even just an email address is a valuable piece of intelligence, as emails are used as a login for many sites, and a login (unlike a password) can sometimes be impossible to change. </p>
<p>Obtaining your email could open the door for targeted attacks on your other accounts, such as social media accounts.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-ugly-truth-tech-companies-are-tracking-and-misusing-our-data-and-theres-little-we-can-do-127444">The ugly truth: tech companies are tracking and misusing our data, and there's little we can do</a>
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<p>In “password spraying” <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/security/blog/2020/04/23/protecting-organization-password-spray-attacks/">attacks</a>“, cybercriminals test common passwords against many emails/usernames in hopes of landing a correct combination.</p>
<p>The bottom line is, the safest information is the information you never release. And practising alternatives to disclosing your true details could go a long way to limiting your data being used against you.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/138613/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nik Thompson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While some online services such as banking do warrant using your true information, many sites shouldn’t require the same level of disclosure. Here’s how to protect yourself in such cases.Nik Thompson, Senior Lecturer, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1348022020-04-01T04:20:10Z2020-04-01T04:20:10ZMeet ‘Sara’, ‘Sharon’ and ‘Mel’: why people spreading coronavirus anxiety on Twitter might actually be bots<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/324472/original/file-20200401-66120-19cxqfx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C9%2C2180%2C1985&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Recently Facebook, Reddit, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Twitter and YouTube <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/16/facebook-reddit-google-linkedin-microsoft-twitter-and-youtube-issue-joint-statement-on-misinformation/">committed to removing</a> coronavirus-related misinformation from their platforms. </p>
<p>COVID-19 is being described as <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/3/12/21175570/coronavirus-covid-19-social-media-twitter-facebook-google">the first major pandemic of the social media age</a>. In troubling times, social media helps distribute vital knowledge to the masses.
Unfortunately, this comes with myriad misinformation, much of which is spread through social media bots.</p>
<p>These fake accounts are common on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. They have one goal: to spread fear and fake news. </p>
<p>We witnessed this in the <a href="https://www.adweek.com/digital/as-2020-election-nears-twitter-bots-have-only-gotten-better-at-seeming-human/">2016 United States presidential elections</a>, with arson rumours in the bushfire crisis, and we’re seeing it again in relation to the coronavirus pandemic.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bushfires-bots-and-arson-claims-australia-flung-in-the-global-disinformation-spotlight-129556">Bushfires, bots and arson claims: Australia flung in the global disinformation spotlight</a>
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<h2>Busy busting bots</h2>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323527/original/file-20200327-146695-8rp8pq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323527/original/file-20200327-146695-8rp8pq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=637&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323527/original/file-20200327-146695-8rp8pq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=637&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323527/original/file-20200327-146695-8rp8pq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=637&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323527/original/file-20200327-146695-8rp8pq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323527/original/file-20200327-146695-8rp8pq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323527/original/file-20200327-146695-8rp8pq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This figure shows the top Twitter hashtags tweeted by bots over 24 hours.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bot Sentinel</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The exact scale of misinformation is difficult to measure. But its global presence can be felt through snapshots of Twitter bot involvement in COVID-19-related hashtag activity.</p>
<p><a href="https://botsentinel.com/">Bot Sentinel</a> is a website that uses machine learning to identify potential Twitter bots, using a score and rating. According to the site, <a href="https://botsentinel.com/trending-topics?date=2020-3-26&hour=18">on March 26</a> bot accounts were responsible for 828 counts of #coronavirus, 544 counts of #COVID19 and 255 counts of #Coronavirus hashtags within 24 hours.</p>
<p>These hashtags respectively took the 1st, 3rd and 7th positions of all top-trolled Twitter hashtags.</p>
<p>It’s important to note the actual number of coronavirus-related bot tweets are likely much higher, as Bot Sentinel only recognises hashtag terms (such as #coronavirus), and wouldn’t pick up on “coronavirus”, “COVID19” or “Coronavirus”. </p>
<h2>How are bots created?</h2>
<p>Bots are usually managed by automated programs called bot “campaigns”, and these are controlled by human users. The actual process of creating such a campaign is relatively simple. There are several <a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/en-au/blog/grow-your-business-with-social-bots">websites</a> that teach people how to do this for “marketing” purposes. In the underground hacker economy on the dark web, <a href="https://www.techrepublic.com/article/the-dark-web-where-coronavirus-fraud-profiteering-malware-and-scams-are-discussed/">such services are available for hire</a>. </p>
<p>While it’s difficult to attribute bots to the humans controlling them, the purpose of bot campaigns is obvious: create social disorder by spreading misinformation. This can increase public anxiety, frustration and anger against authorities in certain situations.</p>
<p><a href="https://comprop.oii.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/93/2019/09/CyberTroop-Report19.pdf">A 2019 report</a> published by researchers from the Oxford Internet Institute revealed a worrying trend in organised “social media manipulation by governments and political parties”. They reported: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Evidence of organised social media manipulation campaigns which have taken place in 70 countries, up from 48 countries in 2018 and 28 countries in 2017. In each country, there is at least one political party or government agency using social media to shape public attitudes domestically. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>The modus operandi of bots</h2>
<p>Typically, in the context of COVID-19 messages, bots would spread misinformation through two main techniques.</p>
<p>The first involves <em>content creation</em>, wherein bots start new posts with pictures that validate or mirror existing worldwide trends. Examples include pictures of shopping baskets filled with food, or hoarders emptying supermarket shelves. This generates anxiety and confirms what people are reading from other sources.</p>
<p>The second technique involves <em>content augmentation</em>. In this, bots latch onto official government feeds and news sites to sow discord. They retweet alarming tweets or add false comments and information in a bid to stoke fear and anger among users. It’s common to see bots talking about a “frustrating event”, or some social injustice faced by their “loved ones”. </p>
<p>The example below shows a Twitter post from Queensland Health’s official twitter page, followed by comments from accounts named “Sharon” and “Sara” which I have identified as bot accounts. Many real users reading Sara’s post would undoubtedly feel a sense of injustice on behalf of her “mum”.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/324493/original/file-20200401-66130-1b1evyh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/324493/original/file-20200401-66130-1b1evyh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/324493/original/file-20200401-66130-1b1evyh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324493/original/file-20200401-66130-1b1evyh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324493/original/file-20200401-66130-1b1evyh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324493/original/file-20200401-66130-1b1evyh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=672&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324493/original/file-20200401-66130-1b1evyh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=672&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324493/original/file-20200401-66130-1b1evyh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=672&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The official tweet from Queensland Health and the bots’ responses.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While we can’t be 100% certain these are bot accounts, many factors point to this very likely being the case. Our ability to accurately identify bots will get better as machine learning algorithms in programs such as Bot Sentinel improve.</p>
<h2>How to spot a bot</h2>
<p>To learn the characteristics of a bot, let’s take a closer look Sharon’s and Sara’s accounts.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/324495/original/file-20200401-66155-9mwijy.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/324495/original/file-20200401-66155-9mwijy.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/324495/original/file-20200401-66155-9mwijy.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324495/original/file-20200401-66155-9mwijy.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324495/original/file-20200401-66155-9mwijy.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324495/original/file-20200401-66155-9mwijy.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=655&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324495/original/file-20200401-66155-9mwijy.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=655&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324495/original/file-20200401-66155-9mwijy.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=655&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Screenshots of the accounts of ‘Sharon’ and ‘Sara’.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Both profiles lack human uniqueness, and display some telltale signs they may be bots:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>they have no followers</p></li>
<li><p>they only recently joined Twitter</p></li>
<li><p>they have no last names, and have alphanumeric handles (such as Sara89629382) </p></li>
<li><p>they have only tweeted a few times</p></li>
<li><p>their posts have one theme: spreading alarmist comments</p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/324496/original/file-20200401-66148-1wd24hr.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/324496/original/file-20200401-66148-1wd24hr.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/324496/original/file-20200401-66148-1wd24hr.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=855&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324496/original/file-20200401-66148-1wd24hr.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=855&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324496/original/file-20200401-66148-1wd24hr.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=855&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324496/original/file-20200401-66148-1wd24hr.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1075&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324496/original/file-20200401-66148-1wd24hr.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1075&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324496/original/file-20200401-66148-1wd24hr.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1075&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bot ‘Sharon’ tried to rile others up through her tweets.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<ul>
<li>they mostly follow news sites, government authorities, or human users who are highly influential in a certain subject (in this case, virology and medicine). </li>
</ul>
<p>My investigation into Sharon revealed the bot had attempted to exacerbate anger on a news article about the federal government’s coronavirus response. </p>
<p>The language: “Health can’t wait. Economic (sic) can” indicates a potentially non-native English speaker. </p>
<p>It seems Sharon was trying to stoke the flames of public anger by calling out “bad decisions”.</p>
<p>Looking through Sharon’s tweets, I discovered Sharon’s friend “Mel”, another bot with its own programmed agenda. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/324498/original/file-20200401-66163-1synr48.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/324498/original/file-20200401-66163-1synr48.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/324498/original/file-20200401-66163-1synr48.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324498/original/file-20200401-66163-1synr48.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324498/original/file-20200401-66163-1synr48.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324498/original/file-20200401-66163-1synr48.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=697&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324498/original/file-20200401-66163-1synr48.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=697&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324498/original/file-20200401-66163-1synr48.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=697&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bot ‘Mel’ spread false information about a possible delay in COVID-19 results, and retweeted hateful messages.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What was concerning was that a human user was engaging with Mel.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/324503/original/file-20200401-66155-40yl3n.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/324503/original/file-20200401-66155-40yl3n.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/324503/original/file-20200401-66155-40yl3n.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324503/original/file-20200401-66155-40yl3n.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324503/original/file-20200401-66155-40yl3n.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324503/original/file-20200401-66155-40yl3n.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1009&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324503/original/file-20200401-66155-40yl3n.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1009&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324503/original/file-20200401-66155-40yl3n.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1009&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An account that seemed to belong to a real Twitter user began engaging with ‘Mel’.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>You can help tackle misinformation</h2>
<p>Currently, it’s simply too hard to attribute the true source of bot-driven misinformation campaigns. This can only be achieved with the full cooperation of social media companies. </p>
<p>The motives of a bot campaign can range from creating mischief to exercising geopolitical control. And some researchers still can’t agree on what exactly constitutes a “bot”. </p>
<p>But one thing is for sure: Australia needs to develop legislation and mechanisms to detect and stop these automated culprits. Organisations running legitimate social media campaigns should dedicate time to using a <a href="https://www.rand.org/research/projects/truth-decay/fighting-disinformation/search.html">bot detection tool</a> to weed out and report fake accounts. </p>
<p>And as a social media user in the age of the coronavirus, you can also help by reporting suspicious accounts. The last thing we need is malicious parties making an already worrying crisis worse.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/you-can-join-the-effort-to-expose-twitter-bots-124377">You can join the effort to expose Twitter bots</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/134802/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ryan Ko receives funding from CSIRO Data61 and The University of Queensland. He previously received funding from New Zealand's Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment and the New Zealand Law Foundation. </span></em></p>According to Bot Sentinel, #coronavirus and #COVID19 are among the top hashtags being used by Twitter bot accounts.Ryan Ko, Chair Professor and Director of Cyber Security, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1274712019-12-20T11:41:27Z2019-12-20T11:41:27ZInside the mind of the online scammer<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307894/original/file-20191219-11929-1sopk5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/concept-being-robbed-by-scam-127419302">Shutterstock/alphaspirit</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When Dame Helen Mirren revealed she had been the victim of a <a href="https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1199903/Dame-Helen-Mirren-latest-telephone-scam-warning-BBC-Radio-4-news">“humiliating” scam</a> on the press junket for her latest movie (in which, coincidentally, she also plays the victim of a hoax), it highlighted how everyone needs to be on their guard against fraudsters. Even members of the royal family are not immune, as was illustrated when Prince Charles was dragged into a <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/prince-charles-hit-counterfeit-art-20799908">major counterfeit art scandal</a>. But what motives scammers, other than greed? I believe the answer can be gleaned by investigating why humans lie in the first place.</p>
<p>Online fraudsters carry out a sophisticated and well-planned array of deceiving strategies to con people. These include <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49825888">romance scams</a> in which the victim is enticed to contribute cash to foster a fake romantic relationship, fraudulent lotteries, prize draws, sweepstake games and auction sites. Substantial winnings are offered if the victim can send in some cash. </p>
<p>The fraudsters are <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/better/lifestyle/scammers-have-upped-their-game-former-conman-shares-tips-protecting-ncna1057631">constantly building better mousetraps</a> in order to lure in increasingly sophisticated mice. For example, scams are being personalised to the victim by including references to familiar people or by targeting the victim’s occupation. </p>
<h2>What’s behind the deception?</h2>
<p>Scams are carried out using almost untraceable methods, so the criminals are often unknown, despite concerted efforts by law enforcement to identify and prosecute them. But the knowledge from several disciplines (<a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/ethology">ethology</a>, social psychology and criminology) can help us to understand them.</p>
<p><strong>Deception to ensure survival</strong></p>
<p>Ethologists study animal behaviour. They have observed that species, including humans, have developed a complex means of deceiving their prey in order <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1745691614535936">to ensure their survival</a>. For example, ethologists have identified complex forms of deceptions in other species, such as the jumping spider, which uses behavioural and chemical mimicry. This allows them to coexist with ants and feed on them. This is regarded as comparable to humans engaging in embezzlement by which they use their privileged access to resources and reputation for illegally extracting finances from other people. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vAS3kahu76k?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p><strong>Altruistic lies?</strong></p>
<p>Social psychologists have found that when humans lie for altruistic purposes or advancement of the group, the lie is often praised rather than denigrated. For example, even young children (aged between five and seven) show a willingness to tell “white lies” in order <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/bjdp.12083">to make others feel better</a>. Meanwhile other research shows that adults perceive lying that benefits others (because sometimes the truth hurts) <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022103114000328?via%3Dihub">as more “ethical”</a> than honest statements. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wJCRzgAPwE4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p><strong>Typical and serious lies</strong></p>
<p>Social psychological research shows that <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781351035743">lying is part of normal life</a>. Frequently, people tell everyday lies that are rather benign. Most of these lies are self-serving, but many are designed to benefit others. </p>
<p>People most often tell <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=uC1NDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT116&lpg=PT116&dq=doi:+http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15324834basp2602%263_4&source=bl&ots=b4Yp7Aw_WK&sig=ACfU3U1sEhUyv82mQ4iTYFaGTKveIwdjpQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwijj9Dhq8HmAhWJa8AKHRFiB08Q6AEwAHoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=doi%3A%20http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1207%2Fs15324834basp2602%263_4&f=false">“serious lies”</a> to their closest relationship partners. They tell serious lies in order to avoid punishment, protect themselves from confrontation, appear a highly desirable person, to protect others and also to hurt their partner. Common serious lies tend to involve affairs and taking money from others without their knowledge. </p>
<h2>Liars, fraudsters and corruption</h2>
<p>Frauds represent a complex array of deceptive behaviour that originates in species and arises, in part, from some of the typical motivations for deception. It is, of course, a criminal activity that is well understood by criminologists. Most criminals are typically male and have parents with criminal records, delinquent peer friends, arrests at a young age and come from poor areas with <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5892438/">higher crime rates</a>.</p>
<p>Today’s most common online scams are often carried out by people from poor countries. These countries and their government officials are generally regarded as corrupt by <a href="https://www.transparency.org/files/content/pages/2018_CPI_Executive_Summary.pdf">international corruption indexes</a>. Such corruption conveys the message that deception is a desirable strategy. Poverty combined with high corruption contributes to a heightened motivation to deceive others for survival.</p>
<p>The criminals in question tend to have traits of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047235217301897">psychopathic and antisocial personality disorders</a>. Research has investigated illegal downloading and hacking in adolescents from 30 countries. It was found that “<a href="https://www.cybercrimejournal.com/Udrisvol10issue2IJCC2016.pdf">cyber deviance</a>” was mostly carried out by males and by people who experienced “school disorganisation” (stealing and vandalism) and “neighbourhood disorganisation” (having untrustworthy or criminal neighbours).</p>
<p>These “cyber deviants” tend to have <a href="https://www.cybercrimejournal.com/Udrisvol10issue2IJCC2016.pdf">elevated cognitive ability</a> and, of course, have access to computers and technology. This type of fraud is often well planned and the fraudsters employ a range of deceptive tactics. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307895/original/file-20191219-11939-8omra0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307895/original/file-20191219-11939-8omra0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307895/original/file-20191219-11939-8omra0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307895/original/file-20191219-11939-8omra0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307895/original/file-20191219-11939-8omra0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307895/original/file-20191219-11939-8omra0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307895/original/file-20191219-11939-8omra0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307895/original/file-20191219-11939-8omra0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The FBI’s Operation reWired targeted business email compromise (BEC) scammers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://twitter.com/FBI/status/1181660622414630913/photo/1">FBI/Twitter</a></span>
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<p>The law tries to keep these criminals at bay. In September 2019, Operation reWired in the US succeeded in prosecuting <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/281-arrested-worldwide-coordinated-international-enforcement-operation-targeting-hundreds">281 email scammers</a> from several countries.</p>
<p>But the large numbers of fraudsters who combine deceptive and complex strategies make it extremely difficult to keep these crimes under control. So an understanding of how their minds work and their modus operandi is vital if one is to avoid becoming a victim.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127471/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ken Rotenberg does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ethology, social psychology and criminology can help us understand why humans lie and why scammer scam.Ken Rotenberg, Professor in Psychology, Keele UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1278202019-11-28T04:13:10Z2019-11-28T04:13:10ZA handsome soldier with a ‘medical bill’: how romance scammers make you fall in love with them<p>Maria Exposto, a Sydney grandmother who fell victim to a romance scam and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-26/sydney-grandmother-facing-death-learns-fate-in-malaysian-court/11738850">became an unwitting drug mule</a>, couldn’t have known what was before her when she left Australia to sign documents for her fiancé so he could retire and marry her.</p>
<p>At 50-years-old, Exposto had fallen for a widowed special forces soldier doing his bit for his country. </p>
<p>They have never met, which was easily explained – he was deployed in Afghanistan. She described being “blindly in love” with a man who wooed her online, serenading her with love songs and long, deep conversations.</p>
<p>Exposto <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-26/sydney-grandmother-facing-death-learns-fate-in-malaysian-court/11738850">recently walked free</a> after facing a death sentence in Malaysia for attempting to smuggle a kilogram of ice five years ago. Since she was caught, she has maintained she was a victim of a romance scam. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-catfish-to-romance-fraud-how-to-avoid-getting-caught-in-any-online-scam-115227">From catfish to romance fraud, how to avoid getting caught in any online scam</a>
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<p>Sadly, Exposto’s story is not unique. Like Exposto, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28657792">victims of romance scams</a> tend to be between 45 to 54-years-old, impulsive, respond to elaborate stories and are well-educated. </p>
<p>Romance scammers prey on people to build a relationship and defraud their victims. They are clever, well organised and have a number of tried techniques that make them highly successful. </p>
<p>The extreme emotional ties formed can make victims easy to manipulate and leave them vulnerable to knowingly or unknowingly engaging in criminal activity.</p>
<p>More than <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/4528.0Main%20Features162014-15?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=4528.0&issue=2014-15&num=&view=Personal">10 million Australians</a> are exposed to at least one personal fraud scam each year. </p>
<p>And with more than 3.5 million Australians <a href="https://www.relationships.org.au/what-we-do/research/online-survey/november-2017-online-dating">using Tinder alone</a>, the opportunities for romance scammers is growing rapidly. In fact, online dating fraud <a href="https://mashable.com/2012/02/09/online-dating-fraud">rose by 150%</a> in a year from 2011, with criminals recognising the opportunities to exploit those looking for a partner.</p>
<h2>Scammers are in for the long haul</h2>
<p>In Exposto’s case, the “relationship” had been ongoing for more than a year. This is not surprising, as romance scammers are <a href="https://scinapse.io/papers/2581815792">in for the long haul</a> and see the process as a long term investment to establish intimacy and trust. They often use teams of people to “hook” and “woo” the victim.</p>
<p>Scammers typically fake profiles with stolen photographs, often mimicking army officers, and <a href="https://scinapse.io/papers/2581815792">frequently create a story</a> of tragic or desperate circumstances. Armed force identities are common, as it easily explains their inability to meet in person.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304193/original/file-20191128-176588-1v95b6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304193/original/file-20191128-176588-1v95b6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304193/original/file-20191128-176588-1v95b6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304193/original/file-20191128-176588-1v95b6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304193/original/file-20191128-176588-1v95b6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304193/original/file-20191128-176588-1v95b6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304193/original/file-20191128-176588-1v95b6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304193/original/file-20191128-176588-1v95b6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Could the handsome military officer’s picture actually come from a stock image website? It’s a good idea to reverse image search the photo of your online partner.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>It’s <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bjc/article/53/4/665/396759">this willingness of the scammer</a> to engage in a prolonged, sustained interaction that creates the belief the relationship is “real” and leading to something more permanent.</p>
<p>Eventually, the scammer has ensnared a person who has heavily invested in the relationship, has a strong emotional attachment and has been groomed to believe they “know and understand” their partner.</p>
<p>After the bond is established, <a href="https://www.scamnet.wa.gov.au/scamnet/Scam_types-Dating__romance-Fake_social_media_profiles.htm">scammers frequently request money</a> to pay fictitious medical bills, help partners out of dangerous situations or pay for tickets.</p>
<h2>Money mules</h2>
<p>In some cases, victims can become involved in illegal activities including money laundering and bank fraud, and <a href="https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2015/07/faking-it-scammers-tricks-steal-your-heart-and-money?page=1">are at risk</a> of being charged. These types of victims are often referred to as “money mules”. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-get-away-with-fraud-the-successful-techniques-of-scamming-99523">How to get away with fraud: the successful techniques of scamming</a>
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<p>And “mule recruitment” is when the scammer attempts to get a person to receive stolen funds and then transfer those funds to criminals overseas. </p>
<p>Many victims of fraud related crimes can also suffer their own financial loss, on top of facing the sudden loss of, what was to them, an important and significant intimate relationship – a “double hit”. </p>
<p>Victims <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1748895815603773">have described</a> the loss of the relationship as more devastating than their financial loss.</p>
<h2>Shame and humiliation</h2>
<p>Their experience is more psychologically damaging than other types of fraud, and is often compounded by a total lack of understanding from family and friends. </p>
<p>Some victims <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1748895815603773">remain in denial</a> and are unable to accept the scam or separate the fake identity with a criminal. Some realise they’ve exposed themselves or performed sexual acts online, and feel humiliated and violated. They report feeling depressed, and even suicidal. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/more-than-just-money-getting-caught-in-a-romance-scam-could-cost-you-your-life-97258">More than just money: getting caught in a romance scam could cost you your life</a>
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<p>And victims have said they lost trust in others, severed social ties, and suffered a lower sense of self-worth and confidence. </p>
<p>This social withdrawal and isolation can make victims vulnerable to a second wave of the scam, believing their online partners excuses or explanations that they really are “real”.</p>
<p>But victims don’t often receive social support, reporting that family, friends and colleagues thought they were stupid, or were angry with them because of the financial loss, such as losing inheritance. </p>
<p>Many victims keep their experience a secret or don’t disclose the entire story for fear of these types of reactions. </p>
<h2>How can you avoid being duped?</h2>
<p>There are ways you can avoid being scammed by a one-sided romance. </p>
<p>Read and take heed of the instructions on dating websites. Most have clear guidelines of how to avoid online fraud, such as being suspicious about early declarations of love, requesting or receiving money. </p>
<p>It’s also a good idea to use their photos to do some <a href="https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/1325808?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en">sleuthing online</a>, and see what information pops up when you do a reverse image search on Google. Look for any inconsistencies, see if what they’ve told you about themselves adds up. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-we-need-to-do-more-for-the-victims-of-online-fraud-and-scams-59670">Why we need to do more for the victims of online fraud and scams</a>
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<p>You can also run their email address through <a href="https://www.romancescams.org/">RomanceScams.org</a> which lists names of known scammers.</p>
<p>And if you become aware a friend or family member has been victimised, remember it’s a time to provide support and understanding to break the isolation, allowing the victim to grieve over the lost relationship, rebuild their self-esteem, and try again.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127820/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Romance scammers are clever, well organised and have a number of tried techniques which make them highly successful. But there are ways you can avoid being scammed by a one-sided romance.Natalie Gately, Criminology Courses Coordinator, Edith Cowan UniversityJames McCue, Lecturer in Psychology and Criminology, Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1270272019-11-19T19:20:19Z2019-11-19T19:20:19ZInstead of showing leadership, Twitter pays lip service to the dangers of deep fakes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302366/original/file-20191119-12535-1ibjq98.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=33%2C22%2C3648%2C2047&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Neural networks can generate artificial representations of human faces, as well as realistic renderings of actual people.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?u=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTU3NDE2OTY2MiwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMTQzMDU3MTg2OSIsImsiOiJwaG90by8xNDMwNTcxODY5L21lZGl1bS5qcGciLCJtIjoxLCJkIjoic2h1dHRlcnN0b2NrLW1lZGlhIn0sIjJXSFNVZFhvUDRWVnFjUHdSZE9VSis3MVFGOCJd%2Fshutterstock_1430571869.jpg&ir=true&pi=41133566&m=1430571869&src=1958ce5f-79dc-4c00-a7d9-a80249171913-1-0">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Fake videos and doctored photographs, often based on events such as the <a href="https://www.space.com/apollo-11-moon-landing-hoax-believers.html">Moon landing</a> and supposed UFO appearances, have been the subject of fascination for decades.</p>
<p>Such imagery is often <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/chenxiwang/2019/11/01/deepfakes-revenge-porn-and-the-impact-on-women/#4f721c5e1f53">deep fake content</a>, called so because it uses deep learning associated with neural networks and digital image processing. </p>
<p>Last week, Twitter <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-twitter-deepfakes/twitter-wants-your-feedback-on-its-deepfake-policy-plans-idUSKBN1XL2C6">revealed</a> plans to introduce a <a href="https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2019/synthetic_manipulated_media_policy_feedback.html">new policy</a> governing deep fake videos on its platform. </p>
<p>The company proposed it would warn users about deep fake content by flagging tweets with “synthetic or manipulated media”. Twitter says media may be removed in cases where it could lead to serious harm, but has stopped short of enforcing a strict removal stance. Users have until November 27 to provide feedback. </p>
<p>In adopting this warning-only approach towards deep fakes, the social media giant has shown poor judgement. </p>
<h2>Why deep fakes are dangerous</h2>
<p>With advances in computer science, deep fakes are becoming an increasingly powerful tool to deceive people using social media.</p>
<p>Deep fake clips of celebrities and politicians are realistic enough to trick users into making financial, political and personal decisions based on the fake testimony of others. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VWrhRBb-1Ig?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">This Youtube clip featuring actor Bill Hader shows how realistic deep fake content can be.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Whether it’s a David Koch <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-6204111/David-Koch-unwillingly-face-erectile-dysfunction-advertising-scam.html">erectile dysfunction cream</a> scam, an announcement by Donald Trump that <a href="https://shots.net/news/view/has-donald-trump-eradicated-aids">AIDs has been eradicated</a>, or a fake interview with Andrew Forrest leading to a <a href="https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/announcements/scammers-use-fake-twiggy-forrest-investment-fleece-woman-out-670000">finance scam</a>, deep fakes present a serious risk to our ability to trust what we view online. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/people-who-spread-deepfakes-think-their-lies-reveal-a-deeper-truth-119156">People who spread deepfakes think their lies reveal a deeper truth</a>
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<p>Social media companies have so far taken a sloppy approach to this threat. They have even promoted the use of photo algorithms letting users experiment with animated face masks, and provided tutorials on how to use editing programs. </p>
<p>Deep fake production is the <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/deepfake-ai-algorithms-can-now-take-text-and-turn-it-into-words-spoken-in-a-video">professional version</a> of this practice. At its worst, it can even <a href="https://intelligence.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=657">threaten democracy</a>.</p>
<p>Twitter’s latest draft policy on deep fakes sets a dangerous precedent. It allows social media platforms to handball away their responsibility to protect customers from manipulated videos and imagery. </p>
<h2>Twitter should be just as accountable as television</h2>
<p>It’s time social media giants such as Twitter started seeing themselves as the 21st century version of free-to-air television. With TV, there are clear guidelines about what cannot be broadcast. </p>
<p>Since 1992, Australians have been protected by the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2018C00060">1992 Broadcasting Services Act</a>, ensuring what is shows in “fair and accurate coverage”. The act <a href="http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/cca1995115/sch1.html">protects</a> viewers in regards to the origin and authenticity of television content.</p>
<p>The same principles should apply to social media. Americans now spend <a href="https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/people-are-now-spending-more-time-on-smartphones-than-they-are-watching-tv/556405/">more time on social media</a> than they do watching television, and Australia isn’t far behind.</p>
<p>By suggesting they only need to flag tweets with deep fake content, Twitter’s proposed policy downplays the seriousness of the threat. </p>
<h2>Sending the wrong message</h2>
<p>Twitter’s draft policy is dangerous on two fronts. </p>
<p>Firstly, it suggests the company is somehow doing its part in protecting its users. In reality, Twitter’s decision is akin to watching a child struggle to swim in heavy surf, while nearby authorities wave a sign saying: “some waves may be hard to judge” - instead of actually helping.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lies-fake-news-and-cover-ups-how-has-it-come-to-this-in-western-democracies-102041">Lies, 'fake news' and cover-ups: how has it come to this in Western democracies?</a>
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<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jun/23/what-do-we-do-about-deepfake-video-ai-facebook">Senior citizens</a> and inexperienced social media users are particularly vulnerable to deep fakes. This is because they’re predisposed to <a href="https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworkspost2013/5709/">trust online content</a> that looks authentic.</p>
<p>The second reason Twitter’s proposition is dangerous is because social media trolls and <a href="https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworkspost2013/665/">sock puppet armies</a> enjoy surprising online audiences. Sock puppets are specialists in deceiving users into believing they’re a single fake person (or multiple fake perople) by means of false posts and online identities.</p>
<p>Basically, content that has been signposted as deep fake will be exploited by people wanting to amplify its spread. It’s unrealistic to suppose this won’t happen. </p>
<p>If Twitter flags posts that are fake, yet leaves them up, the likely outcome will be a popularity surge in this content. As per social media algorithms, this means a greater number of fake videos and images will be “<a href="https://business.twitter.com/en/help/overview/what-are-promoted-tweets.html">promoted</a>” rather than retracted. </p>
<p>Twitter has an opportunity to take a leadership role in preventing the spread of deep fake content, by identifying and removing deep fakes from its platform. All major social media platforms have the responsibility to present a unified approach to the prevention and removal of manipulated and fake imagery.</p>
<p>The circulation of a <a href="https://fortune.com/2019/06/12/deepfake-mark-zuckerberg/">Nancy Pelosi deep fake</a> video earlier this year revealed social media’s inconsistency in the handling of deceitful imagery. YouTube removed the clip from its platform, Facebook flagged it as false, and Twitter let it remain. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ai-can-now-create-fake-porn-making-revenge-porn-even-more-complicated-92267">AI can now create fake porn, making revenge porn even more complicated</a>
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<p>Twitter is in the business of helping users repost links and content as many times as possible. It creates profit by generating repeated referrals, commentary, and the acceptance of its content through <a href="https://fourweekmba.com/how-does-twitter-make-money/">promoted trends</a>. </p>
<p>If deep fakes aren’t removed from Twitter, their growth will be exponential. </p>
<h2>A looming threat</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2018/10/detecting_fake_.html">Early versions</a> of such spurious content were relatively easy to spot. People in the first deep fake clips appeared unrealistic. Their eyes would’t blink and their facial gestures wouldn’t sync with the words being spoken. </p>
<p>There are also examples of harmless image manipulation. These include web apps on <a href="https://www.pocket-lint.com/apps/news/facebook/139756-facebook-messenger-here-s-how-to-use-those-new-snapchat-like-lenses">Snapchat and Facebook</a> that let users alter their photos (usually selfies) to add backgrounds, or resemble characters such as cute animals.</p>
<p>However, this new generation of altered imagery is often hard to distinguish from reality. And as criminals and pranksters improve their production of deep fakes, the other side of this double-edged sword could swing at any time.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127027/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr David Cook is affiliated with Edith Cowan University as a lecturer in the School of Science, and is a Fellow of the Australian Computer Society </span></em></p>Twitter’s proposed policy would result in the prolific spread of fabricated, but highly realistic images and videos. This could allow widespread misinformation on the platform.David Cook, Lecturer, Computer and Security Science,Edith Cowan University, Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.