Fighting Cyber Crime in a Recession
December 24, 2008 by AntivirusWare.The dismal economy has opened the door for consumers to be scammed in a variety of ways. For example, people are receiving phishing emails asking them to provide bank account information so as to avoid having their bank account closed down in a merger. Once the person provides their information, their account gets raided.
People are also being sucked into cyber money laundering by fake work from home jobs. They are offered the chance to be an “international sales rep.” They open a bank account, and receive money. They then wire the money to a third party. In reality the transaction is money laundering, pure and simple. The victim of the scam is known as a cyber mule, named after the ‘mules’ that carry drugs across borders.
Quite often, people involved in the schemes don’t realize that they could be arrested for their participation, or that mules are far more likely to get caught than the people behind the scheme.
According to security experts, if it had happened five years ago, it may have been different, but the combination of the economic downturn with the more frequent sharing of personal information makes net users more susceptible—in other words, it’s like a perfect storm brewing up. And security experts predict it will get worse.
According to most experts, people should not let the security risks of using the Internet prevent them from availing themselves of the technology. It can be a great way to stay in touch with the people you care about.