Cyber Monday always brings great gift ideas, sweet deals, and … identity theft.
Scammers, as well as shoppers, seem to love the holiday season.
The Federal Trade Commission reported that Americans lost more than $5.8 billion to fraud in 2021, a 70% increase over the prior year.
Sadly, Giving Tuesday, a day many Americans generously show their support for charitable organizations, is another opportunity for scammers to commit fraud and steal sensitive tax information.
That’s why the IRS names the post-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy National Tax Security Awareness Week.
But why do we fall prey to these thieves?
“These bad guys take advantage of the best parts of our human nature,” says Daniel Lopresti, professor of computer science and engineering. “They exploit our connections and can pretend to be a friend, family member, colleague, classmate, or authority figure.”
“We are bombarded with messages which makes filtering through these scams much harder,” adds Dominic DiFranzo, assistant professor of computer science and engineering. “And they leverage our insecurities, fears, and isolation against us.”
Think that your virus protection will help? It might with one aspect of keeping your information secure, but it is only helping with a single risk. These scammers take tiered approaches.
So you would need to keep your phones and computers up to date with security, have strong and ever changing passwords, use multi-factor authentication, and surf through a virtual private network (VPN).
But most people don’t do that stuff.
And, believe it or not, our private information is all over the internet. Think of what you share personally over social media or tout professionally on LinkedIn. Financial details like home purchases are shared in public records.
Scammers build databases with that information, often selling it to other dubious groups that take advantage of those details. They can also layer in recent events. Scams quickly followed the announcement of student loan forgiveness.
In this image: From left to right, Dominic DiFranzo, assistant professor of computer science and engineering, and Daniel Lopresti, professor of computer science and engineering.
So you need to be smarter than the scammers. Here are some tips from Lopresti and DiFranzo:
1. Slow Down
There is always an urgency to their need – a plea to help, an unexpected emergency, and/or a situation that seems plausible. “This helps short circuit our processes to verify,” says DiFranzo.
2. Stop, Think, Verify
Before reacting to the message, pause. Think: Would they contact me in such a manner? “The scammers initiate, so it is our job to go back to the source of that message, email, or call,” says Lopresti.
3. Don’t Click or Open
Refrain from using the links or opening attachments until you have verified it is from the source. “When shopping for shoes or a coat, we browse. That same due diligence should be applied here,” says DiFranzo.
4. Clear Tells
Misspelled words. Awkward phrasing. Asking for gift cards. Using your wrong name. Watch for the dead giveaways. “Scammers always call me Daniel when my friends and colleagues know me as Dan,” says Lopresti.
5. Know the Latest
This summer, it was Amazon accounts. Zelle hacks a year ago. Know what is happening with the latest scams. “Most people are ashamed if they were involved in a scam, but sharing it can help others,” says DiFranzo.
He is working on a project with peers from several other universities and funded by the National Science Foundation that will improve the digital literacy for older Americans who are often more vulnerable to such scams.
The online tool will help educate people and provide a simulated space to practice skills in order to recognize and prevent such fraud.
“We hope to educate in order to innoculate,” DiFranzo says. “It will make people a bit more skeptical when scams appear.”
Skepticism about a deal that is too good to be true seems apt around Black Friday.