behind the scenes of online scams

DFrom phishing to fake security alerts, the tactics scammers use are evolving, but the goal remains the same: siphon users’ bank accounts and steal their identities. Here’s an overview of the most common scams in recent months.

Phishing, the persistent threat

Phishing remains one of the favorite methods of cybercriminals. Using fake emails and alarming text messages, they encourage you to click on links that lead to fraudulent sites designed to steal your personal information. An estimated 3.4 billion emails are sent every day by cybercriminals, designed to appear as if they come from trusted senders. That’s more than a trillion phishing emails per year.

Cloud storage false alerts

This technique takes advantage of the fear of losing access to valuable personal data. An email informs you that your storage space is full and offers you a paid upgrade. “Your cloud space is full!” a fraudulent email assures you. This threatens to leave you unable to send messages or store videos, photos, and documents in iCloud if you don’t change your storage plan.

Webcam blackmail

In this scam, cybercriminals claim to have access to videos of you viewing explicit content. They threaten to release these videos, real or fictional, if you don’t pay them some money.

Investment fraud

This scam lures you with investment offers with unrealistic returns, which can reportedly double or triple your investment. Scammers may also contact you in the name of fake charities or non-existent lotteries. Older adults are often targeted by these scams, taking advantage of their less familiarity with fraudulent online practices.

Account deletion threats

Alarming reports claim that accounts for popular services like Netflix or Google will soon be deleted. These emails attempt to trick you into entering your login credentials on fake authentication pages. The fake tech support scam consists of scaring the victim via SMS, phone, chat, email or by the appearance of a message blocking the computer, indicating a serious technical problem and a risk of loss of data or use of equipment. And this is to induce her to contact so-called official technical support (Microsoft, Apple, Google, etc.), and then convince her to pay for pseudo computer repair and/or buy useless or even malicious software .

Fake online sales sites

Fake online shopping sites are designed to deceive consumers by almost perfectly imitating the appearance of reputable online stores. Their goal is often to collect your personal information or money without ever delivering the ordered products. These scammers forge the names of well-known brands and, after defrauding enough customers, shut down the site, only to resurface under a new name.

What financial impact?

Annual losses due to fraud vary significantly from country to country. Nigeria is posting losses of $200 million, mainly due to advance fee fraud and romance scams. In the United States, losses amount to $180 million, mainly due to phishing and lottery scams. India suffers $160 million in losses due to tech support and lottery scams, while China and the United Kingdom lose $140 million and $120 million respectively, mainly due to counterfeit products, fraudulent investments and phishing. Significant losses are also observed in Russia (USD 100 million), Brazil (USD 80 million) and South Africa (USD 70 million), with various forms of scams.