According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, cyber fraud and crime affected 22.1% of consumers between the ages of 50 and 59 in 2010. The organization, also known as IC3, receives and process approximately 25,000 complaints per year. But in 2010, IC3 received its second-highest number of complaints in its eleven-year history.
IC3's list of ten of the most prevalent crimes was topped by the non-delivery of payments of merchandise (14.4%), followed by FBI-related scams (13.2%) and identity theft (9.8%). The total monetary loss by victims of these crimes is suspected to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
In a world where technological advances and preventative action have become a part of our daily lives, these figures may seem ironic to some. But the numbers don't lie; clearly, there is much to be done in the way of educating ourselves about cyber fraud and the steps needed to curb it.
Avoiding cyber fraud is possible by knowing the methods criminals use to get our information. Indeed, cyber fraud does take many forms, from the distribution of viruses to the obtaining of personal information. Taking precautions with a few simple steps is often all it takes to avoid becoming a victim.
Email is one of the most common ways that criminals employ to execute these crimes. An image in an email can be infected with a computer virus which can then be used to monitor your online activity or get the personal information that's located on your computer. A malicious web link in a message that's supposedly from your banking institution can lead you to a page that looks just like the one you visit to do your banking.
One simple way to avoid becoming a victim of an email scam is to look at the "From:" line. Is the email coming from someone you recognize? If not, simply delete the email and report it as spam. If the message claims to be from your bank but you are even a little doubtful, don't click the link. Instead, call or type in your bank's web address directly to see whether or not they communicate with their customers via email.
Another way to tell if a link is secure is by looking at its web address. An address which begins with "https:" means it's a secure address. Also, some web addresses may look official in an email, but can then change in your web browser once you've clicked the link. Examine the web address in your browser to ensure it hasn't changed.
You can also avoid fraud by keeping an eye on your bank and credit card accounts on a regular basis. A stolen credit card can mean a sudden surge in the amount of transactions. You can view the balance on all of your accounts with one check of your credit score.
IC3's list of ten of the most prevalent crimes was topped by the non-delivery of payments of merchandise (14.4%), followed by FBI-related scams (13.2%) and identity theft (9.8%). The total monetary loss by victims of these crimes is suspected to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
In a world where technological advances and preventative action have become a part of our daily lives, these figures may seem ironic to some. But the numbers don't lie; clearly, there is much to be done in the way of educating ourselves about cyber fraud and the steps needed to curb it.
Avoiding cyber fraud is possible by knowing the methods criminals use to get our information. Indeed, cyber fraud does take many forms, from the distribution of viruses to the obtaining of personal information. Taking precautions with a few simple steps is often all it takes to avoid becoming a victim.
Email is one of the most common ways that criminals employ to execute these crimes. An image in an email can be infected with a computer virus which can then be used to monitor your online activity or get the personal information that's located on your computer. A malicious web link in a message that's supposedly from your banking institution can lead you to a page that looks just like the one you visit to do your banking.
One simple way to avoid becoming a victim of an email scam is to look at the "From:" line. Is the email coming from someone you recognize? If not, simply delete the email and report it as spam. If the message claims to be from your bank but you are even a little doubtful, don't click the link. Instead, call or type in your bank's web address directly to see whether or not they communicate with their customers via email.
Another way to tell if a link is secure is by looking at its web address. An address which begins with "https:" means it's a secure address. Also, some web addresses may look official in an email, but can then change in your web browser once you've clicked the link. Examine the web address in your browser to ensure it hasn't changed.
You can also avoid fraud by keeping an eye on your bank and credit card accounts on a regular basis. A stolen credit card can mean a sudden surge in the amount of transactions. You can view the balance on all of your accounts with one check of your credit score.
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