The cyber criminals want your money - don't give it to them
I was a victim of cyber crime and it took every effort to get my money back
Are you fully away of the dangers associated with using the internet and digital technology? Phishing, Tax Scams, Social Engineering, they‘re all indiscriminate risks in the digital space.
Digital technology is a force multiplier, its multifaceted use allows us to communicate, report, analyse, record and collaborate. Working in Cyber Space is fraught with risks. Technology and software can serve as shields against cyber criminals, yet they also present avenues for criminals to exploit vulnerabilities.
“Cyberspace” is the term used to describe the electronic medium of digital networks used to store, modify, and communicate information. It includes the Internet but also other information systems that support businesses, infrastructure and services. (Security Service - MI5, 2019).
A shitty cyber experience nearly cost me £1,000
One morning in the spring of 2021, my wife asked me what I’d spent £1,000 on. I replied that I hadn't. Logging onto our bank account revealed a pattern of withdrawals over a three hour period, it looked something like this;
-£4.99 - Tom Smith
-£25.00 - Tom Smith
-£47.88 - Tom Smith
-£60.00 - Tom Smith
When paying someone £1,000, the transaction is completed in its entirety, not in scattered or random amounts. I contacted Santander to raise the obvious cyber scam, and less than two hours later, the bank rang me to say they had closed the case because they didn’t see anything wrong with the transactions.
Both my wife and I were distraught. I can only describe the following weeks as ‘f***ing horrendous’. I ended up conducting my own investigation to convince the bank that we were victims of cyber crime.
We did eventually get all of our money back and we immediately moved to a new bank with 24/7 customer support. I consider myself as switched on when it comes to cyber awareness, but the criminals caught me out.
The Hertfordshire Police victims support unit contacted me to offer support, and they also provided me with the details for me to write to the CEO of the bank.
The Metropolitan Police will contact thousands of victims of cyber crime
According to the Money Saving Expert, “The Met Police says over 200,000 potential victims in the UK alone have been directly targeted through iSpoof, with 70,000 of those linked to an identified suspect (it's those 70,000 that will get the texts). You will likely have been called over the phone from a fraudster pretending to be from your bank." - Source, the Money Saving Expert
A 2018 Government reports suggests that the top-end cost to the UK economy was £27 billion for the fiscal year of 2011. Alex Hearn, writing for the Guardian wrote that £130 bn was stolen from consumers in 2017 - and things only seem to be getting worse.
To operate safely in Cyber Space, users must understand the basic rules of information security and the threats posed by hackers and criminals. The Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability (CIA) model is designed to maximise information security.
The Cyber Threat is real
Cyber Crime is one of the 14 pillars of crime listed by the National Crime Agency. Hostile Actors come in many guises, from individuals to State Sponsored activities. Cyber Criminals adopt and develop a variety of techniques to conduct Cyber Espionage, Denial of Service, and Computer Network Attacks.
Pause for a moment and think about your electronic practices. What would your day look like if Cyber Criminals took a key application offline, for example your payroll system, or even your Instagram account? The availability of web-based applications depends on the ability of users to maintain the CIA model.
Bookmarks and Cyber Training
Several websites list threats, trends and safety measures. The Getsafeonline website advises for personal and business internet use. The Security Service asses Cyber risks associated to the UK.
If you take nothing else away from this post, remember to keep your operating systems and apps up to date. If in doubt, look for the tell-tale signs of a phishing scam.
References;
http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/crime-threats
https://www.getsafeonline.org/
Thank you for reading the Woz Report. You may also like my previous post on What Should I Read Next?