There is so much malpractice out there these days that is can be offputting for anyone trying to run a small concern online. If the criminal fraternity used their energies and expertise to deal with legitimate businesses activities, and pay their taxes and other contributions to the Treasury, there woudl be no balancing the books to reduce the national debt! The internet gives the unscrupulous opportunities for some fine pickings. They attack online when innocent folk are online banking, shopping or gaming. And of course, our dear old friend ‘dating romance fraud’. The criminals know their way around most systems now and the security suppliers are working 24/7 to ensure our private home security systems are robust and effective against this tide of malpractice. The trouble with today’s internet criminals is the ease with which they can hide and mask their true identity – and their true intentions and purpose for contact.
Fraudsters and criminals are hard to discover – the new AI, technological advancements in industry allow them to u se AI to form digital footprints which make their activites look and operate as if legitimate business activities. These days fake emails, adverts and websites can look terrifyingly convincing, so much so that it is seriously difficult to tell the fraudster from the official bank. It is critical for everyone to become aware of the latest threat, themes and schemes currently being perpetrated so as not to be caught out. How do we know if anyone is trying to defraud us? Fraudsters are absolutely ruthless; they have no concience and don’t care at all about the trail of damaged lives they leave in their wake. This is especially true in the romance scams and pension ovement scams.
One of the tricks is to emphasise the need for urgency – if you miss their special offer now, it won’t be repeated to act now . . . . They often engage emotional tugging to make you feel fearful or curious. They will often deploy AI to make an appearance appealing to your softer, more generous side. They may even create deepfake likenessess to family or friends so as to be really convincing. They oftem time nature of the scam to coincide with something that is actually occuring in real life, such as the regular Tax registering deadlines for example. The seriously professional criminals have many ways they will bombard an ‘innocent’. They will ask you to share a one time passcode that you have requested, or not as the case may be. They will boldly ask you for the entire four digital passwork. They will often ask for two digits of your security code and stasrt coughing and innocently say they didn’t catch what you said, they’ll then repeat the wrong digits and you will then correct them by giving your digits – their clever whiles will have drawn all four digits out of you which negates any compassion from your bank manager!
