Warning of cybercrimes and community guidelines isn't enough to stop the former, if there is a lack of awareness among users. But what are the different forms of cybercrimes and how does one identity it?

Cont- the most common type of impersonation attacks-

Cont- Phising: it is an attack aimed by an fraudulent entity in order to obtain sensitive details of the targeted person. Common ways to do it is to send emails, telephone calls or Instagram dms Making it look like it's coming from a trusted source which then proceeds to ask bank details of targeted person. These are easy to recognise if one pays simple attention to-

Cont- 1. There is an urgent call of action written in.

A key report that provides insights to cyber security is that of Norton Life Lock's annual Cyber Safety Insights report. The study was conducted across ten countries with sample range of 10,000 adults of ages above 18. It was observed that that around 4 in 10 Indians have experienced some sort of identity theft and were wary of cybercrimes. A paradoxical element here to be notes is that while Indians are generally cautious while giving out personal information, there is no hesitance in doing so when they are guaranteed something in return. In addition to this, as mentioned earlier, it is usually kids and seniors citizens that are target to such cybercrimes, however, this study says otherwise. It found that identity theft and other cybercrimes were more commonly found in younger adults (age range 18-39) than older adults who are 40+. 41 percent vs. 22 percent ID theft, 81 percent vs. 73 percent cybercrime). This debunks the stereotype that scammers target certain age group.There targets are those who are naive and gullible enough to do something provided they get something in return for sharing there personal information. This only emphasizes on the necessity of awareness, especially today, when a majority of our lives are dependent on digital notions such as social media platforms.

Fangirling and idolizing are common and innocent notions until overlapped with obsession or a drive to steal identity by itself, and the line that seperates them cannot be blurred.

#communityguidelines #fan #identitytheft #idolization #impersonation #socialmedia #awareness

When it comes to impersonation and identity theft, it is often the common man that is affected, and thus there is no commotion made unless the media is heavily involved. However, directions of attention change once a celebrity or the name of a celebrity is involved, even if the affected involves a common person. To elucidate on this, the lack of awareness on part of the victim is what makes them so vulnerable to cyber criminals. One such case that can be highlighted is that of a polish woman who believed she was in contact with the famous Will Smith. The scammer who was a doppelganger of Smith gained trust of the woman and the asked for a favour by telling her to pick up a parcel for which she paid customs worth 11 thousands dollars ( a classic move) and then after receiving the money he broke off all contacts with her. Another case where losses were more drastic is that of a woman falling prey to a cyber criminal who impersonated the son of Clint Eastwood - Scott. This impersonator convinced the victim by narrating a believable back story and sending her a copy of his passport that he was in urgent need to buy land and real estate in Poland but was unable to do so given his frozen bank account. The woman did the needful and sent $150000 on a loan basis. Later when she tried contacting him and was unsuccessful then realisation hit that she was scammed. The police is still in search of the man.

In 2020, the US Federal Trade Commission received around 4.8 million reports revolving around Identity Theft and fraud, with losses incurred crossing $3.3 Billion. After the COVID-19 pandemic which affected individuals and families globally, frauds involving financial aid for those who suffered in areas of business and work became prominent. Money lost, no doubt, is a huge loss for families through the different financial and social hierarchies, but the ones on the lower ends are affected so and so to be incapable of making ends meet, and big life choices such as moving cities, buying a new car or house get compromised severely. Losses and damages incurred go beyond just lost money, there is a severe amount of emotional damage and psychological trauma caused to the victims which may take a lot of effort to repair, or even be irreparable.

When it comes to cybercrimes, often we can identify patterns when they are committed. Something that can be highlighted globally is the target audience and victims of these crimes in a global context throughout social media platforms. Hopping on to statistics, major consumer reports consist of senior citizens reporting crimes of private data invasion, identity theft and impersonation. Since people of all age groups have access to social media platforms, some individuals in particular such as kids and older adults become easy target for scammers to commit fraudulent transactions by taking advantage of their innocence and lack of awareness, and ignorance of community guidelines. The tendency to ignore terms and conditions and community guidelines not only makes them unaware of committing such crimes but also being victims of the same. Day by day, more seniors are reporting identity theft. Consumers between the ages of 40-49 and 50-59 have accounted for 15% and 24% percent of complaints, respectively, according to 2020 reports. The numbers for seniors are likely to be even higher, according to an AARP survey which found that “victims 55 years of age and older were significantly less likely to acknowledge that they were defrauded than victims under 55.” Common scams are inclusive of tax identity theft, medical identity theft and fraud committed by nursing home and long-term care staff. To begin with tackling these issues, it is important to create awareness among senior citizens, as they are at the top of the hierarchy of cybercrime victims.

#communityguidelines #impersonation #identitytheft #cybercrimes #seniorcitizens #awareness

With the surge in usage of social media platforms, cyber crimes have also been on the rise. Identity theft and impersonation have been one of the common ones, but what is the difference? Identity theft- It is a crime in which a person obtains personal/financial information of the victim to use their identity for purposes of committing fraud or personal gains. The information can be credit card details, bank account etc. Identity theft may or may not be personal and is not necessary that the guilty party has a malicious intent, they are just a bunch of con artist trying to make money the easy way. The same can’t be said about impersonation.

Impersonation- It happens when the guilty party pretends to be the victim. They acquire personal information about the victim through his social media accounts and then use that information for their own benefit. Most of the impersonation cases are done for revenge purposes and thus involve malicious intent. Through impersonation one can also commit identity theft, by gaining the victim’s personal info, the guilty party can coax the victim’s family or friends to do unlawful transactions and hence commit fraud.

Identity theft may not tarnish/defame the victim but Impersonation surely does.

When it comes to impersonation and identity theft, it is often the common man that is affected, and thus there is no commotion made unless the media is heavily involved. However, directions of attention change once a celebrity or the name of a celebrity is involved, even if the affected involves a common person. To elucidate on this, the lack of awareness on part of the victim is what makes them so vulnerable to cyber criminals. One such case that can be highlighted is that of a polish woman who believed she was in contact with the famous Will Smith. The scammer who was a doppelganger of Smith gained trust of the woman and the asked for a favour by telling her to pick up a parcel for which she paid customs worth 11 thousands dollars ( a classic move) and then after receiving the money he broke off all contacts with her. Another case where losses were more drastic is that of a woman falling prey to a cyber criminal who impersonated the son of Clint Eastwood - Scott. This impersonator convinced the victim by narrating a believable back story and sending her a copy of his passport that he was in urgent need to buy land and real estate in Poland but was unable to do so given his frozen bank account. The woman did the needful and sent $150000 on a loan basis. Later when she tried contacting him and was unsuccessful then realisation hit that she was scammed. The police is still in search of the man.