SCAMS
During difficult economic times, we tend to see a marked rise in scams and scammers, particularly online. Unfortunately, when people are hurting financially, they are more likely to let their guard down and be more open to the type of "get rich quick, too good to be true" schemes that Internet scammers thrive upon. Add to this charitable scams that prey on peoples' desires to help others and telephone schemes targeted at the elderly. We all need to be more alert, aware, and scam-savvy than ever before.
This page provides updates on the latest Internet scams and hoaxes, specific information about what to do if you are a victim, and resources for further learning and education.
Identity Theft
Probably the fastest growing area of crime involving citizens and consumers is identity theft. It is very difficult to resolve if you are a victim.
Delaware's Department of Justice Consumer Protection Division and the Federal Trade Commission's IdentityTheft.gov provides advice to avoid identity theft and specific steps to take if your identity is compromised.
Here are some links that may help you if you find you are a victim of Identity Theft.
Ransomware
Ransomware is a type of malware that prevents or limits users from accessing their device, either by locking the screen or by locking the users' files unless a ransom is paid.
After the initial infection, the ransomware attempts to spread to shared storage drives and other accessible devices.
More modern ransomware families, collectively categorized as crypto-ransomware, encrypt certain file types on infected devices and force users to pay the ransom through certain online payment methods to get a decryption key.
If the demands are not met, the system or encrypted data remains unavailable, or data may be deleted.
Social Engineering
Social engineering is the act of exploiting human psychology, rather than technical hacking techniques, to gain access to buildings, systems, or data.
What Is Social Engineering?
Here are some links to help you better understand Social Engineering.
- Strangest social engineering attacks of 2021
- Social Engineering Explained: How Criminals Exploit Human Behavior
- Social Engineering news, information, and how-to-advice
Top Holiday Cybersecurity Scams to Avoid
Gift card fraud, charity scams, credit card suspicious activity? All of these can lead to a very un-happy holiday season. Stay safe, and look out for the tactics the bad guys are using to take advantage of unwary shoppers.
Additional Resources
- Helping Hispanics Avoid Fraud - FTC
- Smishing and Vishing: How These Cyber Attacks Work and How to Prevent Them
- Student loan scammers are circling. Keep them at bay - FTC
- Tech Support Phone Scams- FTC
