How I’m fighting fraud with ‘scambusters’

Duncan, I think Stephen has wisely shown that scams exist both online and elsewhere, so savvy consumers need to nurture a skill set that can protect them from all of these scams. For example, whenever an offer sounds too good to be true, there’s probably a catch somewhere…

Also, I think it is good to see OSes like Windows (and MacOS and ChromeOS and Linux), where security updates are regularly rolled out. In contrast, security updates to Android seem to only come in the form of patches and updates to Apps, actual upgrades to the OS are very few and far between. For phones, the most obvious alternative to Android is iOS, where OS updates do seem seem to be rolled out regularly.

That said, most of the online scams that I get to hear about involve scammers hoodwinking device owners, rather than exploiting software security flaws. I judge that the latter come into play more when company servers get hacked, perhaps because the latter will be mostly operated by experts.

When a scam involves scammers appearing to provide “unsolicited help” to consumers, it is easy to establish guidelines to help defeat those scams. For example, we know that scammers tend to use “hurt and rescue” scenarios and then apply time pressure, as that increases the likelihood of consumers making mistakes, such as failing to spot the scam and stop before damage is done.

But apart from making sure that consumers know they should have adequate security software and a properly supported and updated OS, it is hard to give out much specific advice about how to avoid getting hacked. Although good security software should block malicious emails and web pages, many will still get through to some users and, as shown by a Which? quiz a while ago, it can actually be difficult to distinguish between a well crafted phishing email and a genuine but poorly prepared one from a legitimate organisation.

malcolm r says: Today 12:44

alfa, when some people tell us the British public cannot add two numbers together without a spreadsheet, that they are quite incapable of making an informed decision, then it is hardly surprising they don’t listen to advice and are easy meat for the scammers.

I must have missed the first point, as I don’t remember anyone saying that, but I remember Phil making the second point during the continuation of Duncan’s post about Cannabis decriminalisation.

Of course, you can’t talk about the ‘British Public’ as a homogenous whole. There are, after all, around 60m of them, with abilities covering the entire gamut of both Mathematics and critical thinking.

Which is the point, really; in here we are aware of the potential scams because we discuss them frequently, and posts by others alert us to new developments – such as Duncan’s worrying post about the apparent ease with which the administrators of private networks can decipher information passing between sites which use the https protocols. He’s right, too, and the detailed information is available on the Gibson Research Corporation website.

But if many were not within the “dismal view” category, it might be possible to argue that many of the tabloids would long since have gone out of business.

And I also believe some succumb to scams for one (or both) of two reasons: the first is that new and more innovative scams are being developed with alarming regularity. Thus while education can play a big part, it can’t hope to keep up with the criminal’s deviousness.

To avoid all possible scams you have to research all the possible types, and stay on top of the information coming in regularly, develop a personality a hardened Paranoic would be proud of and think twice before answering the ‘phone.

The scammer, on the other hand, only has to find a single c h i n k in your impervious mental armour, so they will always have the upper hand.

The second reason, of course, is the panic element. One way the scammer operate is to email / phone the victim, and trust to luck that there’s a chance coincidence – enough of one to make the victim panic and act unwisely. If the person is elderly, and possibly developing an as yet undiagnosed type of Alzheimer’s, then not only might they be incapable of reacting cautiously or, indeed, adding two numbers together, but they might succumb to the stress by saying or doing some things that might appear, to us, extremely unwise.

For that, Alfa’s ideas are the best possible remedy, in my humble opinion, whereas banks are ill-placed to advise about anything other than bank accounts, and even then experience tells us the banks’ communications are generally not of the type and quality one would wish for those who sorely need detailed help and education.

It’s at times like this we should regret the passing of the often superbly crafted Public Information films that worked so well, often purely because of repetition.

Ian said in here we are aware of the potential scams because we discuss them frequently

Exactly Ian, we on here are probably more aware than most.

For example, we have just opened a new savings account. 2 letters turned up, one confirming opening the account the other requesting a signature. The first letter was on coloured headed paper, the second on a black & white copy. Now, how many people would think to question that?

Older people are more trusting, many don’t like being told and some will not be as ‘on the ball’ as they used to be. There are those that have had technology forced on them with no instruction and struggle to use it and there are still plenty who refuse to use technology at all.

There is plenty of info out there, but much of it takes effort to find, that is if you even know it is there in the first place. Letters, leaflets and emails can be sent out that might get put aside for later reading or just binned with little more than a glance if it looks like junk mail. You can’t force people to investigate, read and learn which is why a simpler method of instruction is required.

Education needs to be short, sharp, frequent, effortless, very varied and fun which is why I think getting children to enact short scam scenarios and showing them during popular TV programmes could work so well. There are many scams that could be enacted, and even watching the same scenario presented by different kids in different ways would maintain interest and the message sink in eventually. They don’t need to know every latest scam, but just get into the habit of questioning motives, phone calls, visitors to the door, anything out of the ordinary and not just accept everything at face value.

Nationwide have recently produced a handy debit card-sized leaflet all about the commonest banking scams. It is available in all branches and via the website.