Prince Charming: The Valentine’s Day scammer

Online dating has transformed from being a modest, underused and ‘hush hush’ concept – with a pinch of embarrassment – to a mainstream, popular and transformative entity. As a Pew Research Center survey from 2013 revealed, it has “lost much of its stigma”. Looking for love in the 21st century? It’s possibly a click and a swipe away. For one in five couples, that’s certainly now the case.According to the online dating expert Julie Spira, the period between Christmas and Valentine’s Day is a remarkably busy time for dating websites. The start of the new year, it seems, is when “new singles” are most likely to sign up in a bid to find Mr. or Mrs. Right, all leading up to a wonderful date on February 14th.

However, for some, not everything is as it seems. As the Federal Bureau of Investigation has stated, cybercriminals are on the prowl, “looking to turn the lonely and vulnerable into fast money through a variety of scams”. While certain individuals are targeted in high numbers, everyone is at risk.

Still, there is plenty that people can do to protect themselves from these heartless scammers. In this feature, we highlight some of the key tactics used by these con artists. Wizening up to these wise guys will help you stay safe, secure and maybe find true love.

The “wow” profile dreams are made of

Exhibit 1:

Name: Prince Charming
Address: Lives at Number 1, Really Big Castle, Fairytale Road, La La Land.
Likes: Fighting dragons and evil baddies who want to rule the world
Looking for: The Cinderella of My Dreams

Above is the totally amazing, larger than life, take your breath away profile. In this instance, fact versus fiction is rather obvious. However, this extreme example is intended to highlight the lengths that fraudsters will go to present themselves as an unbelievable catch.

Tip: Ask yourself if this profile is believable? Do they sound genuine? Is that glossy magazine profile real? Chances are it’s all smoke and mirrors, behind which is a very ugly con. Also look out for professionally written bios, as well as those that have poor grammar and spelling. These can be very telling indicators.

Behavior that is unpredictable and unusual

Exhibit 2:

Prince Charming: “I saw your profile. I think you seem really cool. Let me know if you want to chat. I’m busy today. Have to save the villagers from a dragon.”

Prince Charming: “Sorry, I have to go … the mayor wants to talk about financing the rebuild of some of the village. He’s keen for financial assistance. Looks like a great opportunity for investment. Speak soon x”

If your prospective date appears to be “out of touch or out of kilter”, as Get Safe Online puts it, there is probably a very good reason for this. It’s likely to be an indicator that they are not who they say they are and that they are even making things up as they go along.

Tip: Trust your instinct – that might help. Human beings are good at picking up on things that don’t quite make sense. So, question things that seem fanciful, that have come out of the blue, that are inconsistent to what has previously been said. Sudden changes in behavior are a warning sign.

Slowly setting up the kill with manipulation

Exhibit 3:

Prince Charming: “I managed to scare the dragon away. Chatting from a hospital. I’ve lost my credit card. Not sure how I’m going to pay for the treatment. Anyway, how are you?”

Prince Charming: “You’ve really surprised me, with your interest in helping put some money into the redevelopment of the village and the support you’ve shown me over the dragon attack, the skirmish with the big, bad wolf and the great battle with the Wicked Witch.”

The ability to manipulate victims is one of the key tools in the arsenal of cybercriminals. Social engineering, as it is known, is a popular tactic in online dating scams, as it helps fraudsters build trust. In the above example, Prince Charming mentions he’s in a hospital because he defeated a dragon and has lost his credit card in the skirmish. He then later lavishly compliments his prey. This is the slow build up to the kill.

Tip: If a prospective date mentions or infers that he/she needs money, a request that is heightened by drama, then almost certainly you’ve bagged yourself a cybercriminal. End the conversation, report the user and move on. Never agree to pay anyone, however unfortunate their circumstances appear to be, via an online dating website.

Moving this conversation to a ‘better arena’

Exhibit 4:

Prince Charming: “What say we continue this conversation elsewhere? Via email or Facebook? It feels a lot securer than on a dating site, don’t you think? And then we can think about getting a date sorted. Exciting times ahead!”

Online dating websites are, by and large, safe platforms where people can chat to one another in an environment where they have a certain degree of control and protection. This isn’t, of course, conducive to what a cybercriminal is eager to achieve, hence, very early on, they will be eager to move the conversation beyond the website. This will often be framed in a way that suggests the relationship is evolving and becoming more serious.

Tip: As with sudden declarations of love, swift, impromptu requests to take the conversation to another platform outside of the dating website are demonstrative of questionable behavior. There really isn’t a good enough reason to do this, other than it allows a con artist to direct their victims to a space where they know they can gain leverage. Vigilance is essential.

http://www.welivesecurity.com/2016/02/12/prince-charming-valentines-day-scammer/

UK business decision makers see cyberattacks as their great nemesis

More and more business decision makers in the UK consider cyberattacks to be the greatest threat to their enterprise, according to a new study.

The Risk:Value report by NTT Com Security reveals that approximately one fifth of respondents see cybercrime as the number one threat to their organization.

Business decision makers also now anticipate the financial fallout of a data breach to be more severe.

For example, the report found that in the event of such an incident, revenue would likely fall by around 13%. This was estimated at 8% in 2014.

One of the more concerning findings is that there still seems to be a penchant “to treat the consequences rather than the causes”.

“Whilst it is important to make a provision for recovery should the worst happen, it is also important to take a balanced approach.”

“Almost two-thirds expect to be breached and anticipate it will take about eight weeks to recover, potentially costing in excess of £1 million,” noted Stuart Reed, senior director of global product marketing at NTT Communications.

“Whilst it is important to make a provision for recovery should the worst happen, it is also important to take a balanced approach.”

While the report acknowledges the progress made by businesses in the UK to develop and adopt formal IT security policies, other enterprises are clearly in need of assistance.

Further, even though there is much to be positive about, awareness must nevertheless translate into action. It’s not enough for cybersecurity to be on the “radar”.

“This must now translate into appropriate investment to put support a well rounded and robust risk management plan,” explained Mr. Reed.

“This doesn’t simply mean increasing spend as that won’t necessarily address the problem.

Instead, it means businesses must understand their risks, prioritize their areas of focus and allocate the appropriate resources to address the gaps in their cybersecurity policies.”

In related news, it was announced that a new cybersecurity e-learning tool aimed at HR professionals in the UK has been launched.

It is designed, in part, to help HR staff boost knowledge and understanding of cybersecurity within the workplace.

Stay safe with our Facebook cheat sheet

Once upon a time, it was possible to prevent personal data from getting into the hands of the wrong person by using a paper shredder and a bit of common sense.

However, with the rise of digital culture and social sharing, information traditionally shared between friends – such as relationship status, personal photographs, birthdays and even cell phone numbers – can be inadvertently accessible to anyone with a bit of Google search know-how.

For many people, social networking has become a normalized part of social life. As the most established and widely used social networking site, Facebook contains ‘years of details’ about its users’ lives.

The consequences of this information being public can range from anything as serious as identity theft, to making those photos from your friend’s bachelorette party available to prospective employers.

Studies have shown that although 92% of internet users worry about their online privacy, only 29% have taken steps to change their privacy settings to ensure greater protection on social networking sites.

The fact that this information isn’t automatically private doesn’t mean that Facebook doesn’t offer users the option to be selective about the information they share publicly, it’s just up to the user to activate these features for themselves.

Being aware of your privacy settings is empowering in a number of ways. Firstly, you can selectively share positive information about yourself on your public profile. For example, it might be useful to share a piece of work that you’re proud of publicly, but keep controversial political opinions for friends only.

Secondly, you reduce the risk of your account being compromised and your personal information being exploited.

With this in mind, on Safer Internet Day, we show you how to customize your Facebook privacy settings.

http://www.welivesecurity.com/2016/02/09/stay-safe-facebook-cheat-sheet/