The latest scams used to be a list that would appear weekly or even monthly. Now it is almost impossible to keep up. And they are everywhere.
Just in the last week, we published the latest scams found on Instagram and in QR codes, and we published a Feature on the new age of bank heists.
We have also wondered whether we are so overwhelmed we have basically thrown in the towel. Hackers have probably got the login details of everyone who owns a computer or a phone, so we behave like a herd of antelope and hope that there is safety in numbers and you won’t be singled out for the hacker treatment.
The sophistication of the latest scams is truly frightening. Fake copyright warnings that worry Instagram users into visiting a fake login page, or fake sponsors that lure you into their dark world, or fake QR codes that do the same, the latest scams are extraordinary.
Banks, an old target, are in danger of losing their reputations because of the sophistication of scams that are the scourge of their customers. The problem with banks (OK, there is more than one problem with banks, but that is another story) is that their executive-level staff, according to surveys and reports, are beginners when it comes to technology, and security is way down their list of things to worry about. Their attitude, and the attitude of many sectors, is that worrying about the latest scams is really not their job and is probably overblown anyway.
The latest scams (the list probably doubled while you read this article) and how to keep up with them has become too difficult. And all the time, the number of scams is increasing because the old ones are still out there. Our editor still get offers of billions of dollars from his old friend in Nigeria.
The problem is that reading about the latest scams only makes us more worried because we will open Instagram and wonder whether every notice, every advert is a phishing attempt. We will look at a QR code, even official ones, and wonder whether the code you need to scan is safe.
Yet you scan anyway and still wonder whether you have been scammed.
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