Quickly Identify If You Have Fallen Prey To An Ongoing Cybercrime
In a startling expose, it has come to light that cybercrime is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the whole world. The amount of sophistication that goes to each of the crimes can be baffling. The modus operandi of the workers of the dark internet can blow your minds off. Besides, you can never tell who the next victim is. You could be a victim of the mobile cybercrime inadvertently even as you are reading this on your phone!
If this does not tell you how bad things are or how you must keep your eyes and ears open, we don’t know what will!! Cybercrime is an umbrella term
In its broadest sense, it pertains to any criminal activity that is done by using or targeting devices that use the World Wide Web or the internet in the common parlance.
A mobile, a tablet PC, or a wifi-enabled camera will also qualify as a device that uses the internet, and therefore any crimes that are done either using them or at them will be eligible as cybercrime.
Cybercriminals are lurking everywhere!
If you thought that you were relatively safe because you only frequent public channels like social media and that you are connected only by a network, think again!
Most criminals of the dark internet world use social media channels to gather information about their next victim.
If Mr. A has posted on his Facebook that he has visited so and so place and that he picked up a luxury watch from that place, it is enough to raise the antennas of the cybercriminals who are hiding and lurking behind their computer screens all day and night looking for that one link where they can potentially mug Mr. A and try to extract a good booty from him.
Unfortunately, Mr. A is unaware that his information could also fall into the wrong hands. All he did was to make a harmless post about what kind of fun he had on his recent holidays and what he shopped from there.
That is reality! Most victims of mobile cybercrimes do not even know they are one!
Here is a long list (no, not an exhaustive one though) to give you an idea what constitutes cybercrime:
– Sending you malware in emails
– Virus attacks and Ransomware
– Cryptocurrency scams
– Identity thefts
– Manipulation of data and intellectual properties
– Intruding into private spaces
– Child sexual grooming
– Human trafficking
– Selling contraband stuff
– Hacking
– Data theft
– Tampering with source codes
– Forging bank cards
– Cloning of cell phone SIMs
– Impersonating
– Creating and distributing child porn
– Watching child porn
– Revenge porn etc.
How will you identify if you have fallen prey to mobile cybercrime:
Use your intuition:
It is a sad reality that advancement in technology is directly proportional to the number of cybercrimes that we are witnessing nowadays. If you get an email with attachments from a sender that you cannot place, it is safest to leave the email alone. Most of the spyware or malware comes as email attachments that have a file tag of .exe. You do not have to be very adventurous and open it. Use the thumb rule that if you get it from a stranger, you trash it without even opening it.
Hacking is as easy as ABC for them:
Say you have an email sitting in your inbox from the bank where you operate an account. The email says that the bank is updating its records and that it requires you to change your password settings to get their records updated.
An email like that must instantly warn you that it is a hacking attempt. Banks, as a rule, do not send out messages or emails asking for passwords or any other update. You most definitely are staring into a cyber-attack. Please pay no attention and delete the email we say.
Identity theft is a reality:
Your friends tell you that you have created an alternative account on Facebook, but for the life of you, you do not remember opening any other account on the social media site other than the one that you use! You, dear friend, are likely a victim of identity theft. Data and identity theft are the most common thefts on the internet today. It is so simple to get all your data and information if you manage public settings on your social media handles. Can you even fathom how easy it is to have access to your bank accounts?
The best way to make sure that you are not on their hit list is to be on the vigil continually. If you suspect something amiss, do not hesitate to seek help. You may complain to the police to make sure that no further damage takes place.