Cyber Fraud and Scamming

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Your digital footprint and identity It is important to understand the extent of your digital footprint, or, in other words, the information about you that is publicly available on the internet. Your name, address, family and key details that all of us regularly publish about ourselves on social media provide a wealth of information for people looking to use your identity. The following provides some key advice to help secure your digital footprint and reduce the risk around your identity: Search for yourself - a good starting point when looking into your digital footprint is to type your name into several search engines such as Google or Bing. Take a good look at what information may be publicly available about you. This could be news articles; social media profiles old and new; images or work-related information. Take note and think how this could be used by a scammer. Phishing and personal data - phishing also contributes to the loss of personal information, so learning how to identify a phishing email and being wary of giving away your personal information, further reduces the risk of your data being stolen. Security settings - whether it is your social media profiles, shopping accounts or any other online login, privacy settings should be set as high as possible. Taking into consideration what information is publicly shared or discoverable. Clean up - review your online presence, whether that be on social media or online accounts, delete unused ones and take down information that is unnecessary. Also, consider the information that you have found such as dates of birth (or images posted about your birthday), addresses or check-ins showing your location. Has your data been lost or stolen? - more and more data breaches are being publicised where personal information has been lost or stolen. This personal information is often sold on both the surface web and the dark web. Take note of emails you have received from companies that have lost your data and, if needed, change your security settings and password if there is an account. You can also see if you have been subject to large-scale breaches by visiting: www. haveibeenpwned.com Know your rights - as of May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) brought about increased rights for you and your personal data. Knowing these will help you to understand how you can go about reducing the amount of personal data out there about you but also how companies utilise your data. You have the right of access, to be informed, to delete and five other important rights. Visit www.ico.org.uk and look for individual rights for more information.
Passwords The most common complaint when it comes to securing online accounts and technology is the use of passwords. They can also be the most annoying part of our relationship with computers and the internet, as trying to remember unique and strong passwords is very difficult for most people to do. There is so much conflicting messaging and expectations that it becomes overwhelming in what to do with your passwords. Ultimately, it is about finding something that works for you but also keeps you secure. Cyber aware and the national cyber security centre (NCSC) understand that there must be a balance between security and people. The following are some considerations around how to go about protecting yourself and using better passwords. Securing your email - using a strong and unique password for your email is crucial. If you think about it, your email is where you reset all your other security settings for your accounts and a major part of your online presence. Do not be personal - combined with your digital footprint, a lot of your personal information can be out there publicly. It’s important when choosing your password to not use personal information such as child or partner’s name, place of birth or a favourite holiday. All of this could be potentially found online and easily guessed. Password managers - a really good way of managing your passwords is through the use of a password manager. These useful pieces of software come in the form of an application, either built into your browser or your computer. This then creates a really secure and unique password for every login and account for you. Password managers are incredibly convenient. However, you must ensure that the password and security for getting into it is a very strong password. Three random words - although complexity is useful in creating a strong password, it’s not particularly useful when you can’t remember it. A good way to create a strong and memorable password is to use three random words such as ‘carbookelephant’ or ‘blueshedtable’. Use words are memorable to you and adding numbers and special characters such as ‘?’ or ‘!’ to make it even more secure such ‘4!carbookelephant?3’. Be unique - although hard remember sometimes, it is important to use a unique password for all of your accounts and logins. The reason behind this is that when one password is discovered, whether that’s through a data breach or phishing attempt, the criminal then tries to use that password across the internet and multiple accounts. If you have used the same password then the impact on your privacy and security is much greater. Two factor authentication - most of your online logins are only as secure as your username and password. But the use of two factor authentication provides an added level of security. If you have done online banking, you will have come across this method where you are asked to provide a code or a number through either your smart phone or a small token. Identifying key accounts that you use regularly such as email and social media and turning on this feature is a really good way to secure it. Written by: Paul Maskall, Cyber Security and Privacy Consultant, Jungo
Page 1 and 2: Cyber Fraud and Scamming Guidance a
Page 3 and 4: Connor Burns M.P. Chair APPG Financ
Page 5 and 6: Cyber-Dependent Fraud Fraudulent ac
Page 7 and 8: Who is at risk? Everyone! Fraudster
Page 9 and 10: Social Media Many perpetrators aimi
Page 11 and 12: TV Licensing phishing emails How do
Page 13 and 14: Romance Scams How does it work? 1 Y
Page 15 and 16: In ‘purchasing’ the goods, the
Page 17: If scammers can obtain individual
Page 21 and 22: THINGS YOU CAN DO TO PREVENT FRAUD
Page 23 and 24: NCPQSW Scamming Resources This text

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