There are myths attached to almost everything, including
cyber fraud. The funny thing about myths is that often people start to actually
believe in them if they exist long enough.
Let us take a look at some of the common myths associated
with cyber fraud:
1)
It will not happen to me
Cyber fraud can happen to anybody. In the real world,
criminals often spot their victims ahead of their crime and start planning
accordingly. It is a bit different in the virtual world. The fraud has no way of knowing who is a perfect
target and who isn’t. For him or her, anybody
who uses the internet is a potential victim. And that anybody could be you.
2)
I run a small business. Only big
companies get attacked by cyber fraud
A fraud can target many small companies at one go. He will
not think of targeting a specific company. Remember, even a little operation
means a lot of money to them. More often than not, cyber criminals start out
with targeting a small company. Why do they do so? It is because they are the
most vulnerable.
Unfortunately, education has nothing to do with defrauding
people. A cyber criminal could be poor or rich. He could be totally illiterate
but a master with computers. He could also be a guy who was a topper at school
and defrauds people for fun. There is not a single umbrella under which cyber
criminals can be categorized.
4)
Whatever I do online doesn’t make a
target
As mentioned before, cyber fraud can happen to anyone. Even
people who access “safe” websites can be targeted. Hackers or frauds can infect
legitimate websites or plant malware inside them. Any visitor who visits the
website thereon gets affected, even if he or she doesn’t click on anything.
5)
A website which hasn’t been taken
down is safe
Sometimes there are reports of FBI closing certain websites
because they were defrauding people. More often than not, similar websites crop
up within a month’s time. By this time, the owner of the website which was
taken down is in prison. But some acquaintance of his carries on with the work.
These duplicate websites may take years to get detected by the authorities.
6)
I use strong passwords and I am
completely safe
Wrong, wrong and more wrong
The people who use strong passwords often use the same
password for every website. Or they use it for multiple websites. If even one
of those websites gets hacked, then the cyber fraud gets access to all the
passwords they use. Using unique passwords for each and every website is the
only way to stay safe online. Enabling “two step authentication” is another way
of protecting yourself from cyber crimes.
7)
Using social networks is safe
Social networking websites are as vulnerable as any other
website. A cyber fraud can create millions of fake profiles on these fake
websites and even install virus or malware on these sites.
