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Kaylee Fuller and James Crummel

4 hours ago

(WHTM) When it comes to our finances and personal information, so much of it is done online.

Thieves know it and are constantly finding new ways to get to it. Thats why cybersecurity is so important.

The reality is where theres money and rewards to be had, theres always going to be crime, theres always going to be these bad actors.

Doria Ferrante is the Top Risk Expert and Senior Vice President for Visa. She says that cybercrimes continue to be a top risk for both businesses and individuals.

Many times, these crimes can be avoided. In fact, 95% of successful cyber-attacks are due to human error, things like clicking a bad link and downloading a bad attachment.

This just shows you that theres catastrophic damage that can happen if were not hyper-vigilant in paying attention to these threats and really educating all those people that we know, stated Ferrante.

One threat that we really need to pay attention to is social engineering attacks. These are phishing techniques which are emails, someone is going to trick you into thinking theyre a legitimate business or someone you knowtheres also vhishing which is voice mail phishingtheres also smishing which is text phishing. These are all ways that a cybercriminal is trying to infiltrate your life and get you to take an action on their behalf, explained Ferrante.

Criminals can use these schemes to steal your money, passwords, and personal information. We are relying on more and more digital technologies, which is a good thing in many ways. However, it does put us at a higher risk of being targeted by these crooks.

It brought us to their worldto the cybercriminals world where they thrive in a world of complexity, theyre very sophisticated and technologically savvy. So, we just need to be mindful that theyre there, and what are the ways that theyre trying to reach us. We need to be diligent, explained Ferrante.

These attacks can also be easy to fall for because a lot of our personal information isnt quite so personal. Ferrante explained that posting about things, like a trip, can provide information to scammers. If you announce to the world on social media youre going on the trip of a lifetime, and someone reaches out to you and says that you cant go unless you send us $2000 today, as an example, some people fall for that.

To protect yourself from these scams, use strong passwords and look carefully at web addresses. Be sure to make sure Os arent replaced with zeros.

You can also hover over a link to make sure its actually taking you to the site you think it is.

Ferrante reminds Internet users to be aware, pause, and think before clicking. Because at the end of the day, its speed which usually gets people caught by some of these scams.

The S in HTTPS stands for secure. So, look for that on websites where you need to enter credit card or other personal information. The bottom line is to do your research on a brand-new website to make sure its legitimate and not a scam.

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Show Me the Money: Social engineering attacks on the rise - ABC27