The World Wild Web: How to stay safe online
By Tammy Swier (2023)
With online crime at an all time high, we can often feel helpless as the victim of a cyber attack. With the perpetrators being untraceable, and more often than not in a completely different country, jurisdiction of laws. Who to call for help, and what to do is completely unclear to the average person. Crypto-currency scams, identify theft, false claims, social media hacking, paying for goods that are never delivered, stolen credit card numbers, fake online personas, stalkers and child traffickers. This new digital era is evolving so quickly, the laws have not been able to keep up with the crimes. We will no doubt look back on this time in history as the wild west of the digital world, and our hope is that one day the online world is safer for everyone.
Many of the older generation did not grow up with technology and are more susceptible to scams. The next generation has been online so young, with full access to the entire world's collective information at their fingertips. Most with no sense as to what is real and what is false. It’s scary to think about!
For me, my main questions are, how do we make sure our children are safe while online, how do we educate the older generation to not fall for scams, how do we protect ourselves from being hacked, and who do we report any of these crimes to if we do fall victim? Some of our first thoughts when falling victim to a digital crime is “who do I call, who do I report this to, if I call the police am I just wasting their time, if the perpetrator is not in my country is there anything that can be done?”
According to the RCMP “Only a small percentage of cybercrimes or frauds are reported to Police in Canada, making it difficult for law enforcement to keep up with the ever-changing threat landscape. To make it easier for Canadians and businesses to report cybercrime and fraud, we are developing a new reporting system with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC). Once fully in place, in 2023-2024, a victim or witness of a cybercrime or fraud will be able to use this system to report the crime online. This new system will be able to help make links between similar reports of cybercrime and fraud across Canada and internationally. Identify and prioritize reported threats and incidents for law enforcement purposes. Coordinate investigations and other law enforcement activities across jurisdictions.”
We are looking forward to when this system is in place, and in the meantime have compiled some useful tips we hope will help you, or someone you love navigate the digital world more safely.
Scenario: Your Instagram account has been hacked and someone is impersonating you, soliciting money from your friends.
What to do: What to do: Contact Instagram Help Center and have them investigate to resolve the issue. Let your friends know your account has been hacked and it’s not you. To avoid this from happening at all in the first place, change your password frequently, do not use common words` and turn on two factor authentication!
Scenario: You are texted that an app or account overbilled you last month and owes you money and to “just click here” to get your refund.
What to do: Don’t click the Link, and then log in to the app or website separately and confirm in the app whether it is accurate information or not.
Scenario: Telephone call states you are wanted by the government.
What to do: Hang up. If the Police or Government does in fact call you, they will provide you with an employee or badge number immediately so that you can call the respective phone numbers and request to check. They will never send you a pre recorded message.
Scenario: Telephone call or text message states you owe duties on a parcel, but you have no incoming parcels.
What to do: Ignore. This is not how duty fees are collected.
Scenario: Your children are using social media or playing games online and strangers are harassing them or asking them personal questions.
What to do: First, if you are allowing your children to play online or have social media, be aware of the risks in advance, this is where online predators lurk. Next, educate your children just as you would “stranger danger” at a park, and have them be aware that many online accounts are impersonating others, and to block users that ask any personal questions or harass them online. Don't let them use their real names online, and insist they have private accounts. Explain to them to never share their location, this includes photos of easy to recognize landmarks. You can also monitor their accounts, or use an app like Qustodio which is free.
Scenario: Your children are being bullied online.
What to do: Screenshot any messages and don’t have your child engage, these things should be brought to attention to the school or the local police. Visit www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/cyber-safety/ for more resources about online bullying.
Scenario: You paid for something online and the goods were never delivered.
What to do: First thing, before having this happen to you, if you can, only pay for things online using a PayPal account, because it is the best way to file a dispute against someone. Secondly if PayPal is not an option, use a credit card, because you can also dispute it with them. E-transfers or bank cards are the least safe way for paying for goods and services online.
Scenario: Instagram is sharing your precise location on every post.
What to do: Disable instagram location services in settings so no one can see your location. Go into settings > 1) Go to phone settings 2) Tap privacy 3) Tap location Services 4) Scroll down tap instagram 5) Select never or while using the App to choose location access.
Scenario: Your great aunt just wired $3000 to a man in a distant country for some heartfelt reason.
What to do: Help her contact the police and her bank for advice and next steps.
Scenario: Your father “won” a cruise trip and all he has to do is send $150 to cover the tax for the trip and they will email him the tickets.
What to do: Do not let him send money, it is a scam, contact the police. Many of these crimes will not be prosecuted, but bringing attention to the right officials will help them become aware of how often this is happening. Also, they will help someone who’s not versed in scams be less naive to falling for it again in the future.
Scenario: Someone will only accept amazon gift cards as a form of payment.
What to do: Do not do this it is a scam, you can report online scams at www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca
Password Tips: When you can, turn on 2-step authentication for your most important logins such as e-mail, social media, paypal and anywhere credit card or bank info is stored. When creating a password, do not use sequential numbers or letters. Do not include your birth year or birth month/day in your password. Remember that cyber criminals can easily find this information by snooping into your social media accounts. Use a combination of at least eight letters, numbers, and symbols. Combine different unrelated words in your password or passphrase. Do not use names or words found in the dictionary. Substitute letters with numbers or symbols to make it difficult to guess the password. Or deliberately use spelling errors in the password. Do not store your passwords in a document on your computer. Do not reuse your passwords. Change your passwords at least once a year.
Online resources:
www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/cyber-safety
www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca
