Remember our post about a cyber hack with stolen social media passwords? Well, the world of cyber crime never sleeps and every day many people fall victim to it and have their lives affected by hackers. We would like to share 3 more cyber crime stories that will give you the chills.
Wanted for murder because of identity theft
A 6-months’ pregnant Australian living in Israel was driving in a car listening to the radio when the news bulletin proclaimed that 3 Australians were linked to the Dubai hit squad, Mossad, responsible for the assassination of a top Hamas official in Dubai. Then, she heard her name read out among the list of suspects. A fake version of her passport was used by one of suspected Mossad agents. Although she was still in possession of the original, hers and the identity of other two Australians had been somehow stolen previously. Fortunately, it was the thief’s photo in the fake passport, so the woman was not charged.
If you are scared about your own identity being stolen and would like to know how to prevent it, you can check tips provided by Better Defend, a cybersecurity site.
Webcam sextortion
At first glance, people who put tape on their webcams seem paranoid. Well, look again. They are not being crazy, just cautious.
In 2014, Jared James Abrahams, a university student of 20, gained access to webcams of more than 150 girls and women and took photos of them when they were undressed. Then he contacted his victims and threatened to post their nude photos on social media, unless they sent more images or undressed for him on Skype.
The dark web is full of forums where hackers share footage of unsuspecting people that had been recorded through their computers and then used for blackmail. You’d better go look for that tape.
Social engineering against customer support
Even if you are extremely careful about your security, you may still become a victim of cyber crime, just like Erik. A social engineer checked the publicly available WHOIS information of one of the domains that Eric registered and found some fake personal details that were indicated there. Then, the impersonator contacted the Amazon customer support, used the fake info in a conversation with them and obtained Erik’s real personal data, such as his address and phone number. Those details alone are enough for the criminal to use various services and issue a new credit card.
After that, the social engineer tried to find out the last 4 digits of the credit card that was stored in the account – and finally succeeded. Erik got suspicious after receiving emails about the chat conversation and reading the chat transcripts. And even though he warned the Amazon support service to be cautious regarding his account, still, in the end, the social engineer got what he was after.
In conclusion
While technology makes our lives easier, at the same time there are many new dangers that arise because of it. In the modern world, no one is safe from falling prey to physhing scams and cyber threats. The key is to always stay vigilant, take your cybersecurity seriously, and protect your identity.