Breaking news from Barclays this morning revealed findings that dating scams cost victims an average of £2,000, while NSPCC highlighted that children are at increased risk of blackmail and grooming due to a surge in live-streaming.
Dating site scam victims ‘lose £2,000’ – Raj Samani, Chief Scientist and Fellow and McAfee commented below.
Raj Samani, Chief Scientist and Fellow and McAfee:
“It’s not surprising to hear dating scams are costing people dearly – we previously found that 38% of people openly share their email address in their dating profiles and 7% of people even share their passwords with people via dating sites. Sharing this personal information puts people directly in the firing line for hackers and scammers wanting to cash in on the online dating phenomenon.
“Finding true love doesn’t have to be a dangerous and risky process, stay smart online and think about what information you are revealing when speaking to new people. We urge dating site users to keep sensitive data such as email addresses, full names and phone numbers private. And those looking for love online need to make sure the apps they’re using are protected with strong, secure passwords to further avoid the security risks of online dating.”
Children ‘at risk of blackmail due to live-streaming surge’ – Raj Samani, Chief Scientist and Fellow and McAfee comments:
“Parents need to keep a close eye on what their children are getting up to online. Despite our children becoming heavy tech users, we found that only two fifths of British parents monitor their children when using internet-connected devices.
“As a parent, I completely understand wanting to give your child the freedom to use technology, but in our current digital landscape, you can never be too cautious. Parents must become aware of the risks themselves, monitor their children when using internet-connected devices and begin to have the conversations with their kids about online dangers.”
A recent survey conducted by McAfee also recently discovered:
- Worryingly one in 5 parents (21%) stated they are not worried about their children potentially speaking to a social predator or cybercriminal online
- Nearly a quarter (23%) of parents have never spoken to their children about online dangersand 39% state this is because they do not know the risks themselves
- However, 51% of people studied indicate that their concern about online security has increasedcompared to 5 years ago
The opinions expressed in this post belong to the individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Information Security Buzz.