Following the news that the Department for Work and Pensions has been knowingly sending people the wrong pension amounts due to an IT system error for the last twenty years, industry leaders reacted below how this has increased the risk to pensioners from opportunistic scammers.
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The impact of the government’s IT failures will be felt by pensioners for years to come. Worryingly though, the risks aren’t over and could continue for years to come. In fact, this failure poses a great opportunity for cybercriminals to impart further misery on our most vulnerable citizens,” says Ian McShane, Arctic Wolf Vice President, Strategy.
The errors, which have been known to the DWP since 2002, and subsequent lack of solution have left 23% of pensioners underpaid. Yet, while the DWP investigates ‘possible remedies’, unsuspecting victims may find themselves being deceived and handing over vital personal information.
“Affected pensioners are the perfect targets for cybercriminals, who are likely to use this glitch as a cover to exert phishing or other opportunist attacks. While the majority of us should be adept enough to spot potential scams, it’s very easy to fall into a cybercriminal’s trap, especially for those who are digitally unaware. With an already vulnerable subset of society at further risk of financial loss, the potential cyber fallout from this glitch could be financially devastating for many,