Kathy Sundstrom’s advice to fight cybercrime

2021 has been a shocker of a year for cybercrime, but here is one simple strategy that could protect you in 2022.

2021, the year of cybercrime, can be described as “pervasive and relentless” with cyber support services experiencing a substantial increase in demand for their assistance.

It has been a record year for cybercrime in Australia with IDCARE alone experiencing a 43% increase in demand for its services.

The identify theft and cyber support provider also noticed a 64% increase in the number of spoofed phone numbers being reported to our National Case Management Centre this year.

Remote access scams, where the scammer persuades the person to give them control of their device, have also reached new heights with a 104% increase in these types of scams coming through to IDCARE this year.

It’s been pervasive and relentless and even people who once proudly boasted “I’ll never be scammed” have had to rethink.

And, if they haven’t, they should.

We can no longer trust the Australian phone number that’s trying to get hold of us is from Australia.

Reports of Investment scams, particularly those involving cryptocurrency, have tripled.

Don’t even get me started on Flubot, the malware spread by text message, or ransomware attacks and data breaches impacting businesses of all sizes in 2021.

But I don’t want to waste my last column for 2021 rattling off depressing statistics.

Let’s face it, 2021 has been difficult enough and IDCARE, Scamwatch and others in the cybersecurity space aren’t expecting scammers to take their foot of the throttle in 2022.

What has been fantastic about 2021 – and is our Good News for 2022 - is scam awareness is growing to new heights.

Kathy Sundstrom is a former Sunshine Coast Daily journalist who now works at identity and cyber support service IDCARE. Picture: Patrick Woods.

People are talking about scams and how they’ve scammed which helps others.

Our Cyber Resilience Outreach Clinics are going into remote communities across Australia raising awareness.

It’s fantastic that big organisations like Westpac, the nbn and Meta are supporting us with this.

Our Scream at a Scammer booth, where people can either come to one of our popup clinics and "vent in our tent" as scammers or do it through our app on our website, is gathering a lot of screams.

But more than that, it is a creative opportunity to share.

I had the privilege of phoning a “tech support scammer” and delivering a message from Ellie in Hervey Bay this week.

You know what was so sad.

We knew the number I was contacting was a scam number, but when I played the message and told him I was delivering it from Ellie in Hervey Bay who was sick of scam calls, he quickly changed his messaging (he answered as Microsoft tech support) and almost made me believe he was innocent.

What we’ve also learned in 2021 is scammers are quick to adapt their methods and messaging based on our attempts to block them.

When restrictions were placed on spoofing 1300 numbers in March, they spoofed Australian mobile numbers (causing even more problems).

When awareness was around that Flubot was being spread via a “missed voice call” link, they switched to parcel delivery. And then, creatively, they switched to offering people an opportunity to remove Flubot from their phone, if they clicked on that link.

This won’t stop.

Scammers are fluid and creative and no doubt they have marketing machines determining what’s trending in Australia and how they can maximise opportunities from it.

Our big tip for 2022 is really a simple one.

You need to stay informed.

Scam awareness and prevention is not static.

What you do today might not work tomorrow.

Staying offline is not an option and nor should it be.

The online world offers us so many opportunities that are wonderful.

We should embrace this, cautiously.

If you have been impacted by scam or identity theft, remember IDCARE support service is available and it is free.

Originally published as Kathy Sundstrom’s advice to fight cybercrime