In Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 novel “The Proficient Mr. Ripley,” a con man who convinces the elites that he’s a Princeton graduate goes on to dupe his manner into excessive society and spend lavishly at high-end shops via forgery and different unscrupulous strategies.
Had Tom Ripley been alive at this time he’d probably be hacking his technique to wealth and creating his bogus backstory of success on social media websites.
More and more, criminals are following the cash that flows on-line. Phishing, faux software program and buying websites and tech help scams permit entry to non-public information and bank cards. The federal authorities and South Florida legislation enforcement say that untold billions at the moment are stolen from victims within the U.S. and overseas every year — a quantity that’s solely rising.
The easiest way to keep away from getting ripped off, say legislation enforcement consultants and web sleuths, is to abide by a late twentieth century proverb that also very a lot applies at this time: If one thing sounds too good to be true, it in all probability is.
“You could have an anonymity issue, so that they take extra probabilities,” stated South Florida Cyber Crimes Commander George Perera, a significant with the Miami-Dade Police Division. “A lot of the web is unregulated. Now you have got crypto and it’s unregulated, too. It’s like a Class 6 state of affairs.”
Listed here are some ideas by USA.gov and the Federal Trade Commission on learn how to navigate the web safely:
▪ Keep away from utilizing the identical passwords on a number of accounts and ensure these passwords are unpredictable.
▪ Don’t give private data to unencrypted web sites. Encrypted websites start with https.
▪ Maintain your laptop software program up to date and discuss to your children about potential pitfalls.
To keep away from cryptocurrency ripoffs:
▪ By no means pay upfront and remember that cryptocurrency funds, in contrast to credit score and debit playing cards, don’t include authorized protections.
▪ At all times analysis the vendor, preserving a specific eye out for civil lawsuits.
▪ By no means combine on-line courting and funding recommendation.
▪ And if somebody calls you out of the blue with guarantees of giant returns, however provided that you purchase cryptocurrency and switch it to their on-line account, steer clear.
Lastly, in case you consider you’ve been scammed, don’t hesitate to contact the South Florida Cyber Crimes Activity Pressure at Miami-Dade Police, or use the non-emergency quantity, 305-4-POLICE (305-476-5423) and ask for the cyber crimes unit. Or contact the FTC or USA.gov.
Chuck Rabin, writing information tales for the Miami Herald for the previous three a long time, covers cops and crime. Earlier than that he lined the halls of presidency for Miami-Dade and town of Miami. He’s lined hurricanes, the 2000 presidential election and the Marjory Stoneman Douglas mass taking pictures. On a random be aware: Lengthy earlier than these assignments, Chuck was pepper-sprayed protecting the disturbances in Miami the morning Elián Gonzalez was whisked away by federal authorities.
