Living in the digital age that we do now, it’s no surprise that identity theft schemes have become rampant. Especially now with most people staying home to social distance or work remotely, our presence online has only increased leaving us more susceptible to digital attacks.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) noted that identity theft schemes increased four times throughout this past April compared to January to March of this year. Scammers have been causing misery to their victims.
According to Cybersecurity Ventures, cybercrime damage could total $6 trillion by 2021 which is about 10% of the world’s economy.
Additionally, a recent survey by IBM found there was a 6,000% rise in COVID-19-related spam, mostly, hackers impersonating government officials and institutions. While hackers don’t discriminate, and anyone can be a victim, they will often go after “vulnerable” populations, including seniors and those on Social Security.
Outlined below are four of the biggest attacks and data breaches you should know about so far this year so you can prepare and protect yourself against these cybercriminals.
1. COVID-19 scams phishing scams
As of April 21, 2020, the Internet Crime Complaint Center of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) received over 3,600 complaints related to COVID-19 scams.
