In the year 2000 more than 1600 Alaskans had been victims of cyber criminality, as per FBI statistics. The majority of them were older and suffered losses of more than $17 million.
Online threats that are currently targeting rural Alaskans are like the current threats to all Americans according to FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
According to the complaint center’s reports from Alaska by 2022 three most frequent crimes victimized by victims were scams involving tech support and personal data breaches and exortion.
FBI Associate Special Agent Brandon Waddle says data breaches could take on a variety of forms.
“As regards security breaches involving personal information, I’m talking more about leaks and spillage of personal data that has been released from secure areas to non-secure environments, or an event in which a person’s private or sensitive data is transferred, copied and viewed, then stolen and used or accessed by an unauthorised person,” Waddle said.
The top of the list were romance scams.
“We’re talking about, in a way individuals who engage in online romance with those who live in Alaska and never getting together in person, yet swindling these people out of money to finance their lifestyles in other parts of Alaska. The same could be true inside of Alaska but they never get to meet face-to-face,” Waddle said.
Waddle added that this is merely an indication of what has been published. There are no statistics for non-reported cybercrimes.
“It’s an embarrassing experience for people, and they do not necessarily inform us of it. While this provides us with an excellent foundation but it’s only some of the information that is really out there,” Waddle said.
There are methods to lessen the chance of being swindled online by practicing what Waddle refers to as cyber hygiene. Important points to consider are installing antivirus software, re-updating your computer’s operating system and a dose of common good.
“I believe that it’s real, the old adage”if it looks too good to be true, then you are likely to be right. Particularly when it comes to fraud on the internet,” Waddle said.
Waddle cautioned against unwelcome messages, phone calls and door-to-door offers of service. He suggested not sending personally identifiable details, money jewelry, gift cards.
Waddle also stated that one should not allow unknown individuals remote access to accounts or devices. He also advised users to be aware of downloading as well as links contained in emails.
“Think before you share your link” is something we came up with in the FBI some time ago to prevent people from connecting with strangers they do not have a connection with. There is a chance that scammers are or fraudsters on LinkedIn or Facebook,” Waddle said.
With the growth of machine learning and artificial intelligence tools available online, and the people with access, scams are more likely to occur frequently and will likely become more sophisticated as well. It is the FBI advises citizens about individuals are making fake content called deepfakes. They modify videos or photos to sway people. Technology advances are constantly increasing both the accuracy and availability of artificial intelligence-powered content creation.
Waddle said that anyone who feels victimized is advised to be able to report the scam on the internet and to the ICCC.
“It’s an easy process: you go on through the process of making a report about a crime. You provide your name and the specifics of the incident. This database provides the general public a secure and efficient way to report online crimes,” Waddle said.
The FBI will review and communicate the information gathered from complaints to the appropriate agency because other agencies, including Homeland Security, local law enforcement, and others may be involved. Waddle said that by submitting complaints, online crime victims, they not only alerting law enforcement agencies to the crime, but also aiding in the fight against cybercrime.
“I believe it’s crucial to be aware that if something is occurring in rural Alaska the likelihood is that it’s occurring in other areas of America. The more reports we receive, even from the outskirts of Alaska can help us collect more information from across the nation. This lets us see patterns and be better able to track down the cyber-criminal,” Waddle said.
