In this digitized era where everyone is talking about how technology is changing the work pattern, cost-effectiveness, and efficiency of industries and businesses, there is an underlying concern around the rise of digital fraud that comes along with it. In an interview with Raghib Khan, who is the co-founder of RNF Technologies, we came to know that it is getting harder to stay away from phishing scams or shopping frauds run by scammers. Before discussing the measures to protect one’s data online, let’s shed some light on what led to this digital fraud rise.
- Pandemic Crisis
While the pandemic made it possible to rely on technology to carry out their work smoothly by being at home, it ignited the interest of the hackers or scammers to steal and earn profits through this digital platform. The increased dependency on digital media stimulated the fraudulent to look for the loopholes in the system and hack them for their benefit.
- Hike In Online Purchases & Payments
Again, the pandemic has made people more dependent on digital platforms to get their everyday things done. Whether it’s about buying groceries or ordering food, clothes, accessories, or even electronic devices, every purchase is made online. It felt like an opportunity for the fraudsters to get in the way and get a share by hacking into people’s accounts or getting their personal information and carrying out digital scams.
- Higher Customer Expectations
With the growing dependence on technology, people have begun to prefer instant gratification over complete data security. Maintaining a balance between quick delivery and data privacy compels organizations to find ways to get it done. However, this pressure of delivering the best to the customers paves the way for the hackers to get into the weak systems and thus earn their undeserved profits.
- Indefinite Legal Measures Across Cross-Border
With global e-commerce, it becomes difficult to keep track of the transactions and personal information of the people. Although people are benefiting from international trading, there is risk involved along with it. As each country has its legal measurements, it’s not easy to detect the actual scam when considering all the involved countries’ legalities. Again, a big break for the scammers!
Although it’s impossible to control or restrict digitalization, we can surely do something about keeping our data safe and secure. Your priority should be to ensure that your data is not used by scammers and fraudsters to meet their nefarious ends. Here are tips from Raghib Khan to keep scammers at bay:
- Firstly, ensure that your computer or laptop is installed with efficient anti-virus software. For more security, one can install anti-spam, anti-spyware, or firewall.
- You must keep your personal information safe and avoid sharing it online or with unreliable sites. If there’s a need to share your data, make sure to verify the organization or people asking for it. Make sure that your passwords are a combination of alphabets, numbers, and special characters. Also, don’t forget to update them every six months. It is also advisable that you do not divulge these details to strangers.
- Think twice before sharing your financial details on any online platform or person. Regular updating or keeping strong passwords can also keep your information safe.
- Most importantly, please avoid clicking on unfamiliar links, as it could be a phishing scam or fraud to get your details, as has been highlighted by Raghib Khan.
With the rapidly growing digital world, one cannot deny the fact of living with technology. Still, it’s wise to learn about implementing and availing benefits without sacrificing one’s data.
As quoted by Martina Navratilova, “Security used to be an inconvenience sometimes, but now it’s a necessity all the time.”
