Skip to main content

Internet does not discriminate


Anybody can be a victim of the frauds perpetrated on the internet day in and day out. Even the Delhi Chief Minister’s daughter was duped of Rs 34,000 by an online scammer two years ago when she was trying to sell a used sofa on the popular platform OLX. You may belong to a powerful family which can easily access the help of the police system, but you can be swindled easily and that too on a popular platform which is supposed to have all sorts of security measures. The internet does not discriminate.

Many of us are familiar with the TV series Jamtara. You may also know that Jamtara is another underdeveloped district of Jharkhand. A lucrative phishing operation is what sustains the plot of the popular series. Sabka Number Ayega, threatens the subtitle menacingly. You and I may become the victims of some internet fraud any day. Anyone, young or old, learned or illiterate, powerful or pedestrian… anyone can be a victim at any time. With the coming of Artificial Intelligence, there is no escape from fraudulence. Without discrimination!

There are all sorts of techniques and technologies for cheating us. If Jamtara is to be believed, even our governments and the police are in collusion with the criminals. Everybody gets a share of the money swindled. The situation is so bizarre that the BBC produced a documentary on it titled The Trap: Inside the blackmail scam destroying lives across India. This documentary which exposes the online apps that cheat people by giving them loans has already attracted lakhs of viewers.

India is getting into a deadly trap. And it seems to be an inescapable one which does not discriminate between people.

We are already familiar with the old generation types of cheating. One common threat is malware, which is malicious software that can damage or disable your computer or steal your personal information. Malware can be spread through email attachments, infected websites, or USB drives.

Another threat is phishing, which is a type of online scam where criminals attempt to trick you into revealing sensitive information, such as your passwords or credit card numbers. Phishing emails often appear to be from legitimate companies, such as banks or credit card companies.

Other common internet threats include:

·         Spam: Unsolicited and unwanted emails that can contain malware or phishing links.

·         Spyware: Software that secretly monitors your online activity.

·         Ransomware: Software that encrypts your computer files and demands a ransom payment to decrypt them.

Internet frauds can also take many forms, including:

·         Investment scams: Fraudsters promise high returns on investments, but ultimately steal your money.

·         Online shopping scams: Fraudsters create fake websites or sell counterfeit products.

·         Dating scams: Fraudsters create fake profiles on dating websites to gain your trust and then steal your money or identity.

·         Charity scams: Fraudsters create fake charities to solicit donations.

How to protect yourself from internet threats and frauds

There are a number of things you can do to protect yourself from internet threats and frauds:

·         Keep your software up to date. Software updates often include security patches that can help protect you from malware.

·         Be careful about what emails you open and what attachments you download. If you are not expecting an email, do not open it. And if you are not sure whether an attachment is safe, do not download it.

·         Use strong passwords and enable two-factor authentication whenever possible.

·         Be careful about what websites you visit and what information you enter online. Only visit trusted websites and avoid entering sensitive information on public computers.

·         Be wary of unsolicited investment opportunities and online shopping deals. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

·         Do your research before donating to charities. Make sure the charity is legitimate and that your donation will be used for its intended purpose.

Conclusion

The internet is a powerful tool, but it is important to be aware of the threats and frauds that exist online. Let us keep ourselves safe from the potential dangers. Let us take necessary precautions.

In addition to the above, here are some additional tips to help protect yourself from internet threats and frauds:

·         Use a firewall and antivirus software: A firewall can help protect your computer from unauthorized access, while antivirus software can help detect and remove malware. Happinetz Box is a useful technology in this regard especially if you have children at home using the internet.

·         Be careful about what you share on social media: Avoid sharing personal information, such as your address, phone number, or date of birth, on social media. 

·         Be suspicious of unsolicited messages: If you receive a message from someone you don't know, think twice before clicking on any links or attachments in the message.

·         Report suspicious activity: If you suspect that you have been the victim of an internet threat or fraud, report it to the authorities.

 

PS. Related Post: Save Children from the Net

This post is a part of Happinetz - Internet Does Not Discriminate 

Comments

  1. Thank you so much for sharing this historical Blogspot, this Blog is very helpful and informative, I am really enjoyed to read this, many Thanks for share with us: For more information: Taj Destinations & Travel Services

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Grandeur of the dooms

John Keats by William Hilton [Wikipedia] One of the poems included in CBSE’s class 12 English literature is an extract from Keats’ Endymion . A question that has come to me again and again from students as well as teachers is: What does “the grandeur of the dooms…” mean? It is a line that has perplexed me too. I have been amused by the kind of interpretations given in the guidebooks for students. Quite many of these books interpret the word ‘dooms’ to mean the Doomsday. Look at the following answer given in one such guidebook made available online by a well-known educational establishment.  That is very amusing considering the fact that Keats was an agnostic, if not a confirmed atheist. Keats would never accept a God who would come riding a majestic cloud on the day of the Last Judgment to apportion the good and the evil souls to Heaven and Hell. Evil is an integral part of life, Keats knew too well. No human can avoid evil any more than “a rose can avoid a blighting wind.” How...

Water as Weapon

A scene from Kerala The theme chosen for their monthly blog hop by friends Manali Desai and Sukaina Majeed is water, particularly because March 22 is World Water Day. It is of vital importance to discuss the global water crisis because as the motto of Delhi Jal Board says: Jal hi Jeevan hai , Water is Life . The crisis is only going to become more and more acute as we move on. With a global population clocking 8.5 billion by 2030, the demand for fresh water will rise sharply, especially in urban areas. The climate change, particularly rising temperatures, prolonged droughts, and erratic rainfall patterns, will add significantly to the problem. Ground water is getting depleted in many countries. Consequently, water is likely to be a strategic asset in the near future. Powerful individuals, corporations, and nations may use it as a weapon in several ways. Rivers can be blocked with dams and water supply to neighbouring nations can be manipulated. Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam o...

Broligarchy

A page from Time Broligarchy is a new word I learnt from the latest issue of the Time magazine one of whose lead stories is titled ‘ American Broligarchy ’. Wikipedia teaches me that ‘broligarchy’ is “a neologism and portmanteau combining oligarchy and broism describing the rule of government by a coterie of extremely wealthy men (occupying leadership roles in the tech companies and tech-enabled businesses).” The Time article informs us that Trump’s greatest “bros” are Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg, the three men who were given the most prominent seats, ahead of Cabinet members, at Trump’s Presidential inauguration. These wealthy businessmen play crucial roles in Trump’s way of governing America. They pump a lot of unregulated money into politics for their own selfish reasons. A menacing outcome is an unhealthy (for the public) expansion of presidential power with fewer checks on the Congress. The Time laments that this “would be a recipe for more corruption under an...

Waiting for the Mahatma

Book Review I read this book purely by chance. R K Narayan is not a writer whom I would choose for any reason whatever. He is too simple, simplistic. I was at school on Saturday last and I suddenly found myself without anything to do though I was on duty. Some duties are like that: like a traffic policeman’s duty on a road without any traffic! So I went up to the school library and picked up a book which looked clean. It happened to be Waiting for the Mahatma by R K Narayan. A small book of 200 pages which I almost finished reading on the same day. The novel was originally published in 1955, written probably as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi and India’s struggle for independence. The edition that I read is a later reprint by Penguin Classics. Twenty-year-old Sriram is the protagonist though Gandhi towers above everybody else in the novel just as he did in India of the independence-struggle years. Sriram who lives with his grandmother inherits significant wealth when he turns 20. Hi...

Love Affair of Pearl Spot

AI-generated I am not fond of fish. Fish doesn’t taste like fish, that’s the reason. We get adulterated fish most of the time. In Kerala, my state, traders are reported to use formalin for preserving the freshness of fish. Formalin is used for preserving dead bodies by embalming. You will find me in a fish stall once in a while, though. My cats want fish occasionally, that’s why. Not that they are particularly fond of it. For a change from the regular pellets and packaged wet foods, all delivered promptly by Amazon. Even cats love a change. Most of the time, the entire fish that I buy is consumed by my cats. So much so, Maggie and I have come to think that fish is cat food, not human food. People may have different reasons for not eating any particular food. One of the most endearing reasons I heard recently is that fish is a symbol of the voiceless. People commit atrocities on fish, this person said [I forget who – I read it a couple of weeks back on Magzter]. They suffocate it ...