Filenews 13 August 2022
An announcement informing the public about the most common forms of online fraud was made by the Police.
Cybercriminals are constantly looking for ways to make money at the expense of unsuspecting victims. Individuals and organizations often fall victim to fraud of various forms.
These scams are examples of how cybercriminals can easily play around with people's psychology and perceptions. The advice provided here is intended to help you protect yourself. Awareness is the best defence!
General tips:
- Check your online accounts regularly.
- Check your bank account regularly and report any suspicious activity to your bank.
- Make online payments only on secure websites (check the URL bar for padlock and https) and using secure connections (select mobile network instead of public Wi-Fi).
- You should know that your bank will never ask you for "sensitive" information, such as your online account credentials by phone or email.
- If an offer sounds too good to be true, it's almost always a scam.
- Keep your personal information safe. Be very careful about how much personal information you share on social network sites. Scammers can use your information and images to create a fake identity or target you with a scam.
- If you think you have provided your account information to a scammer, please contact your bank immediately.
- Always report any suspicious action to the Police, even if you were not a victim of the fraud.
The 9 most common online scams and how to avoid them: [these are in Greek but you can copy/paste into a translation engine]
- Deceptive bank websites
- Romantic scam
- Phishing
- Vishing
- Smishing
- CEO/Business Email Compromise (BEC) Scam
- Investment scams
- Invoice fraud
- Theft of personal data (Twishing)
Why should Cybercrime be reported?
Many times people, who have been "harassed" on the internet or have fallen victim to fraud, do not report these incidents to the Police, either because they have been threatened or fear that they will be exposed in public.
This helps criminals to continue their illegal work and go unpunished.
So bearing in mind that several online offenses are committed by the use of social media and involve online fraud, theft of personal data, we must be very careful with whom we are talking. It is very easy for someone to alter his data, use any photo and name he wishes and declare any age. It is also possible that some of them are using fake information in order to seduce their victims.
So it is important to establish that behind a computer can be any person, who may even be a criminal.
To avoid such a risk it is important to confirm that the person we are talking to him is known to us and that he is trustworthy.
Here are some basic tips for using the internet mainly for young people, who are easily impressed by various photos of demonstration or entertainment
- Do not chat with strangers or share with them your personal information, photos, marital status, etc.
- When you do not know the sender of an email, do not open it and if you suspect that something is wrong, delete it because it may be a virus
- Give preference to web pages that contain the acronym "https", "s" means security (this is basic mainly for shopping purposes)
- Avoid participating in online gambling, as in addition to the fact that some of them may be illegal, there is also the risk of exposure to unwanted situations
On the part of the Police, all necessary measures are taken to protect internet users, while the handling of such cases is done with absolute confidentiality.
Therefore, the competent Police Department – the Cybercrime Subdirectorate – is available to the public daily, including weekends and holidays ,(7am – 7pm) on the phone 22808200 for any complaint or even for simple advice. Also, the public can make a complaint through the Online complaint form.
