fraud
27 pieces
Field Guide to AI, Security and Cybercrime
AI Trading Bot Scams: How the Pitch Works
The bot, the dashboard and the steady profits are props. The only tests that matter are the regulator's register and a withdrawal.
Opinion · 5 min
Deepfake Video Calls and the Payment Nobody Should Have Made
When your boss appears on a video call demanding an urgent transfer, the video is the weakest evidence in the room.
Opinion · 7 min
Recovering From Identity Theft: The Order That Matters
Creditors respond to paperwork, not distress. A methodical sequence of steps is your fastest path to resolution.
Opinion · 7 min
SIM Swap Attacks: How Someone Takes Your Phone Number
A criminal persuades your mobile operator to move your number to their SIM, then uses the text messages sent to it to hijack your digital life.
Opinion · 8 min
Synthetic Identity Fraud: Credit for a Person Who Never Existed
A real identifier, an invented name, and years of good behaviour, followed by one afternoon of borrowing everything at once.
Opinion · 7 min
A Family Safe Word Against AI Voice Scams: Designing One That Holds
Most safe words fail because they are guessable, never rehearsed, or spoken on the channel the attacker controls.
Opinion · 9 min
AI Romance Scams: One Operator, Hundreds of Relationships
Language models let a single scammer sustain many convincing partners, and the old tells are gone.
Opinion · 9 min
AI Shopping Agents: The Missing Proof You Approved the Purchase
Card protections assume a human clicked buy; delegated agents break that assumption.
Opinion · 8 min
AI Slop and Fake Reviews: Finding Human Signal Online
When writing is free to produce, the evidence of a real experience is what is scarce.
Opinion · 7 min
Charity Scams After Disasters: How to Verify Before Donate
Fake appeals surge after crises. Learn how to verify charities and donate safely to avoid funding fraudsters.
Opinion · 9 min
Crypto Wallet Drainers: The Signature You Did Not Read
Drainers rarely steal seed phrases; they get you to sign a permission that outlives the session.
Opinion · 8 min
Fake Customer Support Numbers: The Scam That Starts in Search
When you search for a help line, the results page itself can be the phishing channel.
Opinion · 7 min
Hacked Instagram Account? Avoid the Recovery Scammers First
The moment you post about being hacked, you attract a second wave of fraud.
Opinion · 10 min
How to Check If a Website Is Legit Before You Buy
Padlocks and glowing reviews are cheap to fake; payment method and domain history are not.
Opinion · 9 min
How to Protect Elderly Parents From Scams Without Taking Over
Controls that preserve autonomy work better than warnings and better than taking the chequebook.
Opinion · 10 min
How to Report a Scam and Actually Improve Your Chances
The order you report in, and how fast, decides whether any money can be stopped.
Opinion · 8 min
How to Tell If a Voice Call Is an AI Clone (Your Ear Cannot)
Listening harder for robotic artifacts is a losing game; the defence is moving verification off the call.
Opinion · 8 min
Kids' Gaming Account Scams: Free Currency, Stolen Skins, Lost Accounts
A child's game account holds items that sell for real money, which is why it is hunted like a bank login.
Opinion · 8 min
Money Mule Job Scams: The Offer That Makes You the Launderer
The 'payment processing assistant' role is a way to put your name on someone else's crime.
Opinion · 9 min
QR Code Scams (Quishing): Why a Sticker Beats Your Spam Filter
QR codes move a link out of screened channels and onto an unmanaged phone, often in the physical world.
Opinion · 9 min
Rental Scams: Fake Listings, Absent Landlords and Lost Deposits
The fake listing is a copy of a real one; what gives it away is who controls the keys and how they want paying.
Opinion · 7 min
Scam Compounds: The Forced Labour Behind Scam Messages
Many of the people typing scam texts are themselves trafficked, which the fight against them must address.
Opinion · 8 min
Selling Online? Fake Payment Confirmations and Overpayment Tricks
Screenshots and emails prove nothing; the only proof of payment is money you can see in your own account.
Opinion · 9 min
Should You Freeze Your Credit? Why a Freeze Beats Monitoring
Monitoring tells you after the fraud; a freeze stops most of it before it starts, for free.
Opinion · 10 min
Small Business Cybersecurity: The First Five Things, in Order
Before buying any product, a small firm needs five unglamorous controls done properly.
Opinion · 8 min
Tech Support Scams: What Happens After You Install Remote Access
The remote tool is the pivot from a fake virus warning to a fake refund and a real bank transfer.
Opinion · 10 min
The Wrong Number Text: How Pig Butchering Scams Actually Run
Behind the friendly stranger is a staffed sales funnel with scripts, handoffs and a fake trading app.
Opinion · 7 min