Credit firm TransUnion found that COVID-19 scams have targeted 32% of other people worldwide, and phishing is the choice approach, which accounts for 27% of those attacks.
TransUnion conducted the research as part of its Consumer Financial Hardship studies, which are in turn part of its larger COVID-19 support plan for individuals who have lost a job or otherwise had financial issues due to the pandemic.
The survey was performed in six countries: Canada, Colombia, Hong Kong, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and while TransUnion found that the top COVID-19 fraud methods were consistent in four of the six countries, where phishing accounted for over 30% of fraud attempts.
Only two countries, Colombia and South Africa, were led by different methods: Third-party seller scams on legitimate websites and unemployment scams, respectively.
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Phishing is the maximum type of non-unusual fraud, largely because it is undeniable compared to other methods. All an attacker has to do is launch a wide network and locate a victim who qualifies for an identity theft procedure that can lead to stolen bank accounts, fraudulent purchases, and a ruined credit.
“Identity theft is the number one medium used through scammers to exploit the customer’s stolen knowledge through phishing and other social engineering programs. It can have long-term effects on customers, such as the commitment of several online accounts and credit ratings relief, which we will build during the reconstruction of the pandemic,” said Shai Cohen, TransUnion Executive Vice President of Global Fraud and Identity Solutions.
Along with the news, TransUnion also announced a new document verification solution to help combat fraud, which claims to determine identity with as little as a selfie compared to an electronic copy of a photo ID.
Leaving your online security to one method of ID verification isn’t enough to be safe, though; individuals and businesses should do everything they can to protect personally identifying information, which is often as easy to steal as scrolling through a social media feed.
The IRS has several suggestions for preventing phishing, which are an excellent way to start protecting your identity:
Additional steps to take to prevent a successful phishing attempt include regularly changing your passwords, using multifactor identification, and not taking social media quizzes that ask for personal info.
Brandon writes about programs and software for TechRepublic. He is an award-winner who once worked as an IT professional and was a member of the U.S. Army.