Archives: Articles

Behaving Respectfully Online

One of the most important things about any community is that its members maintain respect for others in that community. That’s whether it’s a club, business, suburb or city. Or the virtual community of 4.8 billion internet users around the world. As we all know, however, this isn’t always the case, with many people either […]

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence – frequently abbreviated to AI – is technology which enables a computer to carry out tasks based on specified human goals. It does this by searching for and acquiring information and providing a response based on what it finds and/or has learned. This information may be the kind that is freely available to […]

Sexploitation

What is sexploitation? Sexploitation is the act of threatening to share nude or explicit images or video. Anybody of whatever age, background or gender/gender orientation can be targeted by, and fall victim to, sexploitation attempts. You respond to an online request to expose all or part of your body on a webcam or send a […]

Loan Fee Fraud

A type of advance fee fraud, loan fee fraud takes place when you are offered a loan either as a result of submitting an application or out of the blue, and asked to pay an upfront arrangement fee to secure it, only to find that you have been defrauded out of your money. Whether you […]

WhatsApp and Other Closed Messaging Apps

WhatsApp and other closed messaging apps such as Wickr, Signal and Telegram are hugely popular not only as private chat spaces but also as social media platforms and applications in their own right. Their use increased dramatically with the need to maintain contact and share topical content during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the term ‘closed […]

Oversharing

Oversharing information affects far more of us than we might think. Whether you’ve shared a seemingly innocent photo of your friends or family – or unwittingly given away details of your banking or passport details – you could be revealing information that is invaluable to a fraudster or identity thief.

COVID-19 Vaccination Misinformation, Disinformation & Fake News

COVID-19 vaccinations have been administered to billions of people around the world, with numbers increasing daily. In countries where vaccinations have been rolled out successfully, there are fewer infections, hospitalisations and deaths, and those who have been double-jabbed but caught the virus tend to suffer fewer life-changing effects. In general, in countries without vaccination programmes, […]

Pet Scams

Pet scams take place when you see a pet advertised online, are asked to pay a deposit or full price of the pet, only to find that the pet you have purchased does not exist, and you have been defrauded.

Delivery Scams

Restrictions introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in a massive increase in online purchases and in turn, home deliveries, a trend which is here to stay owing to the convenience and choice it brings. Unfortunately, however, this has created an ideal opportunity for fraudsters.

Investment Scams

Investment scams involve criminals contacting people randomly to persuade them to put their money into investment schemes or products that are either non-existent, or do exist but are worthless. Traditionally, sales pitches promise substantial returns with very little risk, but increasingly, ‘returns’ are decreasing to make the story more credible.