Applicable Mitigation Strategies and Technology Propositions: Preventing Scamming in Marginalized Populations

This essay serves as a proposal for new technology and mitigation against the scamming of marginalized individuals (i.e., those over the age of 65). Research supports this outline, giving background to the types of scams, and prevention strategies currently seen in the cybersecurity landscape. It is evident that the methods we currently use to combat scamming attacks are not effective, therefore, I propose a new solution. This proposed telecommunications strategy is necessary to prevent scamming of all internet users, no matter the device. This telecommunication strategy would use artificial intelligence and machine learning to constantly improve its detection over time, nullifying the scamming issue that plagues senior citizens. Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Telecommunication Leverage, Senior Adults, Educational Mitigation, Technological Mitigation, Scam-Prevention, Scammin

Got Phished? Internet Security and Human Vulnerability

A leading cause of security breaches is a basic human vulnerability: our susceptibility to deception. Hackers exploit this vulnerability by sending phishing emails that induce users to click on malicious links that then download malware or trick the victim into revealing personal confidential information to the hacker. Past research has focused on human susceptibility to generic phishing emails or individually targeted spear-phishing emails. This study addresses how contextualization of phishing emails for targeted groups impacts their susceptibility to phishing. We manipulated the framing and content of email messages and tested the effects on users’ susceptibility to phishing. We constructed phishing emails to elicit either the fear of losing something valuable (e.g., course registrations, tuition assistance) or the anticipation of gaining something desirable (e.g., iPad, gift card, social networks). We designed the emails’ context to manipulate human psychological weaknesses such as greed, social needs, and so on. We sent fictitious (benign) emails to 7,225 undergraduate students and recorded their responses. Results revealed that contextualizing messages to appeal to recipients’ psychological weaknesses increased their susceptibility to phishing. The fear of losing or anticipation of gaining something valuable increased susceptibility to deception and vulnerability to phishing. The results of our study provide important contributions to information security research, including a theoretical framework based on the heuristic-systematic processing model to study the susceptibility of users to deception. We demonstrate through our experiment that several situational factors do, in fact, alter the effectiveness of phishing attempts

The Role of Power and Negotiation in Online Deception

The purpose of this paper is to advance theoretical understanding of the important role of both power and negotiation during online deception. By so doing, the paper provides insight into the relationship between perpetrator and victim in Internet fraud. The growing prevalence of Internet Fraud continues to be a burden to both society and individuals. In an attempt to better understand Internet fraud and online deception, this article attempts to build an interactive model, based upon the dimensions of power and negotiation from the management and psychology literature. Using the model presented, the article examines the effects of the Internet on the communication process that takes place between perpetrator and victim. Finally, the article discusses some of the major tactics employed to appeal to each power type in predominant fraud forms, as well exploring future types of fraud

Electronic Commerce Fraud: Towards an Understanding of the Phenomenon

The objective of this paper is to determine the factors that contribute to electronic commerce fraud. We present a model that identifies five causes: the incentives of criminals, the characteristics of victims, the role of technology, the role of enforcement, and system related factors. The Internet has lowered the barriers to entry for criminal enterprises. Victims are unable to determine which sites are real and which ones are fraudulent and lack of reporting further facilitates this type of crime. The lack of enforcement, resulting from inadequate resources and laws, contributes to the lowering of entry barriers to fraudulent businesses. An analysis of FTC cases shows that most crimes are not technologically sophisticated and that greater awareness and experience with this type of schemes people will avoid being victimized

Kuritegevus kui kommunikatsioon: diagnostiliselt kasuliku teabe tuvastamine manipulatsioonirünnete sisust ja kontekstist

Väitekirja elektrooniline versioon ei sisalda publikatsiooneTänapäevases teabe ülekülluse tingimustes on aina sagedasemaks muutunud erinevat tüüpi manipulatsiooniründed, mis jõuavad sõnumisaajateni e-kirjade, telefoni, lühisõnumite kui ka sotsiaalmeedia vahendusel. Tähelepanu hajutatuse, saabunud sõnumite tekitatud tugevate emotsioonide ning tõerääkimise eeldamise koostoime tõttu on manipulatsioonirünnete ohvriks langemine üha süvenev probleem, millega kaasnevad nii majanduslik kui ka vaimne kahju. Doktoritöö „Kuritegevus kui kommunikatsioon: diagnostiliselt kasuliku teabe tuvastamine manipulatsioonirünnete sisust ja kontekstist“ eesmärk on saada teada, millist manipulatsiooniründe ennetamise aspektist olulist teavet saavad sõnumisaajad rünnete toimepanemiseks kasutatud sõnumite sisust ning kontekstist. Eesmärgi saavutamiseks esitan väitekirjas kuritegevus kui kommunikatsioon käsituse, mis lähtub eeldusest, et iga tehnoloogia vahendatud keskkonnas toimuv tegevus tuleneb ja sõltub kommunikatsioonist. Doktoritöö aluseks olevates uurimustes kogutud e-kirjade ja rahvusvahelistes meediaväljaannetes kajastatud pettuste kirjelduste teksti- ja sisuanalüüsi tulemused võimaldasid selgitada mitmeid manipulatsioonirünnete tuvastamiseks kasulikke teabekilde. Manipulatsioonirünnete puhul on konkreetsel juhul kasutatavate kanalite, näiteks e-kirjade või telefonikõnede, mitmekesisuse tõttu olulisem mõista sõnumi saatja ja vastuvõtja vahel olemasoleva avatud kanali tähtsust. Avatud kanali olemasolul kasutavad manipulatsioonirünnete toimepanijad nii kasusaamisega meelitamist kui ka kahju kandmisega ähvardamist, et suunata sõnumite vastuvõtjaid viimastele kahju toovat tegu tegema. Samuti kohandavad mõned küberkurjategijad manipulatsioonirünnetes kasutatavate sõnumite sisu nii, et sõnumid sobituksid nende saatmise ajahetkel olulisse ühiskondlikku konteksti, näiteks COVID-19 viiruspandeemiaga seonduvasse.Under the current circumstances of information overload, social engineering attacks that reach recipients via e-mail, phone calls, text messages and social media have become an increasingly common occurrence. Our exhausted ability to pay attention, the strong emotions created by received messages and the default expectation of truth-telling have combined into a state where falling victim to social engineering attacks is a growing problem with severe financial and psychological consequences for the victims. For the purpose of preventing successful social engineering attacks, the dissertation “Crime-as-Communication: Detecting Diagnostically Useful Information from the Content and Context of Social Engineering Attacks” sought to find out the types of diagnostically useful information available to recipients from the content and context of social engineering attacks. To achieve this aim, the dissertation developed the Crime-as-Communication approach, which follows from the premise that all activities in technology-mediated environments are rooted in and dependent upon communication. Based on the results of qualitative text analysis and qualitative and quantitative content analysis applied to e-mails and descriptions of social engineering attacks reported in international media outlets, the dissertation established multiple informational aspects that help people detect social engineering attacks. Due to the variety of media, such as e-mails and phone calls, used in carrying out social engineering attacks, it is more important to acknowledge the overall significance of an open channel between message senders and recipients. Where an open channel is present, perpetrators use both gain-based appeals and loss-based threats to guide recipients into taking actions that end up harming them. Furthermore, some cybercriminals adapt the content of scam messages to fit the social context - such as the COVID-19 pandemic - salient at the time of circulating the messages.  https://www.ester.ee/record=b546643

Essays on the Rationality of Online Romance Scammers

The rapid development of the internet has served an essential role in providing communication platforms for people to choose to have personal interactions. One manifestation is using social media platforms and dating services to establish social relationships. The use of online platforms has also provided unscrupulous individuals with malicious intent the ability to target vulnerable victims using bogus romantic intent to obtain money from them. This type of newly evolved cybercrime is called an online romance scamming. To date, online romance scams have spread to every part of the world (i.e., mainly in the United States, China, Canada, Australia, and the UK) and caused considerable financial and emotional damage to victims. Prior research on online romance fraudsters provides a preliminary understanding of the operational features (stages and persuasive techniques) and their modus operandi. However, the objectivity and relevance of the victimization data in explaining offenders\u27 behaviors may render those studies may represent significant drawbacks. To overcome the limitations, it is important to use actual offender data to generate meaningful analyses of romance fraudsters\u27 behaviors. Consequently, this dissertation aims to use experimental data similar to that applied in my previous work (Wang et al., 2021), combined with existing criminological and communication theories, to promote a better understanding of romance fraudsters\u27 behaviors in the online world. This dissertation begins with a scoping review of the current online romance scam literature, intending to use a scientific strategy to address the existing scholarly gap in this field of research. Derived from rational choice theory, the criminal events perspective, interpersonal deception theory, and neutralization theory, the second and third paper uses an experimental approach to assess the influence of rewards on romance fraudsters\u27 behaviors. The three papers\u27 results demonstrate the rationality of online romance fraudsters when facing rewards. Moreover, such rationality can be explicitly seen from their uses of different linguistic cues. Finally, the outcomes provided in the current project also provide policymakers the information about the rationality and modus operandi of fraudsters which can be used to identify the behavioral patterns at an early phase to prevent significant harm to the victim

Advance Fee Fraud on the Increase: The Shield of Support Over the Victims

This research study addresses the activities of Advance Fee Fraudsters whose activities sometimes impact the status and life of their victims. Research to date appears to have focused on crime, Advance Fee Fraud, and its techniques. The intent of this study is to take the reader through the various types of Advance Fee Fraud (AFF) with special attention to how the victims may get help, an aspect of AFF that has been greatly neglected by previous researchers who mainly focus on the techniques and modus operandi of the fraudsters. Until recently, the concept of AFF was limitedly known, but with the advancement in technology, the concept has become very popular and sophisticated in its techniques. Though a qualitative research model will guide my investigation, I will not be limited in scope by finding useful materials for the study. The reason is that, for a social ill that has so much ravaged the global financial institutions and the finances of governments, corporations, and individuals, no one system will be able to bring to bear what is sought in proffering solutions to the menace. This research will be guided by a theoretical framework consisting of the problem statement, the purpose, the significance, and the research questions. The goal is to determine which types of AFF are more popular and employed, and which of them victims easily fall prey to. This will enable the researcher to access ways of helping the vulnerable citizens, treat, and support those already exposed, prevent revictimization, find how to put in place the required preventive actions, and how justice can be secured for victims of fraud. The data for the study will be obtained through qualitative interviews, and the transcripts of the interview material will be analyzed for emerging themes. It is my hope that the study will be helpful in enabling this research to fill the gap that has been created by previous research, finding help and support for victims

Online Deception in Social Media

The unknown and the invisible exploit the unwary and the uninformed for illicit financial gain and reputation damage