Phishing emails and emails that cause ransomware and viruses to be installed on users’ system are increasing in numbers every day with millions of people falling victim to such scams annually. In Canada alone as many as 30 million people are falling victim to such attacks and in a bid to curb these rising numbers, Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) has sent out a warning urging people to stay alert and refrain from accessing emails that are from unknown senders.
The latest warning is part of the Nation Cybersecurity Awareness Month under which various initiatives have been undertaken by authorities across North America to spread awareness about cyber crimes and to educate users on how to protect themselves and deal with such attacks.
One of the reasons why such drives are very important is the number of people affected by such attacks every year. According to Get Cyber Safe Canadians receive around 156-million phishing emails every day and while most of them are blocked by spam filters, 16-million eventually make it through to users’ inbox. About 50 per cent of these emails are opened and accessed by users and as many as 800,000 phishing or ransomware links are clicked. 10 per cent of these users fall for some sort of online scam through these emails and end up sharing personal information and this means that as many as 30-million people end up being potential victims every year.
Ransomware on the other hand produces what has been called a “Police Trojan” or “scareware” because a notice pops up that appears to come from a law enforcement agency. The message is a false accusation of illegal online activities and then demands that the consumer needs to pay a fee via money transfer or credit card to unlock the computer. When the victim submits their payment details, the criminals then steal and use the victim’s personal information.
Ontario Provincial Police details what a phishing is: phishing is any e-mail falsely claiming to be from an established legitimate organization such as a financial institution, business or government agency. In almost all cases, such emails ask the user to click on link and visit a certain website to update or provide personal and/or financial information and passwords. This is a malicious attempt to collect customer information for the purpose of committing fraud.
“Ransomware and phishing emails seek to elicit personal information and data needed to fuel further criminal activities. Together, we need to do all we can to convince victims to report phishing emails and ransomware incidents, which can reduce harm and victimization”, Deputy Commissioner Rick BARNUM, OPP Investigations and Organized Crime.
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) received 5,179 ‘phishing’ complaints in 2015, identified 1,704 people as victims who lost more than $508,000. In 2015, the CAFC received 295 complaints from Canadian consumers who received a ransomware pop?up message. Of those, 135 victims were identified as having lost a total of more than $47,000.00 – roughly $348 per victim.
During October’s Cyber Safety Awareness Month, the OPP, other police services and international partners are promoting public awareness to help prevent all Canadians from becoming victims. If you suspect you’ve been a victim of phishing or ransomware, contact your local police service or the official entity that the ransomware appears to be from, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, report it to the OPP online at http://www.opp.ca/index.php?id=132 or through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) at https://www.tipsubmit.com/start.htm