TradingPlatforms.com has been studying the trends in internet crime. It concluded that 2021 was a record-breaking year for the vice. That was a $2.7B gain from the 2020 figures.
Edith Reads, TradingPlatforms’ financial expert, says, “The Internet, with its vast resources and low barriers to entry, has made it easy for fraudsters to set up shop. Today it has become a playground where organized criminal networks conduct their business with wanton abandon.”
The different faces of internet crimes?
TradingPlatforms’ analysis shows that internet fraudsters preferred phishing over any other con scheme in 2021. Cyber cons using phishing techniques were able to make away with $2.4B, the largest amount of the stolen funds.
Cryptocurrency scams were the second most popular kind of con. These accounted for the loss of $1.6B, the second-highest. These kinds of crimes had grown roughly sevenfold from 2020’s figures.
Confidence fraud (Romance scam) led to the loss of $956M, the third-highest. Support Fraud and ransomware were the other popular con methods. Whereas the former resulted in a loss of over $347M, the latter’s figures stood at $49.2M.
Who’s at most risk of cybercrimes?
Senior citizens are the biggest victims of internet crimes. This age group lost the most in dollar value, with a total of $1.68B or 24% of the $6.9B stolen by internet scammers.
Two major reasons explain why they are the most vulnerable group. For starters, they tend to be less savvy about online security. They are also more trusting and unaware of internet fraud schemes.
The 50-59 years age group follows in second place, having lost $1.26B. And rounding up the top three is the 40-49 years group that lost $1.19B. Meanwhile, the under 20 age group suffered the least loss at $101.4M. This age group is tech-savvy and is better placed to detect internet scams.
The full story and statistics can be found here: The Internet’s crime Business is up 164% to stand at $6.9B
Media Contact:
Edith Reads
St Magnus House
3 Lower Thames St
London
EC3R6HA