We must do better. Technology has been a boon to our society, but it has enabled predators, criminals, and thieves to commit offenses from the comfort of their Homes.
I was a victim of a technological theft yesterday- and so were my kids. I'm day two into the clean-up, with a College student stranded two hours away, without access to his debit card. I spent over five hours yesterday, including over two in the branch. Ultimately, I had to close or freeze nine accounts and transfer the funds to newly established accounts.
Each of my sons and I share a checking and savings account. They have been responsible to manage the accounts on their own. I am on them to ensure they are not stranded without money. Except today.
It started out innocently; and seemed to be legitimate. I got a text from "my bank" saying someone had tried to charge almost eight hundred dollars and did I want to authorize this transaction. I texted my son to see if he had tried to buy his tires yet. With a resounding NO, I pushed the button to say no and immediately got a call from "my bank."
Somehow, they knew more information than a hacker should know, and I continued on the call, to freeze my Mastercard debit card. How did they know my bank, and cell phone number is still a mystery?
Eventually, they put me on hold, and I got suspicious. No, I never gave my social security number and checked the line from which they were calling. We disconnected and I called back. The woman was different and tried to help, then transferred me to a third person. I hung up, called my branch, and found out it was fraud, necessitating in the closure of all accounts in my banking profile and the eventual res-establishment of all on-line payments. That will take hours as well.
Thankfully, no money was stolen and now there is no access to the accounts. But, for two days, I have had to focus on this, rather than my job search and here's the kicker. Although I am a co-owner on my youngest son's accounts, I can't close his accounts without his approval. To protect the security of the account that I am trying to protect by closing. I get it, but now he must find run from classes to the bursar to fax back the form. A real nuisance since he is in class all day.
The message here is not one of anger, it's frustration that a small yet sophisticated group of criminals has used a level of intelligence owned by few to figure out how to clone phone numbers, credit cards (yes that has happened to all of us), install skimmers on gas pumps, and create complex schemes on innocent victims. Imagine if they used this knowledge to cure cancer? Or get a job in CyberSecurity to develop SafeGuards Training which deter hacking?
So as an old TV show once said, "hey, let's be careful out there!"
Here's a book we can all use! https://www.amazon.com/Cybersecurity-for-Dummies/dp/B081ZHVF3G?crid=1LRYP12FE7BLF&keywords=cyber+security&qid=1645112534&sprefix=cyber+se%2Caps%2C93&sr=8-5&linkCode=ll1&tag=nymomto3boys-20&linkId=f08638928a9f7be63ef5cfd383b676f6&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl
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