“Being deceived, as I was by a man like Joe was just utterly, utterly devastating. It just plays games with your mind like nothing I've ever experienced before.”
We have covered a lot of ground in our Hackable Me podcast, highlighting how today’s cybercriminals prey upon human vulnerabilities to further their aims of stealing cash, login credentials and intellectual property. Business email compromise and email account compromise fraud are largely about being an imposter. Someone claiming to be your boss asks you to pay an invoice to a new vendor. Someone claiming to be the VP of HR asks an underling to send her employee W2 forms.
But what if that imposter is your soulmate? Episode 3 of Hackable Me takes a deep dive into romance fraud as we hear from Stephanie Wood, an Australian and professional who was not actively looking for love but registered with a dating site to keep her options open. Like most romance fraud, the key to disarming Stephanie was her own loneliness and boredom. In her own words: “I've been single for a really long time. I had a really interesting life. I have a really interesting life. I'm busy, I'm engaged. I'm active. I'm always doing something different. But I guess you get bored with your own company. And I think it was just like, ‘oh, why not? And so many people entreat you, don't be so fussy.”
Episode 3 also features an interview with Joanne Mihelcic, research fellow in the faculty of I.T. at Monash University in Melbourne and an expert in the area of people culture and cybersecurity. Joanne goes on to illustrate how today’s malicious cyber actors exploit human vulnerabilities, and how the COVID-19 pandemic is only exacerbating the situation.
Like other Hackable Me podcasts, we part with advice on how the average person can avoid becoming a victim of romance fraud, as told in Stephanie’s own words.
Hackable Me is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or on your preferred podcast player. Want to see how hackable you are? Give our test a go at www.proofpoint.com/hackableme.