You Need to Create a Secret Password With Your Family

The scammers are out of control. Every year, fraudsters and cybercriminals make billions By tricking people into giving up their cash. romance scam, Business Email Compromise, investment scam, sex blackmail—The ways in which criminals prey on people are almost endless and ever-changing.

Coupled with impersonation scams, criminals impersonate someone the target knows and scam them out of money. There are increasing calls for people, especially families, to create passwords or passwords for each other. In early December, the F.B.I. release People are advised to “create a secret word or phrase with a family member to verify their identity,” UK bank Starling also posted guidelines Create safe phrases with others.

This is a simple approach that may be effective, if not new. For example, if you receive a message or call from your “son” or “daughter” and they desperately need money to get out of trouble, asking them for a pre-agreed password can reveal whether it’s really them.

“Fraudsters use manipulative tactics to put victims in a vulnerable position, and they act out of panic, urgency, or Strong desire. “Having a password or similarly prepared strategy allows victims to quickly verify the legitimacy of unusual interactions and take control. “

There have been calls to create family passwords or passphrases as scammers increasingly employ artificial intelligence. Machine learning allows criminals to create Deepfake video impersonation People and clone sounds using just a few seconds of audio. Scammers used these voice clones arrive pretend Families are kidnapped and ransoms are demanded for their release.

“Artificial intelligence is creating a lot of risk for businesses and families,” said Rachel Tobac, CEO of SocialProof Security. Tobac said companies she has worked with have been on the receiving end of AI voice clone calls that also use spoofed calls number, trying to impersonate a corporate executive.

“I’ve also heard that every day there are families who are being attacked by AI phone calls with a voice cloned nephew, grandson or sibling who are hysterically worried that they have been kidnapped or involved in a car accident that hit a pregnant person and need money. Legal help.

Make a good family password

As with your online passwords, there are some things you should and shouldn’t do when creating a shared password. First of all, you should not use a password that is the same as any password, nor should it be something that scammers can easily find, such as street names, birthdays, pets, or other personal information that might be shared online.

“Think of anything you or your loved ones post online as data that scammers can exploit,” Englund said. “Even if you keep all social media private, your data is available to your contacts and followers, who could be hacked.”