An Assessment Of Where We Are Now!
By Dr. Tim McGuinness, November 11, 2021
I was part of several conference calls and presentations this last couple of weeks that was on global cybercrimeCybercrime Cybercrime is a crime related to technology, computers, and the Internet. Typical cybercrime are performed by a computer against a computer, or by a hacker using software to attack computers or networks. and the grim state that we are in now. Unfortunately, the news in these calls was especially bad in many ways. But there was good news too. Cybercrime has been with us since the early 1990s, but with the pandemic is has truly exploded beyond anything we knew.
First For the Bad News
SCAMSScams A Scam is a confidence trick - a crime - is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust through deception. Scams or confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, irresponsibility, or greed and exploiting that. Researchers have defined confidence tricks as "a distinctive species of fraudulent conduct ... intending to further voluntary exchanges that are not mutually beneficial", as they "benefit con operators ('con men' - criminals) at the expense of their victims (the 'marks')". A scam is a crime even if no money was lost. INCREASED OVER 2,000%
Overall, what the world has been learning over the last two years during the pandemic is that scams or all types were up over 2,000% in 2020 from 2019, and continuing until now. From about 2,000,000 total scamScam A Scam is a confidence trick - a crime - is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust through deception. Scams or confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, irresponsibility, or greed and exploiting that. Researchers have defined confidence tricks as "a distinctive species of fraudulent conduct ... intending to further voluntary exchanges that are not mutually beneficial", as they "benefit con operators ('con men' - criminals) at the expense of their victims (the 'marks')". A scam is a crime even if no money was lost. and cybercrime victims in 2019 to over 50,000,000 in 2020. With total losses from cybercrime of well over USD$1,000,000,000,000.00 (1 Trillion Dollars).
Key Data Points:
- In 2019 McAfee estimated that there would be over USD$6 trillion dollars per year losses – the estimate now is USD$1 trillion in 2020, but this number could be much higher
- By the end of 2019, SCARS estimated that there were 15,000,000 total relationship scamRelationship Scam A Relationship Scam is a one-to-one criminal act that involves a trust relationship and uses deception & manipulation to get a victim to give to the criminal something of value, such as money! Click here to learn more: What Is A Relationship Scam? victims worldwide
- But in 2020 alone, there was an estimated 30,000,000 scam and cybercrime victims in the U.S. alone, with 5 million WhatsApp scam victims in just Brazil.
- Global scamming exploded in 2020 and is continuing.
This is somewhat confusing as previous estimates from the cybersecurity industry indicated that we would be at nearly $6 trillion by this point – this is a number widely shared, but is now in doubt. Going forward, we will use the more conservative estimate of $1 trillion as provided by McAfee
We are expecting there to be about the same number of victims as there were in 2021, but the financial losses to increase by as much as 50% mostly due to increases in ransomwareRansomware Ransomware is a type of malware from cryptovirology that threatens to publish the victim's personal data or perpetually block access to it unless a ransom is paid. While some simple ransomware may lock the system so that it is not difficult for a knowledgeable person to reverse, more advanced malware uses a technique called cryptoviral extortion. It encrypts the victim's files, making them inaccessible, and demands a ransom payment to decrypt them. In a properly implemented cryptoviral extortion attack, recovering the files without the decryption key is an intractable problem – and difficult to trace digital currencies such as paysafecard or Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that are used for the ransoms, making tracing and prosecuting the perpetrators difficult. Ransomware attacks are typically carried out using a Trojan virus disguised as a legitimate file that the user is tricked into downloading or opening when it arrives as an email attachment. However, one high-profile example, the WannaCry worm, traveled automatically between computers without user interaction. this year (2021). This can make the total losses this year 2021 to over $2 trillion dollars – may be much higher.
These numbers are bigger than the GDP of most countries.
The problem with estimating is that we now know that less than 1% of victims report these crimes. All governments are in the dark on the actual numbers of victims and the monetary losses. This makes it impossible to provide accurate analysis, and it also prevents governments around the world from dedicating the resources necessary to combat this. While victims are not to blameBlame Blame or Blaming is the act of censuring, holding responsible, making negative statements about an individual or group that their action or actions are socially or morally irresponsible, the opposite of praise. When someone is morally responsible for doing something wrong, their action is blameworthy. By contrast, when someone is morally responsible for doing something right, we may say that his or her action is praiseworthy. Blame imparts responsibility for an action or act, as in that they made a choice to perform that act or action. for being scammed, their failure to report these crimes has allowed scammers and cybercriminals almost free reign to victimize record numbers of new victims.
The Good News
The good news is that worldwide arrests continue to rise significantly. We estimate that global arrests of cybercriminals (including scammers) will be over 100,000 again, and that this is nearly 300,000 over the last 3 years!
- Nigeria is doing very well and will hit new records for them, maybe up to 4,000 – but they still have a million to go.
- In the U.S. arrest levels are at an all-time high too.
- Europe and Asia are expected to be the same.
- China is the world leader in arrests, averaging around 30,000 a year for the last 3 years.
Money MulesMoney mules Money mules are a type of money laundering where a person transfers illicit funds through a medium (such as a bank account) to obfuscate where the money came from. There are different types of money mules including witting, unwitting, and complicit.
The significant expansion of money mules continued in 2020, and now into 2021.
- But the bad news is about mules. The number of new mules in 2020 grew by 10,000%. Law enforcement is starting to get very intolerant about this.
- The banking industry in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe are talking about lifetime banking bans if someone engages in money launderingMoney laundering Money laundering is the illegal process of concealing the origins of money obtained illegally by passing it through a complex sequence of banking transfers or commercial transactions. Money laundering can be done through various mediums, leveraging a variety of payment vehicles, people and institutions..
- The US IRSIRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue & tax service of the United States federal government responsible for collecting taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code (the main body of federal statutory tax law.) It is part of the Department of the Treasury and led by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, who is appointed to a five-year term by the President of the United States. The duties of the IRS include providing tax assistance to taxpayers; pursuing and resolving instances of erroneous or fraudulent tax filings; and overseeing various benefits programs. Visit www.IRS.gov to learn more. is talking a very hard line on taxes on money laundering. Existing money mules need to get their financial situation resolved before the IRS shows up.
- Even regular scam victims can face significant tax penalties when liquidating their retirement accounts. They should be consulting tax attorneys if they lost more than USD$10,000
- And arrests of money mules will hit new records too – possibly as high as 10,000 this year. Though this is not likely for money mules that self-report and cooperate with law enforcement.
Romance Scam Victims
The number of romance scam victims exploded in 2020. The minimum number of new victims was well above 5 million, from about 650,000 in 2019. We have never seen these kinds of numbers before. The previous largest, based upon estimates was about 1,000,000 in 2016.
But there is very bad news in this.
- Reporting is at an all-time low. Less than 1% of victims are reporting these crimes. So governments are mostly clueless of the real numbers.
- Participation in anti-scam groups overall looks to be static. The total number of anti-scam groups is not changing much, and their membership load is about the same. Unfortunately, the majority of these groups are not helping victims – either by increasing traumaTrauma Emotional and psychological trauma is the result of extraordinarily stressful events that shatter your sense of security, making you feel helpless in a dangerous world. Psychological trauma can leave you struggling with upsetting emotions, memories, and anxiety that won’t go away. It can also leave you feeling numb, disconnected, and unable to trust other people. Traumatic experiences often involve a threat to life or safety or other emotional shocks, but any situation that leaves you feeling overwhelmed and isolated can result in trauma, even if it doesn’t involve physical harm. It’s not the objective circumstances that determine whether an event is traumatic, but your subjective emotional experience of the event. The more frightened and helpless you feel, the more likely you are to be traumatized. Trauma requires treatment, either through counseling or therapy or through trauma-oriented support programs, such as those offered by SCARS. or by presenting urban legends and vastly outdated information
- The number of scammerScammer A Scammer or Fraudster is someone that engages in deception to obtain money or achieve another objective. They are criminals that attempt to deceive a victim into sending more or performing some other activity that benefits the scammer.-run anti-scam groups is growing as a percentage of all such groups. Victims continue to flock to these groups never bothering to verify if the group is even real.
Meaning as a percentage, fewer victims are getting help.
The type of romance scam has changed too. There is much more use of the romance that then becomes an investment scamInvestment Scam When a caller claims to have a promising investment opportunity that will help you get rich quick, it's likely a scam. model now. One estimate is that it is about 65% of all romance scams in 2021 – we are not sure of the percentage, but we believe it is above half.
We understand why scammers are doing this, since starting the romance is easy, then offering an investment becomes even easier than the old money in a box or emergency storylines. It is very understandable why this is.
More bad news
Only about 15-20% of the population online seems to get or understand these issues. The general population hears about scams but believes that it will never happen to them.
Over 80% of users do almost nothing to secure their lives, their accounts, and they even use the same passwords for most of their accounts. Less than 3% use 2FA. This remains mostly unchanged. After all the cybersecurity and password awareness, most people are not listening.
This means scammers do not have to work very hard. People make it easy for them.
All forms of cyber-awareness education have failed. More people are aware, but they are not doing anything to really change. Even in the corporate space, companies do not want to spend what is needed to be secure. It is a miracle that whole countries have not been shut down because of cybercrime.
In 2021 we had the first direct death due to cybercrime when ransomware was launched against a hospital in the U.S.
Data breaches continue with no end in sight. A simple reality is that almost everyone online has had their information stolen. Governments, especially the current U.S. government seems to be only really concerned about their own infrastructure.
Some Good News
Europe and the UK understand the issues better than any other country. They are moving forward with continuous sweeping changes.
Even Facebook knows this and they tried to pull a sleight-of-hand trick by changing their name due to the regulation coming soon to social media. In the UK corporate manslaughter is a real thing, and companies that are negligent can face it. So they are beginning to distance themselves from their social media brands and companies. Let us hope that the regulators see through this ploy.
Unfortunately, the U.S. has moved to the back of the bus and is almost totally focused on protecting government IT systems and infrastructure. Individual victims are not the concern of this current administration at the executive or legislative level. But at least the FBIFBI FBI - Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, the FBI is also a member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and reports to both the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence. A leading U.S. counter-terrorism, counterintelligence, and criminal investigative organization, the FBI has jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crimes, including financial fraud. & DoJ is doing more and we are very thankful for that (click here to see one recent case in Texas.)
Analysis
Over the next couple of years, while the pandemic remains through the end of 2022 or 2023, these numbers will not change much, but they are unlikely to get worse – though if there are increases in reporting it might appear so.
UK and Europe will lead in direct action legislatively and through law enforcement. They understand that this is survival for them and their economies.
Law enforcement is quickly finding that fraudFraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain (money or other assets), or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compensation) or criminal law (e.g., a fraud perpetrator may be prosecuted and imprisoned by governmental authorities), or it may cause no loss of money, property, or legal right but still be an element of another civil or criminal wrong. The purpose of fraud may be monetary gain or other benefits, for example by obtaining a passport, travel document, or driver's license, or mortgage fraud, where the perpetrator may attempt to qualify for a mortgage by way of false statements. A fraud can also be a hoax, which is a distinct concept that involves deliberate deception without the intention of gain or of materially damaging or depriving a victim. & cybercrime are becoming half of all crimes, and will be reorganizing to meet these challenges – except in the US.
In the US, we lost the legislative lead with the last election, and in fact, took many steps backward as the initiatives of the previous president were undone by this one. We will not see any significant leadership in the US until after the next congressional elections in 2022 or possibly the presidential election in 2024
China has become the world leader in cybercrime. The government of the PRC is very aggressive about addressing cybercrime against its own people, but not so much when it is exported. This is why we are seeing an explosion in Asia right now.
The professionalism and ease of entry for cybercriminals is expanding rapidly. Investing a small amount of money to buy tools and services can result in unbelievable rewards. And while the risk of arrest is very low, it means cybercriminals will continue without fear.
However, we are also hearing the corporations are considering more direct private action against cybercriminals. With losses in the tens or hundreds of millions for some of these corporate victims, it does not take much money to send operatives to take direct action.
The Victims
Victims continue to be the biggest challenge. The scam avoidance messaging is not working and record numbers of new victims are being seen.
Scam victims still refuse to report these crimes to their police and governments, giving scammers a free pass. In the end, this is the single greatest contributor to the growth of online scams and cybercrime. Access to tools has helped a lot, but ignorant governments cannot effectively fight these crimes.
Overall, few victims are finding effective support and recovery services. One estimate has it that by the end of 2022, a full 50% of the psychologists in the U.S. will be treating traumatized relationship scam victims. Unfortunately, relationship scam victims largely continue in denialDenial Denial is a refusal or unwillingness to accept something or to accept reality. Refusal to admit the truth or reality of something, refusal to acknowledge something unpleasant; And as a term of Psychology: denial is a defense mechanism in which confrontation with a personal problem or with reality is avoided by denying the existence of the problem or reality. about the nature of their trauma or even if they are traumatized. This means that the majority of all scam victims will carry this trauma forward through the remainder of their lives.
All we can do, at organizations like SCARS is continue to pick up the pieces and help those who have become the victims. But even so, only 1 in 3 victims will stick with a recovery program and come out the other end with moderate recovery.
I personally wished that the news was better, but no one can save those that will not listen or conform to society’s needs.
Tim McGuinness, Ph.D.
Managing Director and Founder
Society of Citizens Against Relationship ScamsSCARS SCARS - Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc.
A government registered crime victims' assistance & crime prevention nonprofit organization based in Miami, Florida, U.S.A. SCARS supports the victims of scams worldwide and through its partners in more than 60 countries around the world. Incorporated in 2015, its team has 30 years of continuous experience educating and supporting scam victims.
Visit www.AgainstScams.org to learn more about SCARS. Inc.
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Our managed peer supportPeer support Peer support occurs when people provide knowledge, experience, emotional, social or practical help to each other. It commonly refers to an initiative consisting of trained supporters and can take a number of forms such as peer mentoring, reflective listening (reflecting content and/or feelings), or in a support group. Peer support is also used to refer to initiatives where colleagues, members of self-help organizations and others meet, in person or online, to give each other connection and support on a reciprocal basis. Peer support is distinct from other forms of social support in that the source of support is a peer, a person who is similar in fundamental ways to the recipient of the support; their relationship is one of equality. A peer is in a position to offer support by virtue of relevant experience: he or she has "been there, done that" and can relate to others who are now in a similar situation. Trained peer support workers such as SCARS Volunteers receive special training and may be required to obtain Continuing Education Units, similar to clinical staff. Some other trained peer support workers may also be law-enforcement personnel and firefighters as well as emergency medical responders. groups allow victims to talk to other survivorsSurvivor A Scam Survivor is a victim who has been able to fully accept the reality of their situation. That they were the victim of a crime and are not to blame. They are working on their emotional recovery and reduction of any trauma either on their own, through a qualified support organization, or through counseling or therapy. And has done their duty and reported the crime to their local police, national police, and on Anyscam.com and recover in the most experienced environment possible, for as long as they need. Recovery takes as long as it takes – we put no limits on our support!
SCARS is the most trusted support & education provider in the world. Our team is certified in trauma-informedTrauma-Informed Trauma-informed care shifts the focus from “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?” A trauma-informed approach to care acknowledges that health care needs to have a complete picture of a patient’s life situation — past and present — in order to provide effective care services with a healing orientation. Adopting trauma-informed practices can potentially improve patient engagement, treatment adherence, and health outcomes. care, grief counselingCounseling Counseling is the professional guidance of the individual by utilizing psychological methods especially in collecting case history data, using various techniques of the personal interview, and testing interests and aptitudes. A mental health counselor (MHC), or counselor, is a person who works with individuals and groups to promote optimum mental and emotional health. Such persons may help individuals deal with issues associated with addiction and substance abuse; family, parenting, and marital problems; stress management; self-esteem; and aging. They may also work with "Social Workers", "Psychiatrists", and "Psychologists". SCARS does not provide mental health counseling., and so much more!
To apply to join our groups visit support.AgainstScams.org
We also offer separate support groupsSupport Groups In a support group, members provide each other with various types of help, usually nonprofessional and nonmaterial, for a particular shared, usually burdensome, characteristic, such as romance scams. Members with the same issues can come together for sharing coping strategies, to feel more empowered and for a sense of community. The help may take the form of providing and evaluating relevant information, relating personal experiences, listening to and accepting others' experiences, providing sympathetic understanding and establishing social networks. A support group may also work to inform the public or engage in advocacy. They can be supervised or not. SCARS support groups are moderated by the SCARS Team and or volunteers. for family & friends too.
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Essential Tools For Every Scam SurvivorSurvivor A Scam Survivor is a victim who has been able to fully accept the reality of their situation. That they were the victim of a crime and are not to blame. They are working on their emotional recovery and reduction of any trauma either on their own, through a qualified support organization, or through counseling or therapy. And has done their duty and reported the crime to their local police, national police, and on Anyscam.com From SCARS Publishing
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SCARS GREEN BOOK
Self-Help Self-Paced Recovery Program Guide
LEARN HOW TO RECOVER ON YOUR OWN
This program is designed to help scam victims struggling to recover on their own and for those who want to understand the overall process. You can be using other resources, such as trauma counseling or therapy, qualified support groups, or completely independent – on your own!
The SCARS Steps program is a complete program and is provided for the purpose of helping scam victims to overcome this experience. Throughout this SCARS Steps Program, we speak about issues and challenges that a victim may have and help guide them through their recovery. But each person is different and it is important to understand your own reasons for being vulnerable to being scammed.
After the trauma of being scammed, you need to take steps to recover and move on. This may be an alternative to counseling in the short term, but we still encourage you to seek out professional help & support. Throughout this SCARS Steps Program, we speak about issues, challenges, defects, or problems that a victim may have in a generalized way.
The SCARS GREEN BOOK will help you recover from your scam offline and it will always be there when you need it!
SCARS SLATE BOOK – Let Us Explain What Happened!
A Guide For Families & Friends Of Scam Victims
HOW TO HELP ROMANCE SCAM VICTIMS FOR FAMILIES & FRIENDS OF SCAM VICTIMS
This SCARS Publishing book represents a complete guide to help the families and friends understand how these scams work and how to help the victim.
The SCARS Slate Book should be purchased by family and friends to better understand what happened to the victim and the traumatic impact on them. But it can also be shared by the victim so that they do not have to explain to family and friends about the scam. This publication is to help others to help Scam Victims to make it through this traumatic experience and recover.
Each person is different and it is important to understand how relationship scamsRelationship Scam A Relationship Scam is a one-to-one criminal act that involves a trust relationship and uses deception & manipulation to get a victim to give to the criminal something of value, such as money! Click here to learn more: What Is A Relationship Scam? work and why people are vulnerable; to being scammed, how they were lured in, then groomed and manipulated. This understanding is essential in helping them through the process of ending the scam and then on to recovery. The SCARS Slate Book will provide the information necessary to help support a victim through this process.
SCARS RED BOOK
Your Personal Scam Evidence & Crime Record Organizer
ORGANIZE YOUR INFORMATION TO MAKE THE REPORTING PROCESS SIMPLE!
Helps you get and stay organized. This publication is to help Scam Victims organize their crime information. Complete this information before reporting to the police then bring this book with you
Before or after reporting to the police the RED BOOK gives you a dedicated tool to record all the essential facts of this crime. The Victim, the Scammers, the Money, and your Police interactions. Everything that really matters can be easily recorded for your immediate use and for the future!
As we have seen, money recovery/repayment programs can become available years after the scam ends and you need to keep all the details of this crime in case it is needed. We have also seen scammers being extradited to the U.S. and other countries, this will help in the event you testify or give statements, Additionally, this helps you have your information ready to qualify for victims’ benefits, compensation, or aid.
The Official SCARS RED BOOK is your way of recording all the important facts of this crime so that you do not lose essential information, Complete the RED BOOK then put it away with the confidence that you will have it if or when it is needed.
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By the Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc.
A Worldwide Crime Victims Assistance & Crime Prevention Nonprofit Organization Headquartered In Miami Florida USA & Monterrey NL Mexico, with Partners In More Than 60 Countries
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