Computer scams: the little encouraging Istat data

The world is changing, the Internet is increasingly the protagonist in our lives, therefore it should not be surprising that more and more crimes are committed online . The unequivocal confirmation of the computer scams has come in recent days from Istat , the well-known Italian statistical institute.

The body, in fact, has published reports relating to the number of crimes regularly reported to the Authorities in recent years, and the statistics relating to the category "scams and computer fraud" are particularly interesting, which can be consulted in detail at this link .

In the last five years , or rather the time frame for which Istat makes the statistics available, the "+ sign" has unfortunately been a constant with regard to computer crimes, and this is especially true if we consider the fact that many of the crimes more canonical, such as those relating to domestic thefts, are instead in sharp decline. But let's go into detail and immediately discover what emerges from the data presented by Istat.

Data for the last 5 years

In 2015 there were 145,010 scams and computer frauds, 151,464 in 2016, 164,157 in 2017; the figure unfortunately grew further in 2018, reaching 189,105, while in 2019 the threshold of 200,000 episodes was exceeded, with 212,106 scams and computer fraud regularly reported to the authorities.

As regards the complaints, however, it should be emphasized that the Istat statistics consider only the episodes regularly reported, consequently it is very likely to expect that the real number of these crimes is much more consistent .

Computer scams according to Istat: Many threats to beware of

It is very clear that the threat is high and will probably become more so in the years to come, so it is important to take all necessary precautions.

On a technical level, today the main tools that are used online offer satisfactory levels of security: it is really unlikely that malicious people will be able to access, for example, the personal account of a social network, in the same way the companies from which it can be purchased. a WordPress hosting to create a website or a blog, such as the well-known Top Host, guarantee their customers absolutely valid and safe products.

To avoid the risk of running into telematic scams, it is above all important to have the right behavior : naivety, unfortunately, can cost a lot.

The naivety that must absolutely be avoided

First of all, the data relating to your Home Banking must be kept securely and absolutely must not be communicated to anyone, not even for extraordinary needs.

Data theft can also take place through so-called phishing , and from this point of view, emails must be considered with particular attention.

The bad guys, unfortunately, are able to create apparently truthful messages , even in the graphics, for example by simulating the homepage of an online bank, but you have to be careful and avoid falling into these baits.

Many baits, in fact, can also travel on social networks , or on Dating sites , of Internet sites that are born precisely to meet people, but in which unfortunately many scammers can hide, ready to find personal information or images in any way to then advance real blackmail of an economic nature.

Furthermore, on a general level, the utmost attention is always recommended also for the ways in which you keep your passwords : it is certainly a good practice to avoid writing in the same place, whether it is a paper element or even a file computer scientist, both the password and the related username.

The article Computer scams: Istat's not very encouraging data comes from Tech CuE .