EdFed’s Money Tips: Safeguard Yourself Against Cybercrime

In today’s high-tech world, where many of our lives are increasingly lived online, safeguarding ourselves against cybercrime is paramount to protecting ourselves against financial loss.  From social engineering, to password security, and looming threats of malware, there are numerous challenges that we face every day as we interact via social media and transact business online. 

As technology rapidly advances, fraudsters have leveraged these advancements to target our personal identity and financial assets for malicious gain. Large-scale data breaches at major retailers, government agencies, hospitals, and financial institutions have dominated the news cycles over recent years.  While fraud against corporations and institutions place our personal information at risk, cybercrime targeting individuals is responsible for staggering losses in the personal wealth and livelihoods of Americans from all walks of life. 

According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), cybercrime cost Americans more than $12.5 billion in 2023.  Of those losses, $4.57 billion were investment fraud losses, $744.21 million were in personal data breach losses, $173.62 million were reported credit card and check fraud losses, and $126.20 million were attributed to identity theft. Those losses are most likely underrepresented because many crimes that leverage social engineering techniques may not be immediately detected or, in some cases, go completely unreported by victims. While people ages 60 and older are the most targeted group, individuals from all ages and backgrounds find themselves increasingly targeted by online fraud schemes leveraging advanced social engineering technologies. 

“Social engineering remains one of the most deceptive threats in the digital world today,” said Luis Cruz, Chief Information Officer for Educational Federal Credit Union (EdFed). “Attackers employ psychological manipulation to trick us into divulging sensitive information or performing actions that can compromise our security.”

Common practices of social engineering include phishing emails, texts, and phone calls.  Phishing is an attempt by cybercriminals to obtain your sensitive information by manipulating and deceiving you.  For example, a cybercriminal may pose as a representative of a financial institution and trick you into giving them access to your account.  The IC3 reported that the most common cybercrime came via phishing attacks.  In 2023, there were 298,878 reported cases.  That marks a dramatic increase since 2019 when there were 114,702 reported cases.

So how can we protect ourselves from becoming a statistic in the FBI IC3 report? Cruz recommends that individuals be cautious of unsolicited emails, texts messages, and even phone calls requesting personal information.  

“Always verify the identity of the sender before responding or clicking on any links,” said Cruz.  “Educate yourself and stay informed about the latest social engineering tactics and scams so you can recognize potential threats.”

Join EdFed to learn tips to help Safeguard Yourself Against Cybercrime – a free webinar on Saturday, June 29, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. This webinar is available to the public, and registration is available at: www.edfed.org/webinar

About EdFed

Established in 1935 by school employees in Miami, EdFed is a not-for-profit financial institution that serves more than 100,000 members with a full range of lending and deposit solutions. With over $1.6 billion in assets, EdFed is the largest credit union headquartered in Miami-Dade County and operates eight branch locations across South Florida.

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