The monetary damage that scammers do on a global level is estimated at billions of dollars. With the development of technology and communication systems, online fraud has become rampant. We want to change this as much as we can. While helping many scam victims return their funds, the Money Back Expert team has noticed one troubling thing. The general public is still unaware of the criminal organizations that run online scams.

Gone are the days of shoddy con artists who lure their victims into back alleys. Scammers have moved online. What’s worse, many types of fraud are led by professional criminal organizations whose only purpose is to defraud hard-earned money from netizens. These fraudulent groups almost always have their IT experts and teams of hackers and cybercriminals. We want to dedicate this section of the MBX site to educating people about cybercrime which is often linked with many types of scams.

Hacking and Scams

Hackers are IT experts who use their knowledge of systems to enter networks, databases, and various types of devices, ranging from computers to phones and everything in between. Before we continue we want to stress that not all hackers are criminals, as there are many professionals who use their skills in non-criminal capacities. In this section, we refer to black hat hackers, meaning those who enter IT systems without authorization and for malicious purposes.

Fraudsters are constantly working on perfecting their scam methods and manipulation techniques, and hackers can enable a simple scam to become super effective. Thanks to cyber breaches fraudsters can cause huge monetary losses.

MBX Tip: Spend time and effort to secure your private devices and internet accounts. Investing in your cyber protection can prevent a considerable amount of scams and cyber breaches that do significant monetary damage.

Information and Data Theft

Nowadays, data and information have become a new type of valuable resource. Companies constantly extract data from netizens and they are willing to pay a lot to acquire it. No wonder scammers are doing the same. In this criminal endeavor knowing the right information about the target can make the scam considerably more effective.

After so many years of providing service to scam victims we at MBX can see the big picture, and that is: Everyone can fall for a scam. It doesn’t matter how old, educated, or intelligent people are. The only question is how much a specific fraud is tailored to its target.

Hackers help immensely with setting up scams. They can collect personal information that can make a money-grabbing trap appear convincing and enticing. Hackers can access databases of various companies and they can extract information from social networks and private computers. Fraudsters abuse these cyber gains. They use this to make the perfect bait for unsuspecting victims and to create scam scenarios that extort money more efficiently.

MBX Tips: Make strong passwords and be sure not to share a single one among various login systems. What’s more, be sure to change passwords as often as possible. We understand that’s less convenient, but it is far less convenient to get scammed.

Information and Data Theft

Nowadays, data and information have become a new type of valuable resource. Companies constantly extract data from netizens and they are willing to pay a lot to acquire it. No wonder scammers are doing the same. In this criminal endeavor knowing the right information about the target can make the scam considerably more effective.

After so many years of providing service to scam victims we at MBX can see the big picture, and that is: Everyone can fall for a scam. It doesn’t matter how old, educated, or intelligent people are. The only question is how much a specific fraud is tailored to its target.

Hackers help immensely with setting up scams. They can collect personal information that can make a money-grabbing trap appear convincing and enticing. Hackers can access databases of various companies and they can extract information from social networks and private computers. Fraudsters abuse these cyber gains. They use this to make the perfect bait for unsuspecting victims and to create scam scenarios that extort money more efficiently.

MBX Tips: Make strong passwords and be sure not to share a single one among various login systems. What’s more, be sure to change passwords as often as possible. We understand that’s less convenient, but it is far less convenient to get scammed.

Black Market Lists

Helping scam victims can lead investigators to some problematic parts of the web. The MBX team has encountered numerous black market sites where criminals exchange information and resources to strengthen their fraudulent activities.

Cybercriminals can secretly access company files, platform login details, social media correspondence, and so on. They then go to black market sites where they sell potential target lists with their personal information, bank details, and even passwords for their social media accounts and personal devices.

Fraudsters acquire these packages of sensitive information and abuse them to set up traps and form schemes that are bound to defraud people. All this time, unsuspecting victims go around their lives not knowing that hackers and scammers are plotting against them.

Hijacking Communication Systems

We are all exposed to countless messages, emails, and sites on daily bases. We have learned to accept the information and messages as they are and that they are coming from a genuine source. When an employee receives mail from their boss, they almost never question whether the sender is actually their boss. Cybercriminals can exploit this to facilitate scams. MBX team wants to warn you about the dangers of how hackers trick people into scams.

Man-in-the-Middle Attack

Hackers have the ability to break into communication systems and squeeze into the correspondence between two people. This type of cyber attack can impact emails, chat apps, social media accounts, and even phone messages. When inside the communication system, the malicious party can then intercept messages and adjust them to suit their purpose. Since the targets believe they are speaking through a secure channel, and that they are receiving genuine messages their guard is down and they believe them.

In this position the cyber intruder can simply monitor the correspondence collecting data; they can ask for sensitive information directly; or they can openly ask for money payments. Since the target is unaware they are being scammed, they follow the fraudster’s requests

Hacking social media

Cybercriminals are experts at breaching systems. Though many social media platforms invest in security, that is not enough, as hackers constantly break into people’s accounts. Once inside, they have the access to private correspondence and information. More problematically, they can use people’s profiles to leave messages and promote scams, which is what the swindlers do.

Cybercrooks then send messages to other people asking for money or praising a scam as an amazing investment opportunity. The target thinks the profile owner is sending the DMs so they believe them, unaware the criminal is leading them into fraud.

Similarly, swindlers can abuse hijacked accounts to post promotions of scams and leave positive comments and likes. Other people take this for face value and they believe that the scam is a legitimate business.

MBX Tip: If you receive a text, email, or DM on social media that seems strange and out of ordinary, stop for a second. Trust your intuition. In case the person is asking for sensitive information like a card pin, or they have a money request, don’t answer right away. Try to contact the person over the phone, and make sure it is them you are exchanging messages with.

Spoofing

This is a colloquial term for the following practice. Hackers change their phone numbers or email address to appear as if they were from another sender. The MBX team knows that this requires technical skill, and that is why we insist that scams are led by skillful criminals. Due to spoofing, the target sees that the message is coming from a sender they know. This could be a family member or a friend. However, it can also be the number of their bank or another relevant institution.

MBX team has dealt with many cases as follows. A person receives a message which clearly states that it is from their bank, saying they are overdue or late with loan payments and they need to immediately sort this out. Most people get flustered and they believe the bank’s authority and pay up, unaware that it’s scammers posing as their bank.

MBX Tip: Whenever you receive a text message or an email asking for unexpected payments don’t react immediately. Even if the number, or email address looks genuine don’t engage in further communication. Try calling the relevant institution, or the supposed person and talk to them directly to verify if the messages are genuine or a scam.

Phishing

This is the most common type of scam that affects millions of people worldwide. Generally, it involves scammers sending fraudulent emails, texts, or DMs on social media that contain problematic links. If a victim clicks the link, the fraud unravels. They can be led to a scamming page that will extract their sensitive information or money. In some cases, the link can download malware that can cause serious damage to the computers or phones, or it can extract data secretly.

Phishing attacks are often paired with spoofing or man-in-the-middle attacks. Generally speaking, crooks will use social engineering with hacking to trick the person to click on the fraudulent link in the message.

MBX Tip: Always be extra careful when you receive a message with a link. Ask the sender first what the link is before you click it.

Don’t Let Cyber Criminals Win! Take Action with MBX Guide

Cyber attacks are getting more and more frequent and intricate. Even with all the developments in cyber security everyday people still don’t have the right protection to fend off hackers and fraudulent traps. MBX team wants to be there for anyone who has lost money to these cyber scams. Let our MBX Guide help you with the self-recovery process to get your money back.