It happens to one in five adults. That’s 20% of people. With a number this significant, you’ve got pay attention. Account takeover (ATO) fraud is a devious and disastrous crime, especially today, when much of our lives take place digitally and through online accounts of some sort. To understand how to prevent this from happening to us so that we don’t become a statistic, we first need to understand what account takeover fraud is and what it means for you if you were to become a victim.
What is Account Takeover Fraud?
Account takeover fraud is a form of identity theft, simply put. The latter might be a term that you’re familiar with, especially due to the prevalence of this malicious crime in society today – both digitally and IRL. In this case, however, ATO fraud is almost solely a cybercrime and is when a third-party gains access to your online account. These online accounts could be your social media profile, email addresses, bank accounts, and so on. When these criminals gain access to your account, they take it over and control it – or aspects of it that benefit them. It’s easy to see why this can be disastrous for you and your reputation. As important as those aspects are, ATO fraud also means that your personal information is at risk. One of the major concerns of this crime is that if a criminal were to gain access to one of your accounts, there’s a strong possibility that they’re able to access your other accounts – linked to the same email address, for example – without too much hassle from their side.
Who Does ATO Target?
Any individual is a target of ATO fraud. It’s the scary and unfortunate truth. The reality is that when someone takes over your email address, for instance, they’ve then got access to a whole lot of information about your life in general. Our email addresses are usually a place where our important correspondence comes to, including bank statements. An email ATO also means that the criminal would be able to reset your passwords on social media accounts, online shopping platforms, and so on, that are linked to that address. With access to an email account, an ATO fraudster can, essentially, bring your digital life to a halt.
A third of all account takeovers are of bank accounts – obviously, monetary gain is a driving force behind ATO fraud and identity theft in general. Online retailers, both big and small, are also targets of this crime. ATO fraudsters especially look for those retailers who employ the one-click payment system, which makes it much simpler for them to gain access to funds.
Damage to the reputation of social media influencers of personalities is also a goal of ATO fraudsters, taking the idea of a hater to a whole new, malicious level. In fact, social media account takeovers makeup 51% of personal accounts that were targeted by these criminals. The older you are, too, means that your risk of becoming a victim of ATO fraud increases. And, when looking at the primary motivating factor behind ATO fraud, those who fall within a higher household income bracket are more at risk of being victims.
What Are the Consequences of ATO Fraud?
For businesses who have fallen prey to these fraudsters, they’re likely to experience a high churn rate – something that is more than simply disheartening for smaller, growing businesses. Additionally, online retailers have shown that they experience more chargebacks after becoming victims of ATO fraud. Taking a look back at 2019, fraud caused 75% of e-commerce losses linked to chargebacks. For both online retailers and financial institutions, account takeover identity theft means that your clients and customer base would likely lose trust in your organization – something that takes a considerable amount of time and effort to rebuild.
On the individual level, ATO fraud resulted in identity theft for many victims. On average, victims lost nearly $12,000 financially, while many reported that their other accounts were also taken over by cybercriminals.
Invest in Reputable Antivirus Software
For both individuals and businesses, investing in secure cybersecurity is one of the most essential things that you can do in preventing ATO fraud. Antivirus software scans your devices for suspicious behavior and bugs, including malware and spyware which can give hackers a way into your account(s).
Educate Yourself and Employees
Again, this works for individuals and businesses. As an individual, it’s wise to learn about the various ways that you leave yourself vulnerable while conducting yourself online or on any digital device. Becoming aware of basic digital safety is an invaluable skill today and will help to keep you on top of how your personal information is used. For businesses, investing in educating employees about the dangers of ATO fraud and how to be safe online is beneficial for them and for your business. Employee negligence or ignorance online has been one of the biggest factors that lead to your company being hacked or becoming a victim of ATO fraud from phishing scams or compromised accounts.
The Importance of Passwords
Making sure that passwords are strong is critical in preventing ATO fraud. Those password combinations that websites ask of you when you sign up are for your own safety, increasing the difficulty that a hacker will be able to encrypt or simply guess it from any other information they know about you. Also, since we mentioned that ATO fraudsters can often access other accounts if they’ve breached one of your accounts, ensure that you don’t use the same password for multiple accounts.
Invest in Identity Theft Protection
Identity theft and related crimes, like ATO fraud, are disastrous for victims but are also increasing year by year. Identity theft protection services cannot actually stop fraudsters from stealing your identity, especially if you’ve been negligent. What they do, though, is monitor your personal information online and assist and insure you, should you fall victim.
–EOF (The Ultimate Computing & Technology Blog) —
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