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Cybercrime is on the rise, but even the best antivirus software can’t thwart scammers who target the human psyche. Some of the most damaging and costly scams involve what’s known as “social engineering.” That’s when fraudsters use time-tested techniques of deception and emotional manipulation, tricking people into divulging personal or financial information, or even granting remote access to their computers. This is what happened to Barry Heitin, a 76-year-old retired lawyer who lost roughly $740,000 to sophisticated swindlers impersonating bank and government officials. People of all ages and socioeconomic levels are potential targets, but older Americans are particularly vulnerable. They’re more likely to have amassed savings, and they’re perceived to be more isolated or perhaps less computer savvy.
Persons: scammers, Barry Heitin
He was actually assisting criminals in stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars — of his own money. “They kept telling me, ‘This is a big case and we are going to stop a whole ring of people,’” Mr. Heitin said. I was going down the hole with them.”It cost him almost all of his retirement savings: roughly $740,000. Americans spend a lot of energy saving for retirement and worrying about losing money to the gyrations of the stock market. But these days, sophisticated criminals — on dating sites, social media, in messaging apps, or using malicious software — present an ever-growing risk to people and their savings.
Persons: Barry Heitin, , , Heitin
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