Cape Town - “Think before you click.”
This is the concise yet clear advice by one of the country’s leading cyber crime experts, Craig Pedersen, as he details how to avoid becoming a victim this festive season.
Speaking to the “Cape Argus” after just releasing his second book, titled “Think before you click”, Pedersen, has developed a simplistic yet effective guide on how to navigate the murky world of online scams affecting thousands of people each year.
Pedersen, who is the founder of TCG Forensics, has spent the last 20 years investigating various cases where victims have lost millions in online scams.
The book -- part of a trilogy -- was completed in just 18 months and released this week for sale. Comprising just over 40 chapters, readers get an insight into the various scams, how victims are targeted and how to identify a possible scam at first glance.
The country has made headway in the formulation of the Cyber Crimes Act, he said, but law enforcement agencies and the judiciary would take years to catch up and enforce the law aimed at protecting citizens.
Pedersen explained that educating the public is one way of addressing the problem and he opted to write the book instead to empower them.
“It is going to take years for the judiciary and law enforcement to catch up to the advent of the Cyber Crimes Act.
“The only remaining factor is to tackle it from the perspective of victimology.
“The majority of cases once you explain what happened to a victim, they immediately go: ‘ahhhhhh’. So the reason for writing the book was to explain it [Cyber Crimes] as simplistic as possible.
“If we can stop the victims from engaging with scammers and help potential victims to see it before it comes we have cut off their [scammers’] lifeline.”
With the use of graphics which include emails, websites, texts and social media posts, Pederson provides his readers with a quick reference guide.
He said in South Africa the most prevalent cyber crimes include investment scams, ransomware and advance fee scams.
While many people don’t see the impact of such crimes, in just one month his firm was tasked to investigate several matters where victims had been scammed out of over R275 million, he said.
Another form of cyber crime that is rife are romance scams where unsuspecting victims lose their life’s earnings after engaging in online relationships.
“One victim went from living a pretty comfortable life in a penthouse in Melrose to living in a shelter.
“She met a scamster online who asked her to marry him and he even had an agent make a video of the house he planned to buy.
“He told her that he was waiting for the bank to release the funds and needed her money for the deposit.
“She sold everything, lock, stock and barrel and gave him R10 million and he vanished.
“They prey on people and while sometimes you look and think the victim is silly you need to understand that romance scams are one of the most sophisticated. And everything in terms of the false relationship is deliberate, even the language used.”
Pedersen also highlights the role of parents in ensuring that their children are safe and says parental controls on cellphones, laptops and other devices are a must.
“As a parent you have to have access to your child’s device to protect them. This is not about their privacy but about their safety.
To purchase the book, which costs R275, send an email to training@tcgforensics.co.za.