Experian Experts Predict COVID-Related Scams to Continue Into 2021

As 2020 comes to a close, cybercriminals will continue to leverage the pandemic and changing consumer behaviors to wreak havoc in 2021, according to Experian experts. With December being Identity Theft Prevention and Awareness Month, Experian is offering virtual resources to help consumers protect their personal information.

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While staying home, brush up on security practices

Educational opportunities for consumers to learn more about identity theft and fraud:

• Join a Facebook Live interview with Michael Bruemmer, vice president of Consumer Protection at Experian, on December 4 at 12:30 pm ET.
• Participate in the Experian Twitter #CreditChat to engage with fraud experts on December 9 at 3:00 pm ET.
• Watch an identity theft-inspired edition of Creditverse on Crowdcast anytime with Brian Stack, vice president of Dark Web Intelligence at Experian.

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What to watch out for in 2021

In 2020, Experian serviced more than 5,000 clients with data breach incidents and found more than 4 billion consumer records, an all-time high, on the dark web. These records included credit card numbers, social security numbers, email addresses, phone numbers, medical identification numbers, passport numbers, and national identification numbers. COVID-related scams that may have contributed to the high number of records included fake contract-tracing apps, fraudulent phone calls, phishing attempts and ransomware attacks.

“The sheer volume of consumers who are now working from home and using their own WiFi and devices as well as a general state of distraction due to the pandemic was a formula for cybersecurity disaster,” said Bruemmer. “Cybercriminals took advantage and we saw many fresh tricks from phony coronavirus-related charity websites to aggressive hacking of personal networks.”

Going into the New Year, Bruemmer advises to be on alert for text and email phishing attempts and not to click on any links from unrecognized sources. He adds to be careful when using new technologies such as 5G networks for mobile devices as well as when accessing portals from healthcare providers.

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