Due to false bitcoin advertisement, the reports of tax fraud are two times as high as in 2018. Sophie van der Zee, Assistant Professor at Erasmus School of Economics, is specialized in internet scams. Van der Zee herself became a victim of an internet scam, she found her house available for rent on a website. Concluding, anyone can become a victim.
Victim blaming plays an important role. People are thinking 'this won’t happen to me', they underestimate the risk. Some people are more susceptible for cybercrime, mostly young adults who spend a lot of time online. They tend to be more impulsive, open, extravert, with less self-control and sensation seeking. But criminals on the other hand are becoming more convenient as well. They use social influencing tactics to emit authority. For example the use of well-known logo’s such as NOS.
The only thing we can do, according to van der Zee, is being more careful online. People are aware and do find online safety important, but we have to be more consistent in our behaviour.
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Listen to the entire interview on BNR Nieuwsradio, 9 October 2019 (in Dutch).