Financial damages from cybercrime are growing at an alarming rate. The total global impact of cybercrime to individuals, businesses, and governments in 2023 was estimated to be an astounding $11 trillion, and is expected to cost the global economy more than $20 trillion by 2026. In the U.S alone, the FBI recorded more than 880,000 cybercrime complaints by individuals with potential damages totaling $12.5 billion in 2023, up from $3.5 billion only four years ago. By some estimates, roughly one-third of U.S. residents have experienced some form of identity theft and that figure is expected to rise.
Data breaches becoming more common
With billions of personally identifiable information (PII) records exposed by data breaches in 2024 alone, there is a good chance your data has been compromised. By now, I’m sure you’ve heard about the latest data breach, where a National Public Data (NPD) database of almost 3 billion PII records, including social security numbers, has been compromised and leaked on the dark web. Note: you can use this search tool from Cybersecurity firm Pentester to find out if your PII has been compromised as part of the NPD breach.
How to protect yourself and others
Being an effective manager of your money means keeping it safe from criminals offline and online. As you conduct more of your commerce and financial management online, you expose yourself to “bad actors” and fraud.
Unfortunately, there is not much you can do when “trusted” organizations are hacked and your PII is stolen, but there are steps you can take to mitigate how your data is used against you.
To help you better understand the cybercrime landscape and the steps you can take to protect yourself, I’ve created a comprehensive two-page information sheet. Click on ‘PDF version’ link below image to download it.
Importantly, in addition to protecting yourself, please forward this post to your family members, and talk with your spouse, partner, children, parents, and grandparents about how to stay safe online. Children, seniors, social media users, and active-duty military personnel are most vulnerable to identity theft.
Your children may have grown up with the internet and social media, but they may not be aware of its potential pitfalls or their own vulnerabilities. Older individuals, who may be newer to the digital world, are more vulnerable to scams and fraudsters trying to form an emotional attachment over the phone or online.
Every individual with a social security number is at risk, so please use the content in this post to protect your personal data and digital identity from cybercriminals.