Everyday Canvas

Scammers and Hackers

Prompt: Scammers and Hackers
What do you think of today's scammers and hackers? As species, are we losing our moral hold on life? And/or write about a time you or someone you love was scammed.

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Scammers and hackers are the black death of the digital age we're in. I see them as persistent threats to the way we live, work, and do just about anything. It is inevitable that this threat will only become greater, something much worse than Covid, to do away with our way of living and civilization in general, unless extreme measures are taken.

We take some of those measures already as individuals and companies, but I think much stronger and more effective laws are needed. To begin with, how about death sentences to those who break into our medical, hospital, trade, and government offices' data?

My cell has pretty good stoppers for such crimes, but the landline phone doesn't. Shame on AT&T! With the high cost they attach to their services, blocking unwanted calls should be included. They didn't even have such a technology until recently, to the best of my knowledge, and now, they want extra monthly fee for such services.

Granted, when people become victims to scams, it is because they were fooled by phishing, dating sites, investment fraud, lottery and prize offerings. Some of the elderly where I live have lost their life savings due to scams. Still, one can say that people fall victim to such stuff due to their greed and ignorance. Yet, who is really to blame here?

Then, what about the hackers we as individuals have no control over when they mess with us regular people, groups, and public or private companies by stealing data, demanding ransom payments, and manipulating people and systems into revealing confidential information or right out stealing such data! The result is financial losses, data breaches, disruption of services, and damage to the reputations of good legitimate businesses.

And yes, I think as species we have lost our moral hold on decency. I know quite a few people who have fallen victim to scams and such; although, so far, I haven't fallen for dumb emails and phone calls like "Grandma! I'm in trouble and need money" or sweepstakes enticements and such. One of my cousins almost lost everything in her bank account though, if someone alert hadn't intervened just in the nick of time.

During the last few months, even usernames and passwords are being done away with while other systems are replacing them; however, these new systems and special security apps can lose out in time, also. Unfortunately, companies, groups, and individuals can do only so much. Some serious government intervention is needed, not only for our country, but with a worldwide agreement by every country on earth.