It turns out today’s criminals don’t need to download Tor and head to the dark web to get their hand’s on your data, as the private details of thousands of pensioners in the UK are available on normal Facebook groups.
BBC Breakfast Live was apparently able to purchase the details of 1,000 people living in Britain for just £160.
The personal data was said to include names, home addresses, email addresses, estimated net worth as well as estimated income bracket.
Who are they targeting?
Wealthy pensioners are particularly at risk, the BBC says, with many Facebook posts advertising sets of data with tags such as “rich people”, “high income”, “home owners”, and “old age”.
The BBC laid the blame squarely on Meta for not scrubbing its platform clean from this type of illegal activity.
Meta has responded to the allegations, saying: “We remove this content when we become aware of it and have taken down the groups in question”.
Unfortunately being young and a long way from home ownership might not protect you from cybercrime.
UK businesses are reportedly getting caught by fraudsters more often than the global average.
A solid majority – 64% – of UK firms experienced an instance of fraud in the last two years, an increase from 56% in 2020, and well above the global average of 46% according to PWC’s Global Economic Crime Survey.
This might not have been the first instance in which Meta has handed data over when it shouldn’t have.
A Bloomberg report has accused Apple and Meta of handing over sensitive data to cybercriminals who had been impersonating police, and who managed to steal data from numerous tech companies using the trick.
The news comes as the way in which Facebook handles data is coming under greater scrutiny, at least within the EU.
Irish regulators have decided to force the social media giant to stop sending users’ data to the US, forcing them to store data locally.
Via MSN (opens in new tab)
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