The Cyber Sushi

(serving up the cold facts, with some phish bytes)

Welcome back! Here's what we are covering in this issue…

Bystander Intervention is a Superpower

If you have ever attended a CROC event or an IDCARE speaking engagement, you have probably heard about the bystander. In the war against scams, cybercrime, and identity theft, bystander intervention is one of the greatest weapons.

What is bystander intervention?

Bystander intervention could be calling out to the person looking at their phone and unknowingly about to walk into traffic. It could be pulling the plug on a toaster as a child is about to put a knife in it. Or, a bystander could be a family member, friend, or a member of your financial institution, asking you about an interaction or request and stepping in to make you stop, pause, ask, and think. Bystander intervention is key in preventing harm.

Why is it powerful?

According to the data IDCARE receives, the vast majority of clients "self-detect", meaning they realise they have been scammed without anyone telling them. Unfortunately, this method of detection also correlates with the highest financial loss and risk of further identity misuse. Bystander intervention, however, at any stage will reduce the likelihood of serious harm to the client.

Proximity is key

There is a reason scammers don’t want victims to involve friends or family. While they have scripts for financial institutions, not much gets past those closest to the target of a scam. Except for relationship and investment scams (whose most attributable bystander industry is the victim’s financial institution), friends and family members were the most successful of all bystanders at preventing ongoing compliance in a scam.

What if I don't have bystanders in my life?

Not everybody is flush with family and friends close by. If you start to feel concerned about something, head to your local library, neighbourhood house, or a police station. These people are often willing to support.

The Champion Spotlight:

champion /ˈtʃæmpijən/ (verb)

: to fight or speak publicly in support of (a person, belief, cause, etc.)

IDCARE Community Champions are key stakeholders in their organisation or community groups. They are people who their community trust and look up to. Well-placed champions are crucial in cybercrime prevention, awareness, and response. To create resilient communities, we need more people to enact on bystander intervention and recognise the reflags of scams. Champions are the feet on the ground delivering education and the message of cyber resilience.

The Gold Coast, QLD

Leanne is a Community Champion on the Gold Coast in Queensland who works in the council and is well-placed to support her community. Not only did she bring IDCARE to a large council event on the Gold Coast, but she is also continuing to champion her community by distributing helpful resources and liaising with Gold Coast libraries to organise cyber safety events.

Rupanyup, Vic

Darren has a large network through a volunteer organisation called "Operation Rosemary" assembling springs of rosemary for ANZAC day. Darren is using his position within this community group to help build resilience among his peers. He is preparing to distribute brochures throughout his region and nearby towns.

Port Fairy, VIC

Having referred several of his business clients to IDCARE, Murray makes for a supreme champion. His work teaching small businesses and individuals about how to use technology safely and productively align with the work of IDCARE. After noticing that scams were becoming prevalent in his community, he is now working to distribute IDCARE resources to build resilience.

Behind the Mask - a guide to trending scams

Snapchat Sextortion: Sextortion is becoming prevalent on social media, particularly among the young male demographic. This scam tends to begin on Instagram where typically a young male meets someone and begins a romantic connection. The conversation then moves over to Snapchat and heats up. The young couple shares explicit photos and/ or videos before the scammer reveals themself and threatens to share the photos or videos if they don't receive ongoing payment.
Our Tips: The Australian Government is working on cracking down on this type of abuse. However, before sending an image, consider that once the image is in the hands of another person, you no longer have control over its distribution. Be future-minded. Take a look at the IDCARE factsheet on image exploitation for more information.
De'Longhi Sale Scam: IDCARE has noticed an increase in a scam circulating throughout social media claiming to offer certain products at well under market prices. The scam will require you to enter your personal details and bank card number. After you have entered your personal information, you may receive a confirmation email for signing up for a subscription service for a large monthly fee without your express consent.
Our Tips: If you have experienced this scam, IDCARE recommends talking to your bank about your options. You can do this through your bank's app or by calling you bank directly using the bank number on the back of your bank card. You can google search your bank, however, be careful to never click on google ads, as they can be fraudulent websites.

The CROC Spot: Western Australia

IDCARE is touring around Western Australia with the support of the Western Australian Government and Consumer Protection. Since crossing the Nullarbor, roving CROC clinician, Rob Blackmore has visited the Goldfields towns of Kalgoorlie, Leonora and Esperance.

Kalgoorlie

Rob had the privilege of talking with a group of people at the East Goldfields Community Centre where he heard about some of the current issues they are dealing with concerning scams and cybercrime. At the Boulder William Grundt Memorial Library, Rob visited with the librarians and heard the measures they are taking to support their members and how they are using bystander intervention for the good of their community. This visit demonstrated the value of raising awareness with key community stakeholders.

Leonora

In Leonora, Rob had the chance to speak to key stakeholders who support the community in areas of identity document and account access and management. This visit reinforced that many remote communities approach these issues differently than people who live in larger town centres and cities.

Rob is now on the move along the coast before heading north with stops in the Great Southern and South West regions before hitting up Perth.

Coming up in CROC

Take a look at where the team will be next! Keep an eye on our website for locations and times of our free community events. Come along and learn about scams, cybercrime and identity theft and how to navigate safely online.

The hAPPy score

Blox, Bots and Bandits... Oh my!

Roblox is an “adventure” app that markets itself as the “ultimate virtual universe that lets you create, share experiences with friends and be anything you can imagine”. With over 56 Million daily users, it's safe to say it's a popular app.

There are two distinct elements to Roblox;

Users can create games, or
Play the games others have built (or a bit of both.)

Let's set this Roblox scene. Once a user is in Roblox, they have the choice of around 50 million user-developed games to play called "experiences". Within Roblox, there is a currency called "Robux" which can be earned or more easily purchased. Robux start from $1.49 for 80, or you can opt for a subscription with monthly billing starting at $7.99 for 450 Robux a month. Robux can be used to purchase some games on premium servers, in-game purchases, speed boosts and aesthetic upgrades for the avatars and more. To put it in perspective, you can give your avatar the aesthetic of a "big grin" or "golden eyes" for 150 Robux. If you're feeling funky, you could grab a "neon pink crazy hat" for a cool 2,999,999 Robux.

The legal spiel

How much ease in the legalese? (one star equals complicated)

It will only take about 30 seconds to create an unverified Roblox account and start playing. But it will take you quite a bit longer to navigate through all the links of the various privacy documents, terms and conditions and community standards. They do have a handy dictionary to help with the legalese and it's aimed primarily at parents.

Pervability

How much they’re looking at you (one star being they’re looking a lot)

To create an account and start playing, you only need to create a unique username and password and tell them your birthday. This account is unlinked to your identity. However, to verify the account, you'll need to supply your email address or that of your parent. Roblox is also trialling a system of age verification which includes having their users take a photo of themselves with their photo ID document which comes with heavy identity risks. If you're not looking to verify your account or don't want to access the children-only rooms, you can keep your identity removed from your account. Just make sure you know who your children are speaking to within the game chatrooms. Sadly, Roblox has quite the reputation as a space where predators groom children.

The Scamometer

How easy is your account to hack? (One is super easy, five is Fort Knox)

According to a Roblox Wiki fan page, there are over 50 scams on Roblox. These scams range from simple time-wasting scams to fake in-game products and phishing right up to account takeovers. Most of these scams are targeting "Robux". Scammers can then sell these Robux for real-world funds and use the platform for money laundering. As this game is targeted at children, scammers can be incredibly successful. There are YouTubers who post videos boasting about the amounts they have scammed from children as gimmicks. Unfortunately, as the theft is of an in-game virtual currency, there seems to be less weight put on it. However, it's important to remember that these Robux are purchased with real money.

The two-left thumbs rating

Can grandma work out how to do it? (One star means "no way", five is "of course she can")

This depends on if grandma is a gamer or not. As the game is targeted at children, it is fairly easy to sign up and navigate. Once grandma is in the game and trying to play, however... well that's a different story. With the risk of scams within the game, perhaps grandma is best off sticking to solitaire.

Because everyone needs a... quick history lesson

From the release of Roblox in 2006, the game has expanded to become the number 1 game in the adventure category for both the Apple app store and Google Play. Roblox developers now have a mission to "connect a billion users with civility and optimism".

The final countdown: (dunna na… dunna na na na..)

Roblox offers a unique opportunity for children to get their creative juices flowing and design and create video games. An app that allows children to play games that they and their peers have created sounds like a brilliant idea. Unfortunately, while the app is conceptually good, it's the users who mar the experience. If your child is interested in playing Roblox, start with an open conversation. Remind them to never leave the app to chat on a different platform and that not everyone claiming to be a friend is friendly. Rather than buying Robux, try to encourage your young gamer to find ways to earn them and be aware of people who may want to take advantage of their naivety.