14 Mar 2024
According to an IOM UN Migration report, over 281 million people live outside their native countries. The prime reason is to earn a living to support their families back home by sending money through different means.
But do you know what is the critically important area in all the methods you use to transfer funds?
Safety of all the features in an online money transfer is what takes precedence over all else if you were to conduct a survey and ask the global migrants.
The reason?
They travel abroad to earn a living away from their loved ones so their family can find financial comfort and solace.
So, ensuring safety in online money transfers naturally becomes the obvious choice and top priority.
This blog will walk you through the most common online safety threats and tips to stay safe in 2024.
Let’s begin.
Online safety refers to doing all it takes to ensure your protection while you are present online. In other words, your online safety is how you guard yourself against the dangers and threats that are present online.
While technology has made it easier for you to perform certain tasks easily and conveniently, this ease comes with a cost and a few downsides.
As the positives of technological advancement unfold over time, so are the risks and dangers.
Of these risks and dangers, the biggest one for you as a migrant is your online safety, particularly when it comes to sending money abroad.
Every threat you may encounter online has one purpose in common – to fleece you of your hard-earned money.
These threats come with different names, titles and different modus operandi, but their purpose remains the same as stated above.
Let’s take a detailed look at the 5 most common online threats you cannot afford to ignore in 2024.
Cybercriminals thrive on your technology reliance for anything and everything you do. If you have an online presence, regardless of the purpose, you are vulnerable no matter how much care you exercise. Even if you upload your pictures on your private social media accounts, you are still not out of the range of cybercriminals.
They can steal your data to manipulate you in different ways for several ends by using different ways.
Take a look below at the most dangerous online threats in 2024.
Also known as malicious software, a cybercriminal will send malware to your computer or smartphone to hack your data. Typically, you will receive it as a link clicking, which will land you in trouble. The link or file will appear harmless and sometimes make certain offers and benefits to you. But if you end up clicking the link or following it, you will be allowed access to the hacker of your entire computer and smartphone along with all the saved data.
Its other types include the following.
It is one of the most common online threats in which cybercriminals pretend to have an authority they do not have and trick you into sharing your sensitive data with them. For example, a scammer will call or message you or send you an email pretending to be representing your bank to share your information. Because otherwise, you may not be able to initiate an online money transfer back home.
In this type of online threat, a scammer will jump into the discussion between two parties who will think they are communicating with each other. But, actually, they are talking to and sharing their information with the scammer. In the process, you surrender your data to cyber criminals and fall prey to their demands.
In a denial of service attack, a cybercriminal will overload a system or a website with rapid traffic so that the website collapses and fails to function properly. In this type of fraud, the common targets are email servers, websites, and bank accounts.
In this online scam type, a scammer will inject a malicious query or code into a program that allows them access to the gadget and the saved data. After this, the scammer will execute commands or modify the system according to their needs.
Even if you have fully understood the most dangerous online threats as an expatriate, you need to look at some of the relevant statistics about online frauds and scams.
These facts and figures are enough to wave the flag for you to be extra careful and know about the internet safety rules.
As mentioned in one of the statistics above, most cybersecurity breaches result from human error. It is, therefore, critically important to avoid erring while being present online, particularly when your online presence involves your finances. So, look at some safety tips below other than avoiding mistakes.
One of the first tips to stay safe is to know about the different types of online scams because you can guard yourself against a threat only when you know about the threat. Why would you bother to protect yourself if you do not know if something around you is friendly or hostile?
In developed countries, you will find open internet connections easily and almost everywhere. Connecting to them is easy and convenient. But remember that an open internet connection is a sure recipe for disaster. So, make sure to use a secure internet connection.
Make sure to use strong and rather awkward passwords. Remember never to use any hint that is associated with you or your past while setting up a password. It can be detected easily, leading to password hacking. So, use awkward combinations of words, letters, symbols, and numbers.
Multi-factor authentication is a process in which you are required to provide dual authentication to access your account, an app or your phone. Its examples include passwords and biometrics such as face recognition and fingerprints.
Always use authentic and genuine anti-virus software and keep it updated. Ensure you keep scanning your device regularly after every update you receive automatically or after every manual update.
These safety tips will help you a long way in staying protected online.
In most cases, your travel abroad for work is propelled by your financial constraints. Right? For this reason, you work and earn a living to send financial aid back home. Therefore, choose a money transfer service that corresponds to your financial needs.
In this context, choosing ACE Money Transfer is the safest option. This is due to its low service charges, speedy delivery of funds, and optimal safety of your transactions. It offers you live and market-competitive currency exchange rates from just one window and pleasant online money transfer experience.
An online security threat refers to malicious attacks on your social media accounts or bank accounts to hack your data. An online threat can wear many forms and titles, but all of these threats serve the purpose of fleecing you.
Online safety refers to all the measures and steps necessary to take to protect yourself online. It does not only refer to staying protected during your online presence for any purpose, but it also refers to your overall virtual safety against any type of malicious attack.
Your online safety is critically important because nowadays, almost every activity can be performed online using your computer and smartphone. You tend to save all your data and credentials on your phones. If it gets hacked, you can land in grave trouble – financially and otherwise.
The top 5 most dangerous online threats you need to know about and protect yourself against are: phishing attacks, malware attacks, man-in-the-middle attacks, denial-of-service attacks, and injection attacks.
One of the common and simple steps you can take to protect yourself against these threats is to know about the scams. You should use secure internet connections only, strong and awkward passwords, and multi-factor authentication. It is also suggested that you use authentic anti-virus software, keep it updated and regularly scan your devices.
Resources
(Interactive World Migration Report 2022 (iom.int)
(81 Phishing Attack Statistics 2024: The Ultimate Insight (getastra.com)
(161 Cybersecurity Statistics and Trends [updated 2023] (varonis.com)
