The video is 45 minutes long but it is well worth watching to really increase awareness about the extent of online scams. The highlights for me were:
- 419 eBook by Will Ferguson (419 is the Nigerian criminal code for the famous “Nigerian” scam) which is based on an ancient scam from English history
- “Catfish” documentary? by Ariel Schulman on the epidemic of people assuming virtual identities or stealing identities to deceive people. There is also a tv show.
- 419eater.com about volunteers battling against fraudsters to at least waste their time if not discourage them from committing fraud
- The “Clairvoyant” in a tent in Belgium demonstration (around 37 minute mark) which shocks people about what anyone can know about them from their social media posts.
- Monica Draper, a web site developer (and hero in my opinion), who used access to fraudster Glenn Whitter’s web site and email to uncover and contact his other victims. She wrote a book about it – Raped Financially (or if you prefer the Raped Financially eBook). She also provides a useful tip (at the 41 minute mark) on a Google photo search feature to catch suspicious photos being used in scams. Just drag the photo you are questioning onto the Google Image web site to see all the places it is being used.
The DocZone site for the dot.con episode also has some useful links regarding online scams:
- Dot Con character updates
- Top 10 Canadian Scams in 2014
- How Vulnerable Are You to Online Fraud?
- How to Protect Yourself Against Scams
- To see comments on the DocZone Dot Con episode or leave your own comment there. Comments include everything from complaints about the government, fraud on match.com, paypal fraud on kijiji, LinkedIn business deals, etc.
DocZone has some really excellent documentaries on other subjects too so check it out.