Studies show women are more vulnerable to phishing scams than men and same has happened with Vivian Gabb who told media how she was sent a “phishing email” by scammers and was conned to give away her life savings.
According to Get Safe Online, an internet safety advice, over 51% of UK citizens have been the victim of online crimes and out of these at least 15% have experienced either attempted or successful email account hacks.
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The latest to join the bandwagon is the 59-year-old London resident Vivian Gabb. She was about to buy a house when she became the victim of a spear phishing attack.
Reportedly, Gabb, a pilates and tennis coach, was unaware of the fact that her email was already hacked and every single email she sent or received was being monitored by scammers.
Gabb received an email that appeared to be sent by her solicitor as a follow-up email. She was asked to pay £50,000/$77855 as down payment into a different bank account than the one she previously agreed upon.
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This explains that this was actually a targeted phishing scam that was disguised as a genuine communication from her solicitor.
However, it wasn’t her solicitor but some scammer who learned about Gabb’s financial dealings by hacking into her email account.
Obviously, the new “banking account” was the scammer’s personal account. When the payment was made, the bank account was swiftly and immediately emptied.
If you know any ongoing phishing scam, feel free to report it to us on [email protected]
BBC