A new report shows Black and Latino consumers are twice as likely to be prone to digital scams or cyber attacks.
According to the 2024 Consumer Cyber Readiness Report, while only 6% of white consumers have been victimized by financial fraud, the report finds that 14% of Black consumers and 13% of Latinos have experienced financial loss as a result of cyber attacks and scams.
Yael Grauer is manager of Security Planner, a tool run by Consumer Reports, and an expert in privacy and security in tech who contributed to this report. She joined the Standard to talk about the findings. Listen to the interview above or read the transcript below.
This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:
Texas Standard: First, how did you go about finding out this information in the first place?
Yael Grauer: We actually have a team called AES that does surveys. They crunch the data and we write it up.
Well, let’s talk about what accounts for this disparity. Why are Black and Latino communities apparently more likely to fall victim to financial fraud?
You know, we didn’t actually get a lot of data on the reason from the study itself, but there have been other reports by the Federal Trade Commission and other organizations about how scammers target marginalized communities that may be more vulnerable to debt related fraud.
Another reason that other research has found is forms of payments that are more common in Black and Hispanic communities offer fewer built in protections against fraud. So cash, cryptocurrency, money orders, even payment apps do not have the same level of legal protections as credit cards. And members of predominantly white communities are more likely to use credit cards.
Very interesting. I was curious about what sorts of scams or attacks are common? This doesn’t sound like this is a matter so much of being targeted overtly, but the fact that the use of certain kinds of apps or payment schemes that just so happen to break across different demographic lines.
Correct. The most common scam that we found is phishing. So you might get a phone call or a text message from someone trying to convince you to click on the link or enter your password. And if you look too fast, you might not even notice it’s not a legitimate link because they’re getting really good at making it look like it is.
I hear about this all the time when people have their bank account taken over or their Instagram accounts blocked out because they accidentally give information to a scammer.
Obviously you don’t have to be Black or Hispanic to fall victim to something like that. But I’m wondering, is there any information that Black and Hispanic groups are being specifically targeted?
There’s been other information that passes for that. Scammers do target communities that they think are more vulnerable. And I think also whether or not you lose money depends on whether there’s legal protections. It depends on the way that you’re scammed.
So if you’re scammed on a credit card, you might be able to get that charge reversed. But if you buy gift cards or are scammed in that kind of way, it’s a lot more difficult to get the money back. So what we looked at was how many people lost money to the scam on the Internet.
Well, so what sort of factors increase the vulnerability of cyber attacks and scams, and what can people do about it to keep themselves from falling victim?
There are steps that you can take to reduce your risk. So using a password manager, enabling multi-factor authentication and deleting accounts that you’re no longer using.
So if you use a password manager, it makes it easier to have a unique password for each account. And so when an account gets compromised – that’s just happened to me – I only had to change that one password, because scammers will try to use your email address and password in every account they can find.
And then multi-factor authentication, there’s apps like Authy or Google Authenticator where you provide an additional piece of information beyond just a password, like a code from an app, on your phone. That is really helpful because the hackers will also need that information in addition to your password a lot of the time.
And then just deleting accounts that you’re no longer using can be really helpful because all of that information is just sitting there waiting to be compromised. So we tell people delete it, get rid of it. There’s still data there that scammers can target.
How does social media contribute to the spread of online scams?
A lot of scammers will target you through social media. They’ll target you on whatever you are using.
Like I mentioned earlier, I have heard from a lot of people who’ve had their Instagram accounts compromised because scammers will want access to that account and that audience. So they will take over the account and then try it.
Sometimes they’ll try to get money from other people by impersonating the person who used to own that account.
Well, what is your takeaway as a result of this study? I mean, what would you say to someone who’s reading this and may be feeling rather alarmed by how vulnerable they might be?
I find it really concerning that nearly 1 in 10 consumers have fallen victim to cyber scams. And I find the disparity really troubling that cyber scams are taking money away from Black and Hispanic Americans at twice the rate of white Americans.
I think we really need solutions that address and improve digital security for everybody, but particularly for consumers of color.
