While technology has actually helped prevent many cases of fraud, it hasn’t been able to erase fraud in the tech industry. In some ways, tech’s made it easier to commit fraud.

As with any form of fraud, the costs are high. Not only monetary, but certain types of tech fraud also hurt company reputations and overall consumer trust.

Tech Scam Fraud

One of the most common and easily recognizable types of fraud in the tech industry is the tech scam. With consumers terrified of losing irreplaceable information, it’s easy for fraudsters to post as tech support personnel. By calling customers directly and telling them something is wrong with their device, the customers hand over money and often personal information as well.

This makes people distrust the real tech support personnel, which never calls customers directly out of the blue. Instead of getting support or trusting recommendations, customers try to take care of their problems themselves. This can hurt the tech support industry. Plus, customers may lose more personal files by avoiding tech support. All of this is because they’re not sure who the real tech support people are.

It’s important to inform the public about how real tech support works. From advising them to go directly to the company’s website versus clicking a pop-up to explaining customers contact you and not the other way around, education is the first step toward preventing tech scam fraud.

Releasing Tools That Aren’t Ready

Tech experts and startups want to save face, even if that means fraudulently claiming the apps, software and solutions they’re releasing are ready for use. When it comes to fraud in the tech industry, this can be one of the most costly and dangerous versions.

First, if the solution isn’t ready yet, this means there can be critical flaws that allow hackers easy access. Since many of these solutions involve personal data from users, such as passwords and financial data, it’s a hacker’s paradise.

Then, there’s also the problem with solutions hurting individual and business devices and systems. Not only doesn’t the solution work correctly, but it can cause major problems when interacting with a person’s device or network.

If anyone feels the solution isn’t ready for the public yet, they should file an anonymous report showcasing why it’s not ready. Some whistleblowers even go to anonymous forums and tech news sites when the company they’re working for doesn’t investigate their claims. This can completely ruin a company’s reputation. To stop this issue, always thoroughly investigate any claims immediately. It’s better to delay than try to pick up the pieces later.

Creating Technology To Steal Data

Fraud in the tech industry is all too common. Many of the free tools people use daily are disguised as data collection tools made mainly to steal data and sell it to the highest bidder. For instance, Google claims your data is safe and never sold to third parties, but Google also owns many of those third-parties. Throughout all of Google’s services, users are tracked and their data used to deliver targeted ads to users, meaning Google is sharing this information with ad companies.

By not fully disclosing how data is used, especially with any app or tool made namely for that purpose, companies are misleading users. This is especially true when that data is used for profit and tracking purposes. It’s up to customers and employees to continue to fight against this for a safer Internet.