Data doesn’t just disappear on its own – thieves use clever tricks to get hold of it. Here are the most common methods they use; please familiarise yourself with them:

• Phishing (fraud via fake messages): A criminal sends an email or text message pretending to be a bank, the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS), a grandchild in trouble, or the police. They ask you to click on a link to ‘check your account’ – this leads to a fake website where you enter your username, password, PESEL number or card number. Your details go straight to the fraudster.
• Malware: You open an attachment from a suspicious message or download a ‘free programme’ from the internet. The software installs itself on your computer or phone and steals saved passwords, scanned documents or data from your browser.
• Impersonating an acquaintance (social engineering): Criminals call from an unknown number, pretending to be a government official or a service provider. They ask for personal details ‘for verification’ or a scan of an ID card ‘for a loan for a family member’. They collect the victim’s name, address, PESEL number and a photo taken during the call.
• Public Wi-Fi networks and man-in-the-middle attacks: In a café, at a railway station or at an airport, you connect to an open Wi-Fi network. A hacker intercepts data sent without encryption, such as bank or email login details.
• Database breaches or weak passwords: Criminals hack online shops or websites containing customer data, stealing thousands of PESEL numbers at a time. They also crack simple passwords (e.g. ‘123456’) using software…​
• Social media and fake profiles: You post your date of birth, address or maiden name on Facebook. A fraudster combines this with other data and creates a fake profile to carry out scams.
• Links such as “look, you’re in this photo” are a popular phishing tactic used by fraudsters, which exploits the curiosity and trust of older people to extract personal details or infect their device with malware. Criminals send such bait via text message, email, WhatsApp or Messenger, pretending to be a friend or a service – for example, “Dorota has shared a photo from the party with you” or “Hey, check this out – you’re in this photo on Google Photos”. When clicked, the link leads to a fake website that looks like the real thing (e.g. a fake Google Photos or iCloud site with an address such as go0gle-photos.com), where the scammer asks for your username and password ‘to download the file’ or automatically installs malware hidden within an image using steganography – a technique that hides code within the pixels of a photo, which antivirus programmes often fail to detect. As a result, the thief steals bank passwords, card details or personal identification numbers, leading to identity theft and financial loss.