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IT security: why you are the weakest link

When fraud occurs as a result of scams and social engineering, it is often end users who are blamed. But are they really at fault? Alex Meehan investigates

‘People have been ripped off by variations on these scams for thousands and thousands of years. All that’s changed is that they’ve moved online.’ Picture: Getty

August 29, 2022 isn’t a date Niall Fitzmaurice will forget in a hurry. The 31-year-old, who comes from Arklow, was going about his day when his phone rang. On the other end was a customer service person from AIB and the purpose of the call was to tell him that there was unusual activity on his bank account.

Calls like this are not unusual and anyone who ever bought anything online has likely got one ...