New technology has enabled cyber-crime on an industrial scale
A decentralised dark economy makes cyber-crooks more effective and harder to catch
NOBODY LIKES a call from the taxman. Donald Rumsfeld, who as America’s defence secretary oversaw a budget bigger than the economy of a typical country, nonetheless finds the rules so confusing that he writes to the Internal Revenue Service each year complaining that he has “no idea” whether he has filed his taxes correctly. So it is hardly surprising that, when the phone rings and an official-sounding voice says you have underpaid your taxes and will be connected to an adviser to pay the balance, ordinary folk tremble.
This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Spam, scam, scam, scam”
From the May 8th 2021 edition
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