Some 47% of U.S. adults have reported identity theft over the past two years, while the fraud’s toll ballooned to $712.4 billion in 2020, up 42% from 2019, according to a report released Tuesday by Aite Group, a Boston-based research and consulting firm, and sponsored by Giact, an Allen, Texas-based financial-services security firm.

What if you sent $500 to a stranger by mistake and that person refused to give back your money? That’s the shocking situation in which Rossin Asilo recently found herself. Using the money transfer app Zelle for the first time, Asilo made a simple typo entering her friend’s phone number. That error dropped the cash intended for a memorial donation into the wrong person’s bank account. Unfortunately, that stranger appears to view the transaction as a $500 windfall and will not return the money.

We predicted that this year, cybercriminals will continue to take advantage of Covid-19-related effects and incidents — such as people’s reliance on online purchases and e-services and the increased need for financial assistance — in order to bait victims and steal critical information. Even though new ways of stealing information regularly arise, tried-and-tested ones are still being actively utilized. We discuss the behaviors and external indicators of some phishing campaigns that we observed from the latter part of December 2020 to the first weeks of January 2021. These campaigns highlight the inclusion of fake online payment forms with the goal of stealing financial information more efficiently.

If you’re totally new to the world of credit, or if you have bad credit scores, then your credit card options will be limited. Fortunately, many of the major credit card companies offer cards specifically designed for building credit.

If someone sends you money out of the blue, it’s probably an honest mistake, right? Not necessarily. If you use Venmo or another digital wallet, such as Zelle or Apple Pay, watch out for this high-tech twist on a classic con.

If you’ve swiped a credit card at a gas station that has a hidden skimmer, your information was compromised during the Equifax data breach, or you ordered something from a website infected by malware, it is more than likely that thieves have your card information, according to cybersecurity experts, who often find themselves one step behind international criminal networks.