“They try to make you scared by making you feel like you’re the victim, and they’re calling to help,” said Rick Wash, professor of information science at the University of Wisconsin, in a phone interview. Wash is a computer scientist who researched the possibility of electronic breaches two decades ago. He then began mixing his vast technical knowledge to focus on the personal side of the scam.
“I began to realize the human factor was often the most critical factor of computer scams,” Wash said.