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Opinion

No One Is Safe From Consumer Fraud, Not Even the Online Savvy

Public perception derides fraud victims as naive or foolish, despite how common these kinds of scams are. In truth, we’re all more easily taken in than we think
No One Is Safe From Consumer Fraud, Not Even the Online Savvy
When is sounds too good to be true, it's a scam. NONGASIMO/Shutterstock
Israel Mazin
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Commentary
In her now-infamous essay for The Cut, Charlotte Cowles described how she was conned out of $50,000 in a single afternoon. In the aftermath, Cowles felt deep shame—partly because, as a financially literate, tech-savvy, socially connected millennial, she didn’t perceive herself as the type to fall for scams.
Israel Mazin
Israel Mazin
Author
Israel Mazin is the co-founder, chief executive officer and chairman of Memcyco, a website impersonation detection and protection solution that offers real-time customer protection. In 1990, Mazin founded Memco Software, a now-defunct open-operating system security software company. In 1998, Memco was acquired by Platinum Technology in a stock-for-stock pooling of interests, valued at just over $400 million. In 1999, Platinum was acquired by CA for $3.5 billion. After the acquisition, Mazin moved on to establish GAMA Property and co-founded Shadow Technologies. Ever since, Mazin has been investing in high-tech startups, and in 2021 he co-founded Memcyco.