Cyber Safety with Francis Syms

Tags: February 2023, Vol. 3, Issue 2

This past holiday season, Francis Syms, faculty member in the Protection, Security and Investigation program, spoke with Toronto.com to outline key tips to avoid online scams. While this information is especially important during the holiday season, it’s pertinent year-round as we continue to shop via e-commerce sites. Francis urges shoppers to be cautious of suspicious sales, fraudulent coupon codes and delivery notices, especially those which ask you to visit a site via a URL or QR code.

Francis’ knowledge sharing did not stop there, in early January 2023 Francis was also interviewed by both CTV News and CHCH News channels about the increase in recent cyber-attacks on popular e-commerce stores and organizations such as the LCBO, Sick Kids Hospital and Bet MGM. Francis spoke about the opportunistic nature of these attacks due to the monetary reward scammers often receive for selling lists of personal data.