Introducing Maldito Timo: A project to fight online scams through digital Literacy

More than 70% of people who connected to the internet in the last six months of 2021 reported experiencing some form of online fraud, according to the Study on perception and level of trust in Spain, conducted by ObservaCiber. The most common cases were invitations to visit suspicious websites (63.2%), followed by offers of unsolicited services or products (46.5%), or requests for passwords or personal information (24.3%). These threats, which the Maldita.es Foundation has been detecting since its inception, are becoming more common and reach users directly through their mobile phones or computers and via any means: SMS, emails, messaging platforms, social networks, sales websites, etc.

ObservaCiber’s study highlights another important fact: more than 90% of the population says they need to receive training on internet security. In this context, Maldito Timo is born to meet this need for cybersecurity education among users.

Clara Jiménez Cruz, co-founder and CEO of the Maldita.es Foundation, points out: «At Maldita.es, we have been detecting and debunking scam attempts for years, which have been growing exponentially, especially since the pandemic, when criminal activity moved online according to security forces and bodies. We are aware that anyone is vulnerable to these attacks and with this project, we want to provide citizens with technological and journalistic tools so that they learn to identify them and can protect themselves».

For this purpose, Maldito Timo has the support of ESET Spain, a leader in computer security.

From ESET Spain, they assure: «Our commitment to cybersecurity is total, not only through our solutions but also through our intense awareness-raising work. Therefore, we are very happy to be part of this initiative, which allows us, together with Maldita.es, to continue working so that we can all enjoy and get the most out of the Internet in a safer way».

Within the Maldita.es Foundation, Maldito Timo will focus on alerting about the most viral cyber scams that use different techniques, such as phishing or identity theft, and that affect our daily consumption or even investments in cryptocurrencies. Maldito Timo will also address the most common modus operandi used by cybercriminals; it will provide tips to recognize and avoid falling into these attacks and will offer guides on how to proceed if we have been victims of a scam. The articles of Maldito Timo will have a Creative Commons BY-SA license, which allows republication, as is the case with all the content of the Maldita.es Foundation.

The «scam mailbox»: a direct communication channel with users

Maldito Timo will have a «scam mailbox», through the email [email protected], where anyone who has been a victim of an online scam or who has detected it in time can write to communicate directly with the team of the Maldita.es Foundation and describe their case. In this way, the Maldita.es Foundation can detect the cyber threats that put the money and personal data of the citizens at risk.

In addition, the Maldita.es Foundation will continue to make its WhatsApp chatbot (+34 644 229 319) available to any citizen, a service through which the community can also alert us about the cyber-attack attempts they receive. This technological development has been awarded at the European Press Prize 2021 in the Innovation category for its pioneering approach to combating the problem of disinformation in private messaging channels.

With the goal of responding to the community’s needs, efforts will also be dedicated to resolving doubts about cybersecurity and technology that readers send through the «scam mailbox» or the WhatsApp chatbot. For this purpose, the project will include a monthly consultation service and a glossary of terms that describes, in simple terms, concepts related to internet security.

Other formats: live streams on Twitch and presence on other social networks

Maldito Timo will also cover other formats and will be present on the streaming platform Twitch, through the channel of Maldita.es (twitch.tv/malditaes ), where we will learn about cybersecurity with the help of experts. To reach a wider audience, alerts and advice will also be published in video format on TikTok (@malditobulo), , as well as on other social networks like Twitter (https://twitter.com/maldito_timo ) and Facebook (https://www. facebook.com/malditotimo/).