Phishing scams have evolved into such realistic hoaxes that much of the public has become paranoid, according to an IT professional and election candidate.

Dion Smith, the owner of several technology companies over the years, said he had watched IT threats develop from viruses to fully fledged ransomware.

Mr Smith said that, while canvassing Warwick North Central for the One Bermuda Alliance, many constituents had become so distrusting that they were afraid to discuss banking.

He added: “Recently, I’ve been on the doorstep and what I’m hearing from my constituents is that a lot of them don’t even want to answer the phone.

“When they’re browsing the internet, especially for banking, they don’t feel as comfortable as they should because of the threats.”

Mr Smith said that older adults, particularly seniors, were the most at risk from hackers.

He explained that they not only had more to lose compared with younger groups, including risking their pensions, but also struggled to keep up with the pace of digital evolution.

Despite this, Mr Smith emphasised that anyone of any age could be targeted by hackers — and that many of them were successful.

He said that the “silent victims” of hacking — those who had been attacked but did not speak out — often declined to come forward because they found the admission humiliating, with a sense of violation at being targeted.

He added that the problem was worsened by the stigma that victims of hacks were ignorant or thoughtless.

Mr Smith said it was hard to overstate how convincing hackers had become.

He said: “When you talk to somebody and they say ‘it looks like your credit card has been hit’, people say to themselves ‘should I listen to this guy?’.

“They usually say ‘if you hang up now then we can’t mitigate this risk’.

“As a senior or someone who’s older, or even just a general person, if you don’t know you’ll think ‘I need to do something’.”

Mr Smith said many phishing scams worked by hacking into a phone or e-mail address and urging people on the contact list to open a link.

Once that link has been opened, he said, hackers look into the target’s account and study their writing patterns.

Mr Smith said that hackers usually message the account’s contacts requesting money or offering a scam link to repeat the cycle.

He added: “It’s not that we’re gullible, but if you’re saying all the right things then it sounds like a call from Bermuda.

“You can be the smartest person around and still get scammed. It’s got nothing to do with smarts.”

Mr Smith said that public institutions were catching on to hackers and changing how they did business while also warning the public.

He explained that the police and many banks had given warnings about protecting oneself from phishing attacks.

Mr Smith added that banks should look into making wire transfers optional for personal accounts since this is how many hackers steal money from others.

The technician said that there were many popular misconceptions, including that MacBooks did not require antivirus software or that an amateur computer set-up was just as good as that of a professional.

Mr Smith said that it was best for people to have professionals set up new computers and recommend antivirus software.

He said that the two-step authentication system that comes with most social media should be enabled, and advised using a secure e-mail account, such as Microsoft 365.

Mr Smith added that anyone getting a call claiming to be from their bank was better off hanging up and contacting the bank to verify.

Suspicious messages should also be deleted, with the recipient checking with the purported sender to verify its authenticity.