English computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee is best known as the inventor of the World Wide Web. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/Pool, Keystone via AP
You’re ordering pizza, streaming your favourite show, maybe checking the weather — just everyday stuff, right? But have you ever stopped to wonder how it all actually works?
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Today, we’re taking a quick look at how the internet began, how it functions, why it matters — and how scammers use the very same tools to trick people every day.
Believe it or not, the roots of the internet go all the way back to the late 1960s. No browsers. No websites. Definitely no cat videos.
That all changed in 1989 when Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web, laying the foundation for the modern internet. Fast forward to the 1990s, and the browser wars were in full swing — Microsoft’s Internet Explorer vs Netscape Navigator. Then came Firefox in 2004 and Google Chrome in 2008. Eventually, Chrome dominated both the browser and search engine markets.
As the web grew, so did scams. In the ’90s, you might have seen the classic ‘Nigerian Prince’ email promising a fortune in exchange for a small fee. By the 2000s, fake PayPal and banking sites were everywhere. The scams evolved alongside the internet — email, online banking and shopping all became attack surfaces.
Take those scam calls claiming to be from Microsoft: “We’ve detected a virus on your IP address.” Sounds technical, but here’s the truth — only your internet provider knows your IP address and who it belongs to. If you’re with Telstra, Optus can’t see your IP, and vice versa. Huge red flag.
Another common tactic is domain spoofing — registering fake domains that look almost identical to real ones. For example, swapping a lowercase ‘l’ with a ‘1’ in something like gma1l.com. Most people glance right past it. Click the link, and you’re taken to a fake banking page or login portal.
Email is one of scammers’ favourite tools. From fake Google and Microsoft alerts to inheritance scams and extortion threats, the aim is usually the same: steal your credentials.
Microsoft Corp Internet Explorer general manager Dean Hachamovitch stands in front of a projected image of Microsoft’s latest version of the web browser in 2006. Photo: AP/Elaine Thompson
One of the most common scams we see targeting businesses is the ‘password about to expire’ or ‘you have a document waiting’ emails — designed to harvest logins and take over accounts.
So how do you spot these? Start with the sender’s email address. If you get an email claiming to be from the ATO, and it’s from something like no-reply-australian-services-online@gmail.com, that’s an immediate red flag.
Hover over any links in the email — do they lead to a legit ato.gov.au domain, or something shady like clickthislink.com?
Want to check what the official domain and email should be? Just Google the official site. For the ATO, you’ll find its domain is ato.gov.au, and official emails will end the same way.
Why mention the ATO? Because during tax time, these scams ramp up. Right now, we’re seeing 10 to 15 of these emails per day targeting McPherson Media Group staff. It’s the perfect time for scammers — tax time, parcel delivery season, anything that gets people clicking without thinking.
So, what can you do? Always verify. A quick glance at the email address and link can reveal most scams. Don’t trust — verify.
Want to go deeper? In my latest episode of Ask A Tech, I open one of these scam emails and break down exactly what happens when you click that suspicious link. You’ll find it in the podcast section of the MMG Group Apps.
As always, I hope you’ve learned something useful. Stay safe online! If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to email me at askatech@mmg.com.au. You can also find the Ask A Tech with Nathan Vincent podcast on all Group Apps and on Spotify.
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