7 Ways to Protect Yourself from the Latest Scams

There are so many scams out there that prey on even sophisticated people. You don’t have to be new to the Internet be taken in by an email from a familiar web address, one that displays a trusted logo, or even one that purports to be from a legitimate government agency. Very often we can just be careless as we click through our email without really thinking. Unfortunately all it takes is one errant click or a reply to land you in a world of trouble since First Post reports a 40 percent increase in online crime. Learn how to protect yourself, your friends, your workplace, and your family from all the trouble that simple click can cause.

 

1.       An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. It’s an old saying for a very good reason – it’s true! By installing a good security suite with a firewall, antivirus, anti-malware, and privacy protection it’s like vaccinating your computer against scams and hacking. Suites are available for desktops, laptops, tablets, and even smart phones. Think of this as protecting your investment in your computing equipment. It only takes a few minutes to install, and there are even options to automatically update. There is literally no excuse for not doing this.

2.       Consumer frauds can be perpetrated by many different methods. Email, social media, fake websites, and even SMS text is suspect. All of these methods phish for personal information such as account numbers, passwords, answers to security questions, and other details that can give cyber crooks access not only to your bank account and credit cards, but your very identity. If you are ever in doubt that a message conveyed to you by any of these means is legitimate, immediately contact the person or business to which the email refers. Confirm all email addresses or phone numbers as legitimate before you do so by such methods as googling them. For instance, it is highly unlikely that your bank or a delivery service would choose to communicate with you via a Hotmail or Yahoo email address.

3.       Checking a URL’s integrity is easiest when you can hover your cursor directly over the address written in the email. While you might see a perfectly valid email address hovering may give you a completely different story by showing you the actual hyperlinked address as different from the text. If the address is different or does not look familiar as a child domain or subdomain under no circumstances should you click it.

4.       You should never, ever, ever and never open an attachment that you do not recognize or have no reason to believe should have been sent to you. This is especially pertinent if the extensions are actionable or executable such as EXE, JAR, PIF, or REG - which could edit your computer’s registry settings. How To Geek notes that you should scan any attachments that you are unsure of, and provides a list of extensions for programs, scripts, and shortcuts that could be harmful for your computer.

5.       Unfortunately according to Hindustan Times, India tops the e-scam suckers list with $870 million going down the drain for advance fee type frauds alone. It should not have to be said, but if an email or other communication says that you must send money by PayPal or wire transfer in order to receive your winnings, prizes, or presumably paid for goods, you should not do it.

6.       When a company is doing a mass emailing to its clients or customers, those emails are painstakingly reviewed for spelling, grammar, and other factors. If you are in receipt of an email or other communication that has such basic mistakes, it is a very good indication that the communication is not what it seems.

7.       Hacking is common. Our friends, our family, and even our workplace emails and social media can be hacked and used because of the trust we have four people we know. If the communication seems uncharacteristic for, say, your mother, your boss, or one of your friends. It’s a good idea to get in touch with them and ask if they sent it to you.

 Above all, one of the most important actions can take is to complain about the scams. On the websites for consumer complaints, reviews can be classified as, “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.” By complaining to relevant authorities, businesses, and even to sites on the Internet, consumers can put the crooks on notice. Cyber criminals, just like other thieves, hate to be noticed and hate even more to be called out. The more light and noise that you bring to the situation, the more others will know that there is a crook in the neighborhood. By complaining and sharing information, you will make it more difficult for them to get a foothold in the future.