We recently posted a great summary about how to protect yourself from Fraud and Scams. We now want to dive deeper into what are the Scams so you can avoid being the victim of a cybercriminals.
ANYONE can fall victim to scam artists. Just recently an acquaintance fell victim to this. He received an email from his HOA president requesting payment for his HOA dues. His dues are due this time of year, but his HOA does not reach out via email for payment. They send letters providing payment details. However, he thought they had implied a new system. Where things went wrong, he did not page attention to the email address the email came from or the URL they provided asking for payment. When he entered his information, he immediately entered his birthdate, phone number, home address and banking information into a scammer data pull to use for future purchases and identify theft.
Do NOT let this be you! Scammers are smart but you can out smart them!
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Social Sites: Many pretend to be looking for love and capitalize on the desire for companionship. Once they feel you are falling for them, they will ask for money to be able to come see you. Another is the grandparent scam. They will create a false account pretending to be a grandchild or relative and give a sob story of needing money. This works on many individuals as they only have communication with extended family on social media has the youth of today do not call. So, they never hear a voice. Another way social media is used to scam individuals is the quizzes and surveys that are sponsored. These are ways to collect data about you. These lead to spam emails and fraudulent websites obtaining information.
- Ensure your security settings are ramped up. Make sure your account settings are set to private, this includes posting settings. Limit the personal information that you share online.
- Block the user/profile and report the violation.
Email Phishing: They will send emails that look like they are from a legitimate source and ask the individual to download an attachment or click a link. The example above is a prime example of this. Once you click the link or attachment it downloads viruses to your device and steals your information.
- Report the email as spam/junk. Delete the email immediately and never respond. It is best to avoid opening the email if you notice from the email address that it is spam.
Phone Phishing: In a similar style to email phishing, scammers will call and pretend to be bankers, social security workers, credit card companies etc. to gather data from individuals. We have seen this happen numerous times with scammers pretending to be the IRS calling about an “urgent” tax return issue and asking for personal information to verify the person they called. The IRS will always mail you a letter!
- Hang up immediately! Always let unknown numbers go to voicemail. This will help you screen all calls. Block all scam numbers that call or text you.
Avoid being the victim. Know what to watch for and set up protective measures to avoid terrifying incidents.
Easy ways to monitor your -credit and financial information:
- Lifelock: a paid service that will freeze your credit with all Credit Bureaus. They also monitor identity threats, reimburse for any stolen funds, and send identity and social security alerts.
- Credit Karma: This is a free service that allows you to monitor your credit. They will alert you of any important changes. You can then act to correct the fraud.
- Direct Freeze: You can call or go online and freeze your credit with all 3 credit bureaus directly for free. You will need to unfreeze your credit before any large purchases.
- Mint: Many use this service to help them stay within a budget each month. You can set up alerts to be notified when you go overspending in a category or if you have a purchase over a certain dollar amount. This is another great way to monitor your accounts for fraudulent activity.
Take Action Now to Avoid a Headache Later! These simple and easy tools can change your life from turning into a disaster quickly.
