Friday 11 November 2022, 08:30
11517 readings
Many Internet scams happen without the victim noticing. Cyber criminals can easily trick you and install programs on your computer that can steal, delete or block your data, for example.
Ziare.com explains in the column Your money what you need to do to prevent these crimes and, above all, what information you need to know in order not to become a guaranteed victim.
First, you need to have antivirus software and a firewall installed on your computer and keep them up to date.
Scammers scam people using spam emails. Simply delete the email without opening or replying. Otherwise, the scammer will send you more and more emails from many different addresses.
Any email you receive from someone you don’t know, if it’s not an official company, is likely to be spam, especially if it’s not addressed to you personally and promises you some sort of win.
If you receive an email with an attachment that appears to be from someone you know, but it’s not the usual type of message you get from them, don’t open the attachment.
Contact the person who should have sent it and confirm that it is genuine. The email may have been infected with a virus and sent via their address book.
Online marketplaces can be a lot of fun and save you money, but they are also used by scammers. They will try to lure you away from online sites and make you use unusual payment methods, such as money transfer agents or e-money, a digital equivalent of cash.
The most common scams at the moment concern:
- tickets for concerts and events;
- apartments, houses and vacation rentals;
- online dating and love;
- vehicles for sale or for rent (especially if they deliver rental vehicles).
Ads and websites can be very attractive, sophisticated and deceptive at the same time. So do some research to make sure it all makes sense. Always think about your personal safety when meeting someone you’ve only talked to online.
Be wary of official looking but fake websites that claim to help you apply for passports, visas, and driver’s licenses.
There are many ways that scammers obtain personal or financial information from their victims, such as:
- phishing, where an email that appears to come from a legitimate company asks you to provide personal data;
- vishing, in which an automated telephone message or robocaller, which appears to come from a legitimate company, asks you for personal data;
- spear phishing, which focuses on an individual or department within an organization; the email appears to come from a legitimate organization
Using these methods, scammers ask for login details and passwords or install malware on your computer.
As a general rule, NEVER give your personal or financial information to anyone unless you know and trust them completely!
