Digital Scams and Cons

Scams are nothing new, but they are more dangerous than ever now that everything is digital and highly accessible. Even before the Internet, con artists were always trying to find a new angle to take advantage of unsuspecting, trusting individuals — sadly, those tricks have stood the test of time. In this article, we will discuss digital scams and cons to be leery of and tips on how to avoid falling victim to them.

 

Social Media Scams

 

The goal of many individuals utilizing Social Media is finding a balance between sharing your lives online with friends and family, while staying mindful of the potential security issues. Hackers are scam artists that target people who have a habit of 'oversharing' in order to access their sensitive data or the data of someone they are connected to.

 

Profile Hacking Scams

 

Facebook, LinkedIn, online grocery shopping, online banking, etc. all rely on profile data and that data is very rich and telling about who someone is. Cybercriminals use real photos and characteristics of actual people to create a profile and entice users to connect with them, all the while planning to steal from the individual or someone in the individual's network. This type of scam usually fools people into giving them money with a wire transfer or even another social application such as a GoFundMe campaign.

 

Elicitation

 

This is a strategic use of written conversation to extract information from people without giving them the feeling they are being interrogated. This could happen via any platform that has a private messaging (PM) feature. A perfect example would be chatting over Facebook Messenger or even Skype. During the conversation, the other person may ask questions that seem harmless at the time, but actually are helping them build a profile of you that they could potentially formulate into some type of attack such as ID theft or credit card fraud.

 

Phishing

 

This scam tactic isn't going anywhere, mostly because it works so well. Traditionally, this type of trick was limited to the telephone and email, but recently it has also branched out to social media platforms. It occurs when a user receives a fake message via social channel or email from a hacker or social engineer posing as a trusted colleague or the colleague of a person you may know well and trust. The message may contain a nefarious link leading to an unsecure page that could put your security and privacy at risk. As it pertains to email, these attacks can also come by way of email attachments containing malware that infects your machine to wreak havoc.

 

URL-Shortening Cons

 

In this type of digital con, hackers pretend to be the business you are loyal to, but they in fact own these sites where they place malware for you to click on and then infect your computer. Another common practice in this type of scam is providing the shortened link that leads you into another trick, such as stealing your login credentials or credit card info.

 

Tips to Stay Safe

• Do not share sensitive, personal information about yourself, family or friends online. It is the key hackers need to unlock the door to everything.
• Activate Privacy Settings. Look at the privacy settings for the social media services that you utilize, and make certain that you are only sharing information with people you know.
• Don't provide information about yourself that will allow others to answer your security questions (I forgot my password key questions).
• Use URL extenders to see where the shortened link is going to take you. For example, you can see if the short link really goes to Macy's or a Macy's 'lookalike' site that wants you to enter your username and password so that they can commit fraud with your account.
• When typing a URL in, look to make sure that everything seems kosher before you hit enter, e.g. check to see if Macy's spelled odd like Mac4's or the like.
•  If a friend sends you a message that makes you feel suspicious asking you to take an action, that doesn’t seem quite right, consider picking up the phone to call or text to verify the request is legitimate.
• Avoid accessing profile accounts from public computers or through public Wi-Fi spots.
• Avoid sharing sensational 'news' posts before verifying their validity.
• Don't click on a link or open an attachment in an email unless you have verified with the user it is from them. Hackers often use the email accounts of others to share malware with trusting friends.

This information is provided by Digital Defense, Inc., NE PA Credit Union’s online security education partner. Read the full article: Digital Scams and Cons

 

Get more online security education at nepafcu.org/about/other-services.