How to Stay Safe Online

Online shopping can be fun and exciting, it is both simple and convenient. By following a few simple rules, you can be safe from unscrupulous people who may try to scam you.

Following some simple tips will protect you from the great majority of scams and phishing attempts.

• Never click on any links that you don’t recognize
• Don’t click on any email links to verify your details
• If a deal looks too good to be true it probably is.

Scammers create a sense of urgency

 Scammers want to get their money quickly, so they create a situation to make you feel if you do not complete the transaction quickly you will miss out on the bargain. It is a big red flag if anyone puts you under time pressure to complete a transaction. For example, they may say this offer will expire after a certain time.

Different types of scams

Although the type of scam may vary, they have one thing in common, they want to take your money fraudulently. They do this in several ways:

Buying scams

Scammers will impersonate genuine sellers and try to contact you through either emails or social media such as Facebook.

The scammer may pretend to be selling a range of goods, such as furniture, a bike, a stereo, or a laptop. Usually, an advertisement will be copied from a genuine advertisement and changed slightly.

When you contact them, they will claim to be going overseas (or have some other urgent need to sell the good at a big discount) and would like you to pay for the item quickly, be wary of anyone asking to finalize a transaction quickly.

Be cautious of any ads that provide products such as laptops or electrical items for significantly lower prices than similar products.

Over payment scams

This scam works by actually ‘buying’ the product from you, but paying you a larger amount than the price of the product you asked for. The scammer will then contact you stating that they did a mistake and would like to be refunded the ‘over payment’. You happily offer to repay them. However, little do you know they used someone else’s credit card to make the original purchase. So, you end up paying them money which they are not even entitled to.

Beware of anyone who pays more than the products you sell and then asks for a refund. In such cases, you should tell them that you will need to wait till the payment clears and hits your bank account. Only then should you transfer the extra money to them.

Email phishing scams

Unsuspecting victims can also be tricked through emails. Scammers have been known to hack into websites and send emails to your contacts representing themselves as you. Your poor contacts unwittingly click on links only to download a virus and the process continues. Never click on any link in an email without first hovering over the link to check if you recognize the address.

– Don’t respond to emails from unknown persons or organizations

– Don’t click on any links in emails. Scammers can can create convincing emails from your bank or other financial institution. If you get an email it is best to login using the official website directly. NEVER EVER click on an email link – many people get tricked into clicking on such links only to discover later that it sent them to a fake website that looks identical to your bank (complete with login in screen and two factor authentication.

– Don’t click a link on your email to access your bank account or sensitive data. It is better to google your bank and then click on the link.

An example of an email scam designed to get information from you:

———

Dear Customer,

We recently conducted an online investigation and found some possible breaches of our system. To ensure your details remain safe can you please click on the link below to confirm your details and also change your password.

A genuine looking link will then be provided.

Once you click the link you will be redirected to a fake website, in which you will be asked to enter your details and password. This information will then be used to access your account and transfer your money

If you receive any such emails you should immediately delete them.

Sad stories

Scammers can also try to manipulate people by using elaborate and complicated stories of great misfortune to try and gain your trust and compassion.

A common scam is when people are contacted through social media by someone who has similar interests to you and who wants to be your friend. They may even have posted photos of themselves to gain your trust. Over a period of months, you start to feel they are friends. Over time they introduce some type of misfortune that is happening to them. They slowly weave the sad situation into discussions, with the goal of you offering to send money overseas to assist them.

These types of situations are common for scammers, so you need to approach such situations carefully if this happens to you.

Lottery Wins

Who hasn’t dreamed of winning the lottery? What a life it would be sipping margaritas on a yacht while watching a sunset. OK, enough of the daydreaming. Realistically, its nice to dream. But we can’t obviously bank on such fortune.

Anybody who approaches you with such a story and asking for you to send proof of your identity including passport photos is more than likely trying to commit identity fraud. Another method to take your money is that you will be asked to pay a ‘release’ fee to allow the agent to transfer the millions of dollars to your bank account.