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Safeguard yourself from online and telemarketing scams
BY » Mia Roberson Getting Personal Protect yourself from becoming a victim of cybercrime
Technology can be a wonderful and convenient thing, but it can also bring its share of headaches. Cybercrimes have undergone a major spike in today’s world. With this spike, its important to know what you can do to protect yourself, as tax season in particular provides a target-rich environment for potential hackers. Below are three scams you should be mindful of.
Telephone-related scams
One of the more common types of scams involves people disguising themselves as telemarketers and government employees. These scams can cover a wide variety of things. The most common ones are scammers claiming to be with the IRS, saying that they have an arrest warrant against you. The IRS scammers are normally after credit card numbers and social security numbers. You may get a voice mail or call that says something like “We found that there was a fraud and misconduct on your taxes which you are hiding from federal government.” However, the IRS is very old-fashioned and prefers to contact people by snail mail in most cases. They will never ask you for banking account information over the phone. If you receive a message or call from someone claiming to be the IRS, do not return their call. Instead, you can call the IRS directly at 800-829-1040 to see if they have legitimate business with you.
Another type of phone scam is people posing as telemarketers. These are harder to avoid because they’re nearly indistinguishable from real telemarketers. A good way to avoid these is to install an app like RoboKiller on your phone (this applies to cell phones only) to filter out the scammers from the legitimate callers. You can try this app out for free. Again, if the person on the other end of the phone is asking you to provide bank account, credit card or social security information for any reason, be wary. Email scams
There are several scams that happen via email. One involves the victim receiving an email informing them of a business opportunity, normally one that would allow them to work from home. They have a catch, however. These scams ask for money before they give you more
info. Once they have your money, they stop contact. The best way to avoid these is to use a spam filter on your email and be skeptical if an opportunity seems too good to be true.
Another email scam comes in the form of an attachment in an email. Once opened, the attachment starts scanning through your computer in search of personal information. Spyware logs information for as long as it is on a computer.
To avoid this scam, you should always check the ending of attachments. If it ends in .exe, then don’t open it. A legitimate PDF will never have a .exe ending, so that’s an easy way to tell if it’s safe. Website scams
Many scams happen on websites. A common one involves dating websites. People create catfish profiles to try to lure someone in, then they may start asking for money, such as for a plane ticket to meet up. The best way to avoid this
is to never send credit card info or your home address to someone you met online. If someone starts asking for money for things shortly after connecting, then you should be a little suspicious. Some websites offer cheap alternatives to prescription drugs. While cheaper, they often aren’t legitimate. The scammers behind these are usually after credit card or insurance information. The main way to avoid this scam is to check every offer you find online, especially if it looks too enticing.
All the scams that are floating around the internet can get the better of us. By stopping for a minute when you come across something suspicious, and questioning anyone who contacts you via phone or online, you can save yourself a lot of trouble and possibly prevent fraud or identity theft.
Find more helpful information at www.usa.gov/ identity-theft.
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