Scams+in+General

There are heaps of scams on the Web. Read on to learn how to protect yourself. (Be sure to check out the other Safety First pages on this wiki.)

__**Free Trial! **__  **The story:** The advertisement tells you that you get a free one-month trial of vanishing cream. All you need to do is pay a few bucks in shipping and handling.

 **The truth:** In the fine print you'll find that you have to pay monthly fees--for a very long time.

 **Protect yourself:** Read the fine print. Pay special attention to fees written out in words instead of numbers. Scammers conveniently do away with dollar signs.

__**Free Hot Spot **__  **The story**: Your local coffee shop or airport has begun to offer you free Wi-Fi. No problem.

 **The truth:** A nearby hacker may change a little here and a little there, duplicates the site and suddenly the hacker has access to whatever you're sharing on the I'net, be it passwords or banking information. AAAAAACCCCCCCKKKK!!!!


 *  Protect yourself: **
 * Refrain from setting up your computer to connect to nonpreferred networks. For PCs, go to Advanced Wireless Settings Network Connections and uncheck connect to nonpreferred networks. For MACs, go to System Preferences--->Network pane and check Ask to join new networks


 * Before you hit the road for your next vacation, purchase a $20 Mastercard or Visa gift card to buy airport Wi-Fi access so as not to broadcast banking information while at the airport. Another option is to set up an advance account with Wi-Fi providers. For U.S. airports, visit www.travelpost.com to find out more about airport Wi-Fi services.


 * Refrain from doing your banking or Internet shopping from public hot spots


 * Be sure to check for the https in the URL and check the lower right-hand corner of your browser for the padlock icon

__**Watch them Tweets **__  **The story:** Someone sends you a tweet from Twitter. The tweet contains a link.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;"> **The truth:** The link downloads a software robot (also known as a bot) onto your computer, adding you to a botnet of "zombies" which scammers uses to send you spam e-mail. Yay.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;"> **Protect yourself:** Be wary of links sent to you by tweets. Twitter users often use URL-shortening services because Twitter permits onl 140-characters per tweet. URLs, as you know, can be nearly a mile long. URL-shortening services reduce those mile-long URLs to 10-15 characters. The downside is that users can't see where they are going when they click on a link. Before clicking on a link sent by someone you don't know personally, check the person's profile. If that person is following lots and lots of people and nobody is following him, you've got a bot on your hands. Skip the link.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;"> **The story:** While you're surfing the Web, a window pops up telling you that your computer may have been infected by a dreadful malware (i.e. malicious software) or scareware, BUT there's a solution: There's a link for you to click on,
 * __<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Infected Computer __**

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;"> **The truth:** Of course the malware/scareware finds a bug. For a fee, the company sponsoring the malware can save your computer from certain doom.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;"> **Protect yourself:** Don't click on the link. Sometimes the malware/scareware loads a tracking software on your computer. Sometimes you download the software, re-start your computer and...nothing.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">If you are using Windows, make sure your updates are...uh...up-to-date. To check for malware, you can take advantage of Microsoft's already-installed malware removal tool. Try this:


 * 1) <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Click on the big ol' START button
 * 2) <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Go to RUN
 * 3) <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Type mrt and do the scan

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">A company called Malwarebytes has a free download that detects and removes malware.

__**<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Problems with Your Account/You've Just Won...!!! **__ <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">**The story:** You receive a text message on your phone telling you that there's something wrong with your bank account. Or perhaps the message tells you that you've just won a googleplex of money. The message tells you to ring a certain number. You call the number and find out that the person at the other end needs some of your account for "verification purposes".

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">**The truth:** The message ain't from your bank and you ain't won nothin'. The "company" wants you to reveal your personal information.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">**Protect yourself:** Protect yourself from "smishing". This is like "phishing" only via SMS. Since many of us receive updates from our financial institutions, such messages seem legitimate. Remember that you may get such messages from a company you do business with, but those legitimate businesses should never ask you for your account information. If you're unsure, visit the company in person or call one of the numbers associated with the company you usually call.

__**<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Is it love...or is it not? **__ <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">**The story:** A person you "meet" on the Web quickly becomes the love of your life. You exchange pictures, information, and so on. Before you know it, you've fallen head over heels in love with the person on the other side of your DSL connection. After you're hooked, the other person asks for wire transfers. Uh-huh.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">**The truth:** You're being scammed. Watch out for folks who ask you for money over the Web. People have been scammed out of thousands of dollars in situations such as this. What about the photos the other person sent you? They could be stock photos of models that are repurposed. Isn't that something?

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">**Protect yourself:** Social networking sites are great ways to stay in touch and meet new people. When you meet a new person who requests money from you, run away quickly!

Many thanks to Reader's Digest's //Cyber Thieves// August 2010 for this information.