Scams - how to identify them
/Next week, March 9th, is National Slam the Scam Day. It seems a good time to talk about scams.
I have had so many clients fall for scams lately. It has been shocking to me! Collectively my clients have given literally thousands of dollars to scammers recently. They have also had to close bank accounts, credit cards and more.
There are ways to identify and, of course, avoid scammers. Here are some tips:
Incoming phone calls
Legit companies will not call you out of the blue. Ever. If you get a call and the caller identifies themselves as Apple Support or Microsoft or any other legit company they are scammers. Hang up and block their number.
Outgoing phone calls:
This is an easy one to fall into. If you need support for a device you own, do not Google for the phone number of their support. You will likely get an imposter (scammer) with a fake website that looks just like a legit website (note the actual website address, it is probably not apple.com or microsoft.com like you were Googling for).
The correct way to find a support phone number is to go to the website of the company you want support from (apple.com, microsoft.com, canon.com or whoever). Once on their website find their support section and search there.
Websites:
If you run across a website that flashes lights, makes sounds and/or claims that your computer has a virus or infections of malware or such, they are lying. No website can see inside your computer. If it could, the Internet would be so insecure you could not use it. No one could.
The right way to deal with this is to close the browser tab you are on, or, on a Mac, go to Apple menu > Force Quit and force quit the browser you were using. Hold Shift on your keyboard and open the browser again. The bad guys will be gone.
Emails:
One way to identify a scam email is to look at the actual email address the email came from. The “From” name might look legit (like “Apple Support” or “FedEx”), but if you click on the “From” name and look at the actual email address it came from, you will often find that it is from some guy’s gmail or some other random email address.
Guess what, Apple uses email addresses that has @apple.com in it. FedEx uses email addresses with @fedex.com in it. It is pretty easy to identify a scam when you look at the email address it came from.
Ignore the legit-looking company logos, photographs, slogans and such. Those are easy for them to copy and paste from the legit company’s website.
Texts:
It is hard to fake a phone number of a friend. Often the scammers will tell you a story like - my phone died so I am using a friend’s phone. I am out of money and I need gift cards….and so on.
Other clues that you are being scammed:
Scammers mention that you have a problem (with your computer, with your social security number, with your phone). Or they will claim to have a prize for you (free phone, cash rewards, etc.). They are trying to extract information from you to steal your identity or your money.
Scammers often want to be paid in gift cards (because they are not traceable). Now, do you think a legit company runs on gift cards? No, they run on cash money. Any payment or anything involving gift cards is a scam. The same goes for prepaid debit cards, cryptocurrency, wire or money transfer, or mailing cash. They may ask for your checking account routing number and account number. Run away.
Scammers pressure you to act immediately. They want your money before you realize you have been taken to the cleaners.
If you get scammed, there are things you should do:
It really depends on what you gave the scammers (if gift cards, you just lost money, if you gave them your bank or social security info, that is yet another thing). If you have let the scammers remotely access your Mac, contact me. If you did not let them remotely access your Mac, there is not much I can do for you other than to offer this advice:
1. Change your banking and investment website passwords. While you are at it, set up 2-factor authentication if those websites allow it. Yes, it is more of a hassle, but it is way more secure than just a password.
2. Check your credit card and banking websites to look for any unauthorized activity. Notify the bank(s) if you find something.
3. Change passwords on websites on which you have credit cards stored (Amazon, Target, Walmart, etc).
Be careful out there! Don’t be fooled by who people say they are, emails that look official or websites that look like they are alerting you from inside your computer!