How to Protect yourself from Online Scams!

 

We would all love to live in the ideal world where everything is safe and secure; but hackers try to stay a step ahead with ever-evolving methods and target to steal valuable personal data.Safeguarding while you are online is the key to prevention. Our information online is subject to myriad risks and Online Scams are simply different types of Internet based fraud. They occur through various ways such as phishing emails, fake antivirus scams, online shopping scams, impersonation on social media, job offer scams, economic scams like ‘make money fast’ and scareware. So what is at risk? Almost all scams target our money - Credit card information, identity information like our date of birth, address and user IDs/passwords that we use to access our different online accounts.

The eventual perpetrators usually sit in pockets of the world where justice is hard won or difficult to reach. Many times, they simply go undetected. Buy an Antivirus Online like K7 Total Security  to shield your financial data and personal information from unauthorized access and malicious software. While attack tactics and tools vary, defending your computer and data is all about the right and Best Antivirus for your usage.

 

 

Here are a few Online Scams that you should be wary of:

 

Online Shopping Scams:

According to Better Business Bureau Scam Tracker Risk Report, the median dollar loss due to online scams rose to $160 in 2019 from $152 in 2018.  The report also further states that online purchase scams formed more that 24.3 percent of all scams that were reported in 2019.

A majority of these scams occur exactly at the time of making payment. The purchase of clothing, jewelry and apparels have a high exposure to online scams and frauds and top the list with 31.2 % exposure and 91.3 % susceptibility. Shopping scammers simply rip of unsuspecting shoppers using the anonymous nature of the internet. The most recent version of an online shopping scam is the use of social media platforms to set up a bogus store. The usually sell fake clothing brands or jewelry, and disappear after a few sales. The best way to check on them is to Google for reviews about the store before making a purchase. 

The best antivirus software comes with a whole range of protection and alerts that will be able to give you alerts as soon as you enter any malicious website or link. However, research well, before you buy an Antivirus Online

 

COVID 19 Online Scams:

The pandemic has also led to an online ambush. With the world going online to avoid contact, it gives scammers more room to access valuable personal information.

Scammers call or email asking for confirmation on your bank account number, address and other details and talk about your health insurance policy and a possible upgrade, which would include reimbursement for COVID 19 treatments. Ensure you double check in this with your health insurance company.

Emails and calls on cures and offers from fake websites and social media shopping sites on essential COVID 19 products like masks, hand-sanitizers, and test kits and these products never arrive.

Websites and emails that impersonate government authorities offering COVID 19 information that actually skim data and information from your device.

Phishing:

The most notorious form of Online Scam, it is where the online fraudster sends out phishing (the practice of sending fraudulent emails that would induce the reader to divulge sensitive or personal data) emails.  The content of these mails look like a message or mailer that comes from a bank, or a website that you normally visit. For example, an online shopping store, a promotional email from the bank you have an account, or a cloud storage company offering you a huge discount on data storage.

 

Here are a few pervasive types of phishing attacks:

Spear Phishing: While many phishing emails target almost everyone, spear phishing emails target high profile business executives or public personas, basically lucrative targets. These emails are drafted after a good research on the target profile and the emails read very professional.

Business Email Compromise: These are emails sent by scammers that look like the ones being sent from a close business associate or from a company associated with the target company very closely. They request for urgent action, either for the purchase of equipment or a pending payment that the hacker already knows etc., these kinds of emails contribute to considerable cybercrime related business losses.

Pharming: A technically sophisticated form of phishing, it is also known as DNS poisoning that involves the Internet’s Domain Name System. The hacker is able to reroute legitimate organic traffic to a spoofed webpage to capture data and valuable information without the user’s knowledge.

Many Antivirus software programs offer anti-phishing defenses, but ensure you check on this before you opt for them. So, buying an Antivirus Online that offers a blanket of defenses against viruses, spyware and malicious attempts. However, warding off a phishing attempt depends so much on your ability to call out a liar!

 

Online Dating and Partner Frauds:

Some of the biggest frauds happen when we trust that one person blindly. ‘Love is blind’ and that is the only reason for almost all online dating frauds. This is usually a person posing to be an intimate lover from a faraway country. Slowly but surely they get the victim into their confidence. The absolute financial value of these frauds are usually higher especially when the fraudsters know that the victim has little or no experience on social media platforms. There have been instances where the fraudster tricks the victim about living in a different country and promising to send a gift. The victim then gets bogus calls from people posing to be custom officials, saying that there is a package that needs to be cleared after the payment of a fee, which is usually ranges from three or five lakhs. These imposters ask for the money to be transferred or wired to an account for them to dispatch the package.

Dating sites have also been on a rampage these days. There have been so many instances where men are contacted with the promise of a date and asked for a security deposit. The dates just don’t take place and the fraudster simply blocks you on social media and goes on to make money with others who are desperate.

Ensure you download the best Antivirus software and keep the security of your computer and data intact as these imposters have different ways entering your Inbox and spamming you with emails and messages.

 

Social Media Scams: We start our days with a morning peek into our social media accounts. As an active part of our everyday life, the tremendous success and popularity of social media also comes with a dark side as well. As social beings, we all tend to go the popular way or where the hype is on. And when the crowd cheers, hackers cheer-up!

-          Blind clicking of shortened URL’s – These shortened URL’s can be seen everywhere on Twitter. Once you click on these sites, it installs all sorts of malware.  Real time protection like K7 Total Security against viruses and malware, helps you enjoy your time on social media with confidence.

-          Friend Imposters – Social media sites are also vulnerable to identity theft and you can get a message from a friend saying he’s needs money to be transferred to an account or number as he is stranded somewhere. This could be because of your friend’s malware infected computer which possibly grabs all contacts and sends them a message. So call your friend first before you even click anything on that message.

Not falling prey to social media scams depends so much on your ability to wait and make sure that the person is for real and their intentions harmless. Sadly, even the best antivirus or software programs cannot do that for you. So, stay on guard whenever there is money involved.

 

 

Fake Websites

These websites cleverly resemble a legitimate e-commerce or online shopping website. Everything about their images, color schema and logo look almost like the exact same copy. So watch out before you make any transaction on them. Check the legitimacy of the URL. If you see any letters out of place or a wrong domain extension that’s a warning sign to check again.  Organizations in serious businesses like banks, definitely have a legitimate SSL/TLS layer and you can see their website URLs start with HTTPS and not with HTTP.  As this prevents communication being intercepted between the user and the organization. And never trust a HTTP site with your private data.

 

Keeping your browsing experience safe is all about protecting yourself at place you visit in the online world and that can be as easy as buying an Antivirus Online. Secure your personal data, while getting timely alerts on malicious websites and applications.