In today’s digital age, it is essential to be aware of various online threats and take necessary precautions to stay safe. I thought it would be helpful to provide you with a detailed yet easy-to-understand guide to social engineering, scams, and spam. By learning about these threats, you’ll be better equipped to protect yourself online, over the phone, and through any mail received.
- Social Engineering:
Social engineering is a technique used by cybercriminals to manipulate people into revealing sensitive information or performing actions that benefit the attacker. It often involves psychological tricks and relies on exploiting human vulnerabilities, such as trust, fear, or curiosity.
What to watch out for:
- Unsolicited emails, messages, or phone calls from unfamiliar sources.
- Urgent requests for personal information or immediate action.
- People impersonating well-known organizations, friends, or family members.
How to protect yourself:
- Verify the identity of the person or organization contacting you, especially if they’re requesting sensitive information.
- Be cautious when opening attachments or clicking links, even from known contacts.
- Enable multi-factor authentication on your online accounts to add an extra layer of security.
- Use a secure password management app/software such as 1Password.
- Scams:
Scams are fraudulent schemes designed to deceive people and steal their money, personal information, or both. Scammers use a variety of tactics to create a sense of urgency, appeal to emotions, or appear legitimate.
What to watch out for:
- Emails or messages containing poor grammar, spelling, or inconsistencies in formatting.
- Emails or messages claiming you’ve won a prize like a gift card or credit, inherited money, or need to confirm account details.
- Requests to send money or provide banking information. Unusual requests such as asking you to update your account details after a recent security breach or similar “urgent” issue (Was there a security breach? Make sure you pay attention to what they’re asking for) . If the email asks you to visit a link or page, and input your Username/Email, Password, and confirm your Social Security Number (and possibly other personal information such as name, address, etc) – That would be a red flag! Why? On the real bank website, you would never verify more than your Username/Email, Password, and (possibly) a Security Question you would need to answer or code sent to your phone that you would need to verify. The email you were sent was fake, and the site you visited was also fake!
How to protect yourself:
- Research the legitimacy of any company or individual before engaging with them.
- Be skeptical of unsolicited offers or opportunities that seem too good to be true.
- Never send money or provide personal or account-related information to unverified sources.
- Know what you have, and where you have it! The information a scammer provides you is often false or misleading. Do not fall for any tricks i.e. a rough example being “Domain Registry Services” that are not required – By knowing who your domain registrar is, you know that type of “service” is truly not needed nor offered by the company you have your domain registered with.
- Spam:
Spam refers to unwanted, unsolicited emails, messages, or calls. While some spam may be relatively harmless, others can contain phishing links, malware, or scams.
What to watch out for:
- Emails or messages from unknown senders.
- Messages with generic greetings, such as “Dear user” or “Hello friend” or a Partial Name/Title/Username used from a well-known site or service (sometimes, these are easy to spot due to how the username is not your real name, making them obvious).
- Emails or messages containing multiple links or attachments.
How to protect yourself:
- Use an email provider with built-in spam filters.
- Do not respond to, click on links, or open attachments from unsolicited emails or messages.
- Report spam emails or messages to your email provider or the appropriate authorities.
- Ensure you’re utilizing email protection in your anti-virus and anti-malware protection software so all incoming emails are scanned for possible threats.
- Install and configure anti-spam plugins on your WordPress site, which help deter and prevent spam. This same practice should be followed on all sites you interact with, not only for increased security for the site but also for all those who use a site. When you browse online, it’s often assumed every site is safe, but many factors can lead to a site with malicious code or software installed; many site owners are unaware their site is compromised until it’s too late – ensuring your site is always up to date, is the best practice to follow for everyone involved.
In conclusion, it’s essential to remain vigilant and take appropriate precautions to protect yourself from these threats. Always verify information, think critically about unusual requests, and invest in good cybersecurity practices.
Feel free to share this article with friends and family to help them stay informed and safe too!
If you have any questions or need more information, don’t hesitate to reach out.