Posts

10 Skeevy Scams to watch

/in , , /by

You may think you’re not dumb enough to fall for scams, but consider that someone you care deeply about is naïve enough to be conned. Besides, some scams are so clever that even those who think they’re scam-proof have actually been taken for a ride.

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-online-risks-sign-road-banner-image34668294Sometimes fraudsters pose as an authority figure. Some claim you won a prize, while others claim you’re in trouble. Some even claim they’re a family member (needing money) and have figured out a way to convince you of this.

Some scams are done via e-mail, while others involve a phone call or snail mail. One common ploy is for the crook to pose as a rep from the electric company and threaten to shut off your electricity unless you pay a delinquent bill. Of course, the payment must be in the form of a reloadable debit card. People will actually give these cards to the “rep,” without calling the company to confirm the situation.

A big tip-off to a scam is that you’re told you won a prize or have been hired for employment—but must send money to get the prize or be trained for the employment.

Some scams are so very obvious, but still, people get taken, like those ridiculous e-mails claiming you inherited a windfall from some deceased prince named Gharbakhaji Naoombuule. But people actually fall for these, not considering that this same e-mail was sent to 10,000 others.

Top 10 Scams

  • Caller ID spoofing. Has your phone ever rung and you saw your phone number and name in the caller ID screen? How can your own phone be calling you? It’s a scam. Ignore it. If you pick up you’ll hear an offer for lower credit card rates. You’ll be told to press 1 to opt out—but you should not even be on that long to hear this option; you should have hung up the second you heard the credit card offer. Anyways, pressing 1 indicates your number is legitimate; it’s then sold to scammers. Caller ID spoofing is also perfect for scammers posing as the police, government agency, corporations etc all with the intention to get you to part with your money.
  • Mystery shopping. Though mystery shopping is a legitimate enterprise, scammers take advantage of this and mail out checks (phony) before the “shopping” is done. A legitimate company will never do this. They also get victims to give up credit card data to pay for getting a job!
  • Calls about unpaid taxes. Always hang up, regardless of threatening nature to pay up or else. The IRS always uses snail mail to notify people of unpaid taxes.
  • Puppy scam. You find a website offering purebred puppies at very low prices or even for free, but you’re told you must pay for shipping or transfer fees (wire transfer) to get your puppy. The money is gone and you never get your puppy.
  • You get a call from someone claiming to have found buyers for your timeshare. You receive a contract, but are told you must pay funds to cover some fees. The contract is phony.
  • Tech support. Someone calls you claiming your computer needs servicing. They’ll fix it after you give them your credit card information. Legitimate geeks don’t call people; you must call them.
  • Postcard survey. Out of the blue you’re told you’ve won a gift card, or, just take a brief survey to get one. Go along with this and soon you’ll be asked to provide your credit card number. Don’t bother. You’ll get no gift card while the crook gets your credit card information.
  • A notice says you’ve won a big fat prize. To claim it, just pay some fees. Yeah, right. Never pay fees to collect a prize!
  • You’re told you’re eligible for a grant or have been awarded one, but must first pay processing fees. Federal grants don’t require fees.
  • Subscription renewal notice. The notice says you can renew for a lower rate. Check to see if the notice was sent by the publication itself or some third party (the crook).

Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert to BestIDTheftCompanys.com discussing  identity theft prevention.

Feds warn of more Online Predators

/in /by

What goes on in the home life of a 14-year-old girl such that she feels there’s nothing better to do than send nude photos of herself to a man whom she’s been corresponding with online? Though this goes well-beyond the parents not bothering to find out what their kids do online, another huge issue is the proliferation of online predators.

2WAnd for parents who DO care enough to monitor their kids’ cyber activities, here’s some unsettling news: A 2013 survey called  Digital Deception: Exploring the Online Disconnect between Parents and Kids revealed that 69 percent of the young respondents reported they knew how to conceal their online activities from their parents. The study also showed that 80 percent of the parent-respondents said they wouldn’t even know how to figure out what their kids’ online activities were. Conclusion: Parents are clueless.

This makes it easier for predators to find victims. There’s the case of a girl who, at age 13, sent an image of herself to a 26 year old man who for the next five years cyber-harassed her, demanding more images. The girl was driven to two suicide attempts and finally alerted authorities who found him.

Another predator tricked a 15-year-old into sending him photos who turned out to be a 50 year old man. They do this by sending photos of younger cuter boys around the same age as their victim females. Parent need to have ongoing dialog with their kids that this is going on everyday somewhere and “it can happen to you too”

These act can often be prevented which once again, brings to mind what kind of parenting or lack of parenting is going on. Though parents can’t monitor their kids’ activities every second, something has to be said about why a young person’s life would be so empty that they end up sending out nude photos of themselves—even if the victim thinks the recipient is the same age!

What Parents Should Do

  • Educate kids about online predators
  • Educate yourself about online predators
  • Warn kids about never sending images into cyber space
  • Make sure kids understand that they will never be shamed for reporting a perilous situation
  • Tell kids that no matter how aggressive or threatening a cyber predator seems to be, they ultimately don’t have that much power; they’re ground meat once the authorities find them.
  • The less time kids spend tinkering around on the Internet, the less likely they’ll meet up with a predator. Get your kids involved in confidence-building activities that develop independent thinking skills and assertiveness.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

10 Tips to avoid Scams when traveling

/in , /by

Vacationers and tourists provide a vast feeding ground for all sorts of crooks: from the simple pick-pocketing specialist to the hotel room burglar to the e-thief: credit card skimming and computer crimes. You can even have your identity stolen while sunning on that white beach.

9DAvoid Traveling Scams with These Tips

  • Don’t post your vacation or other travel plans on social media. Thieves peruse social media to see who will be out of town and when.
  • Protection begins before the trip. Put a vacation hold on your snail mail.
  • Beware of hotel room scams. A person posing as front desk staff will call random hotel rooms to sucker travelers into giving up their credit card number. Never give private information over the hotel phone.
  • When using public Wi-Fi, encrypt your activities so that hackers can’t pluck them out of the air.
  • Always know where your mobile phone is, and have it protected with a password.
  • Must you always pay with a credit or debit card? Cold cash can’t be hacked into. But I still prefer credit over debit cards (and even cash).
  • Don’t withdraw more cash than you need. Don’t take out wads of high bills because you “might” spend a lot of money. And use an ATM at a bank, not a public kiosk.
  • When you do use a card (credit, not debit!), do not let the server or sales clerk walk out of your sight with it. You just never know who might be an “inside” thief.
  • As soon as you can upon returning from traveling, check your credit card statements for suspicious activity.
  • Leave the expensive jewelry, handbags, etc. at home. A thief has a lot of interest in a well-dressed person who acts like a tourist. If you want everyone to see how exorbitantly styled you are, you’ll have to include muggers and other thieves in that group.

Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert to BestIDTheftCompanys.com discussing  identity theft prevention. For Roberts FREE ebook text- SECURE Your@emailaddress -to 411247. Disclosures.

How The Internet of Things can go very wrong

/in /by

The Internet—one of history’s greatest inventions—is also one of history’s greatest platforms for crime. Here are ways things can go very wrong with the Internet of Things.

2DMed-hacking. Researchers have hacked many medical devices. Though it apparently hasn’t happened in the real world, yet, but it looks like it’s only a matter of time before medical equipment becomes hacked, such as automatic insulin pumps and pacemakers. The FDA is quite new to looking into this potential.

Sauna house. It’s possible for a hacker, if not currently, then in the near future, to get into your connected thermostat and kick it up to 120 degrees. Yes, it’s great to control the thermostat when you’re away from home…but someone else who has too much time on his hands might think that’s great, too!

Smartphones. Maybe one day it will be smarter to go back to the dumb phone. At least a dumb phone can’t be used by a hacker to turn things upside down for you, such as getting ahold of your financial account numbers or sensitive photos.

Your printer can get hacked. Someone could remotely bust into it and view your documents. A crook can infect your home printer with a Trojan to not only spy, but install malware. And if your printer is potentially a target for hackers, imagine what else around your house could be, such as your router and any other gadget that’s connected to the Internet.

From carjack to car-hack. A connected car can be hacked via its wireless enabled radio, with commands then going to the steering wheel or brakes. Know any computer geniuses who hate you and know your car is connected?

Satellite airline equipment is vulnerable to malicious invasions; this has potential repercussions to the communications involving airplanes and ships. This kind of hacking can go as far as tricking a plane to redirect its course.

The TSA carry-on baggage scanner can be hacked into and then used to get weapons past TSA checkpoints. There’s even a feature that can show fake images on the X-ray screen.

So, don’t worry about any of this. But DO something about it. At a minimum lock down your wireless with encryption. Routers come with WPA/2 security and it should be activated. Otherwise deploy antivirus, antispyware, antiphishing and a firewall.

Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert to TheBestCompanys.com discussing  identity theft prevention. For Roberts FREE ebook text- SECURE Your@emailaddress -to 411247. Disclosures.

Steps to Manage a secure online backup

/in /by

Cyber storage does not always = secure backup. Users of cloud storage have many potential tools at hand to beef up security. And just because cloud services have some loopholes doesn’t mean you should just throw in the towel, as the saying goes, and figure “What’s the point?”. Here are some ways to beef up cloud storage security and manage your online backup.1D

  • Take inventory of what’s stored in your cloud account. Evaluate how important each data item is. If the cloud service can access your data, you may want to make some adjustments, since some of your data might not be compatible with the service’s terms.
  • Consider encrypting your most sensitive data if you don’t want to remove it from the cloud and then back it up locally.
  • Don’t put all your data in one basket, either. Suppose all your data is stored in one cloud service, and that service gets hacked or something else happens and you lose your data—or it’s in the hands of thieves. If you use more than one cloud service, then at least if one gets hacked, you’re not totally screwed. Think of this as being like having your precious jewels locked in several small safes throughout your house, rather than in one giant safe. What are the odds that an intruder will find all the safes and get into all of them?
  • If your cloud account has any devices, services or applications linked, very carefully inspect and modify their settings to optimize security. Discard useless, old, unused connections so they don’t become portals to your data.
  • Use two-factor authentication on every cloud password when available. If the service doesn’t offer two-factor, consider dumping it.
  • Make your answers to security questions crazy-nutty, but also memorable.
  • Assess your cloud passwords. They should be very different from each other. If you can’t handle memorizing a bunch of long, convoluted passwords (which are the best kind), use a password manager.

Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert to TheBestCompanys.com discussing  identity theft prevention. For Roberts FREE ebook text- SECURE Your@emailaddress -to 411247. Disclosures.

Beware These College-Related Scams

/in /by

The last group of college students has headed off to school for another semester of dorm rooms, late-night library sessions, and the occasional college party. For many students, college is the first time they’ve lived away from home. They are young, open to new things, and sometimes, naïve. These traits make them prime targets for scams.

9DHere are some of the most popular college scams:

  • Fake College Websites
    Here’s how this works. Scammers copy a college’s website but use a fictitious name on the site (in essence creating a spoofed site). They use this site to collect application fees and gather personal information. They even go so far as to send out rejection letters to applicants to try and “maintain” their credibility. But all this application will get you is financial loss and the potential to be victim for future phishing scams.
  • Diploma Mills
    These are unaccredited colleges or universities that provide illegal degrees and diplomas for money. Many spoofed college websites are also used as diploma mills. Though some diploma mills may require students to buy books, do homework and even take tests, the student will be passed no matter what. In some cases, users get a diploma simply by purchasing it. In any case, you’re out of money and have no valid diploma.
  • Fake Scholarships
    Let’s face it. College is not cheap. Therefore, many students look for scholarships to help ease the financial cost. Scammers profit on this need by creating fake scholarships, which require you to submit a fee when applying for the money. You never see a dime and you’ve lost that application fee as well as given up some of your personal info.
  • Wi-Fi Scams
    Computers are an essential part of the college experience and wi-fi connectivity is a necessity. So while you may not want to pay or can’t afford to pay for wi-fi connectivity, you need to be careful when using free wi-fi as hackers can easily intercept your communications.

So while college is a time to learn and experience new things, you also want to avoid getting scammed. So here’s some tips on how to make sure you don’t get taken by one of these scams:

  • To protect yourself, develop the habit of not giving personal information to strangers and double check the authenticity of the organization.
  • Before sending in any online application, double check the accreditation for any college or university. In the United States, you can do that on the Department of Education site.
  • Verify that a scholarship is valid, by checking with an organization like FinAid.org.
  • Avoid doing any sensitive transactions like shopping or banking when using free wi-fi connections.

Yes, there are plenty of scams out there. But with common sense and a willingness to double-check, students can avoid being lured in.

Have a great school year!

For more tips on how to stay safe online, follow McAfee on Twitter or like them on Facebook.

Robert Siciliano is an Online Security Expert to McAfee. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Mobile was Hacked!  Disclosures.

Back to School Time Means Online Safety Time

/in /by

It’s August which for parents (and kids) means it is back to school time. It can be easy to reminisce about your school days—passing notes to the cute girl or boy in class, late-night study sessions with friends, or playing tag on the playground.

4HBut your kids’ school experience is way different from when you were in school. Snapchat, Facebook, and text messaging have replaced those folded handwritten notes. Educational apps have replaced flash cards. A lot of your kids have their own smartphone or are probably asking for them.

Your kids are growing up as digital natives, with technology playing a part in almost every aspect of their lives. In a study conducted earlier this year, McAfee found that 54% of teens and tweens spend more than 10 hours online per week and over 60% use either Snapchat, YouTube or Instagram on a daily basis.

And while our kids may be digitally savvy, McAfee found that while 90% of tweens and teens believe their parents trust them to do what is right online, almost half (45%) would change their online behavior if they knew their parents were watching.  So it’s critical that we stay one step ahead of our kids.

With all this technology available, there comes new responsibilities for us as parents. It’s important that we take the time to teach our children how to safely navigate the digital world. Here’s some ways to protect your kids online:

  • Turn off GPS services. Encourage your child to disable this option to keep their location invisible to strangers.
  • Enable privacy settings. This is something we should all do and the McAfee study found that over 1/3 of youth did not use these on their social networking profiles.
  • Discuss the reality of cyberbullying. In the McAfee study, 87% of kids have witnessed cyberbullying and 24% said they would not know what to do if they were cyberbullied.
  • Teach them what is appropriate to share. 50% of tweens and teens share their email address, while 30% post their phone number and a whopping 14% posted their home address.

To help keep our kids safe online, McAfee and HP have teamed together to promote online safety during the Back to School season —and give you a chance to win prizes. To learn more, go to www.BTStips.com to enter to win!

For more tips, like McAfee on Facebook or follow them on Twitter.

Cheers to a safe, fun school year!

Robert Siciliano is an Online Security Expert to McAfee. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Mobile was Hacked!  Disclosures.

Beware of 5 Summertime Scams

/in /by

The Better Business Bureau says beware of big summertime scams: five in particular.

9D“Wow, it’s a steal!” No, that’s not necessarily from the customer; it’s from the crook who entices the consumer with an irresistible deal involving airfare and room and board. If you see a deal that seems too good to be true, do an online search of the associated phone number and address, whatever it takes to confirm legitimacy.

Seasonal jobs. Con artists like to target high school and college students especially. Be careful about job ads stating that no experience is needed, though these can be legit. However, be extra cautious if the company requires you to pay for training or to pay for a background check.

Concert tickets. Con artists will attempt to resell the same ticket over and over, as the ticket can be printed out when a concert venue sells it directly from their website. Be suspicious of someone giving you a sob story for why they must sell their ticket. Be leery of those who will take only a cash payment.

Movers. Planning on moving this summer? Beware of whom you hire, and take a second look at a price that seems like an outrageously good deal. A cost that’s quoted online or over the phone isn’t always carved out in stone. Don’t just hire without first checking them out, even if they were recommended by friends or a service person you recently hired and were pleased with.

Door to door sales. Don’t be swayed by someone at your door. Get everything in writing before you hire someone, be it for landscaping or a security system. Never sign a contract that lacks a start and finish date.

Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert to BestIDTheftCompanys.com discussing  identity theft prevention. For Roberts FREE ebook text- SECURE Your@emailaddress -to 411247. Disclosures.

How to Prevent Summertime Scams

/in , /by

Summertime is here…and that means sunshine and vacations. Most people love summertime, including scammers! Hackers can use this time to take advantage while we are planning vacations or on vacation or just enjoying fun in the sun. Here are some key scams to watch out for this summer:9D

  • Family or Friend Requests Money
    You receive an email from a friend or family member. They tell you a sob story and say they need money. It sure seems like the right person. You even ask them for more details and they give them spot-on. Convinced they’re the real McCoy, you wire them money. But what you just did was wire money to an imposter who got all those personal details off social media. One way to prevent this it to establish a secret code that your friends and family promises not to post on social media (and the code should be a nonsensical sentence or something that isn’t easily guessed). If a person can’t type out this secret code, then you know it’s a scam. Another way to avoid this scam is to always speak live to the person asking for the money.
  • Home Improvement
    Summer is when homeowners are most gullible to people offering home repairs. In many of these cases, repairmen do only superficial repairs to make something look nicer or others take your deposit money and then disappear into thin air. To avoid this, make sure you check references and be leery of anyone appearing out of the blue offering home improvement services or those who are not insured.
  • Moving Scams
    As summer is a time when many people move homes, it’s also a time ripe for moving scams. You could experience something like the moving company suddenly charging you more if you want your belongings unloaded from the truck. To avoid moving scams, be careful when you choose a moving company, check references and make sure you use an accredited moving firm.
  • Vacation Rental Scams
    Vacations are something you want to enjoy and getting a great deal makes it even better. But not if it’s a sham. Scammers offer deals on vacation rentals and then you arrive to find that the keys don’t work or worse—the rental is an empty lot. Before you pay for a vacation rental, make sure that the rental address exists by using Google Earth search. And just like other things, get references and only rent from trusted sites like TripAdvisor.
  • Online Employment Ads
    If you’re job searching, you need to be aware. This scam is usually found on free job listing sites, but can be found in emails too. The red flag is when they want YOU to pay THEM (never mind how legitimate it sounds) or they ask you for a ton of personal information like your driver’s license or birthdate. Just don’t give out your information. Stick to well-known job sites when hunting online.

Summer is a time that we should all enjoy—both online and offline. Make sure you educate yourself on the latest scams and be wary of things that seem too good to be true. Remember, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Stay safe this summer!

Robert Siciliano is an Online Security Expert to McAfee. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Mobile was Hacked!  Disclosures.

Spring Clean Your Online Reputation

/in /by

Spring is fast approaching, which means that spring break and college graduation are not too far away. Things could get ugly if your friends take photos of you acting foolish and then post them online for everyone to see.

14DWhether you’re searching for your next career move or are on the verge of graduation and feverishly sending out your resume, like it or not, potential employers are going online and Googling you. (Yes, Googling is considered a verb now.) Every time they find something online that is appropriate, they print it out and attach it to your resume. While I can’t confirm whether or not people are pulling your past and laughing at your expense, let’s just say I’d put money on it.

When was the last time you cleaned up your online (especially on social media) profile so that prospective employers can’t discover “bad” things about you? McAfee conducted a study, and the results show that 13.7% of people ages 18-24 know someone who was given the pink slip, courtesy of online postings.

Job seekers and upcoming college graduates take note: Difficulty getting or keeping a job due to negative social media content is a reality. I assure you anything on your social media profile that makes you look less than desirable as an employee, even an innocuous comment such as, “I always have trouble being on time,” can kill your chances at getting that dream job.

Tips on how you (the job seeker) can make your online profile look good:

DON’T:

  • Don’t friend someone you don’t know, just so you can crank up that friend-total tally. (Wow, 8,000 friends! Really?)
  • Don’t let anyone photograph or video you holding alcohol, smoking, being promiscuous or aggressive, shirtless, using vulgar gestures, or even doing something perfectly legal but stupid looking like the seflie fishy face.
  • Don’t use offensive language online, even if your privacy settings are at the highest. If you really need to get your point across, use “fudge,” “freakin,” “effing,” etc.
  • Don’t log on when your judgment may be compromised by raging hormones or alcohol/drugs.
  • Don’t negatively comment online about any person in authority (your boss, former boss, parents, a political candidate). Exception: The object of your scathing remark is a puppy beater.

DO:

  • Make sure your social network privacy settings are on high, but remember that this doesn’t give you the green light to be inappropriate.
  • Look at the past year of what you’ve posted on social media profiles. Delete every photo, video and comment that is even remotely off color.
  • Google your name, address, phone number, email address and pseudonyms to see what’s out there about you. If it’s bad and it’s deleteable, then delete.
  • If it’s not deleteable, but under the control of someone else, see what your options are to have them remove it. Email, call, beg and plead if you must.
  • Once you’ve removed what you can then start the process of pushing out good stuff. This means propagating social and search with digital content that would make your mother actually proud she spawned you. The more good stuff that shows on the first few pages of search, the more the bad stuff will be pushed down into the abyss.

If you are saying “I’m not concerned, my life is an open book, if a potential employer doesn’t want to hire me because of who I am, then I don’t want that job anyway.” Fine. But when it comes time to pay the bills, you’ve been forewarned.

You may be a college grad with a 170 IQ or a businessman with 10 years of experience, but to a prospective employer, your fishy face selfie makes you look like a tool. Be careful what you do online!

Robert Siciliano is an Online Security Expert to McAfee. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Mobile was Hacked!  Disclosures.