How to identify and avoid online scams
Mark Bishop
The Internet can be a very dangerous place for many reasons. One such reason is a fraudulent activity commonly referred to as a scam.
Scams come in various forms and ways, but the most common is through email and websites. The main reason behind an online scam is to either defraud the victim financially or trick them into performing an action they wouldn't normally do.
Amidst the torrent of spam being distributed across the Internet on a daily basis, there are always a number of scam emails. As a general rule, whilst spam will normally try to sell you something, a scam will claim to be giving you something for free, but then tell you that you need to do something first.
Scam emails that try to trick you into opening an attachment
A scam email may try to disguise itself as a genuine email you would regularly receive from a trusted source such as a bill from your mobile telephony provider or a receipt for an online transaction. In this case, if the scam is disguising itself as something you don't normally receive, then it is fairly easy to identify. If however it is disguising itself as something you normally receive, you will need a sharper eye in order to avoid falling victim to a scam.
As a general rule, it is never a good idea to open email attachments blindly based solely on confidence, because this is exactly the weakness that the mastermind behind the scam wants to exploit. Instead, you should invest a few seconds to suss out the authenticity of the email itself. Many scam emails will bear a considerable number of grammar and spelling mistakes, whilst others will be visibly different from the genuine counterpart, such as lower quality images and somewhat broken layout. Always treat these features as suspicious, and when in doubt seek an expert opinion.
In these cases, opening the malicious attachment could do anything from stealing sensitive information such as passwords, to opening a backdoor on your computer which can later be used by a criminal to perform illegal activities at your expense.
Scam email that try to convince you to do something you shouldn't be doing
Many other scam emails will try to exploit common weaknesses in people such as sympathy and the allure to wealth. Some may tell you that you won a lottery but you will need to do or share something in order to claim it - don't! Others may ask you to help some widow transfer her late husband's wealth out of Congo or Nigeria - don't! Some may even disguise themselves as a friend who has been mugged and left stranded abroad, asking for your help to lend some money.
Scam websites
Besides email, the other major delivery platform for scams are websites. Like email, a website may try to disguise itself as another popular website, with very little differences, commonly using slightly misspelled address variations from the genuine website's address to capture common typing mistakes. The same sharp eye policy applies here. If a website you normally visit is behaving in a strange way, such as asking you to download and install some software update to be able to watch videos and access other content, then the chances are that you have hit a scam site so be vigilant and double check everything.
Some scam sites try take advantage of popular keywords with the hope to rank well in search engines and eventually reach many potential victims. Always be wary of websites that claim to offer stuff for free, especially if you are asked to either download something or to enter sensitive information.
As a general rule, never give out money or personal information under any circumstance, no matter how genuine and harmless the asking party may appear.
Mark Bishop is the head of the Alert eBusiness Data Centre. For more information about business continuity and other data centre services go to www.alert.com.mt Member of Alert Group - www.alertgroup.com.mt
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Sparkasse Bank Malta plc forms part of the Austrian Savings Banks and Erste Bank Group, known throughout Austria and Central Europe as a leading Banking and Financial Services Group serving over 17 million customers from 3,200 branches in 8 different countries and employing over 50,000 people. The group has been in Banking since 1817.
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www.sparkasse-bank-malta.com
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