Online Scam Warnings

[kelleigh1]

Most of us here on the DIS are probably pretty well aware that there are many online scams out there, and we probably know enough not to give out any personal info (ie. bank account, credit card, pin #'s, social security #) online or in response to any emails that we receive. But what about the casual internet user?

Do your parents or grandparents have email? Do they know about the scams that are out there?

Yesterday, a coworker of mine fell for a scam. She's an older women, a little older than my parents. She's not actively online the way that I am, so she's not aware of the scams that are out there. She received an email which was supposedly from her internet provider indicating that there was some issue with her account. She didn't think twice about it and followed the instructions in the email - providing all of her personal info. Thankfully, almost immediately after she finished, something clicked in her head that she probably shouldn't have had to put in all that information for them, so she logged onto her provider website and requested help. That's when she discovered that she had indeed been scammed.

She immediately called her bank and the appropriate credit bureaus to alert them. Thankfully both her provider and her bank told her exactly what to do, so the service on their ends was great.

But it got me to thinking...if my parents had a computer (they don't - at home or at work and my father thinks they are the root of all evil), I'd make sure that they knew about these scams and what to do if they ever received this type of email.

I think that as the computer generation, it's probably our responsibility to make sure that our parents and grandparents and any other casual internet / email users we know are aware of these scams so they don't get conned.

So a few tips we should probably share with everyone...and please add your own too:

~Never give out personal information online in response to an unsolicited email.
~Your bank and credit card companies will never ask for your PIN # or the 3-digit access code that is on the back of your card.
~If you receive a questionable email, don't open it and/or don't click on any links within the email. Go to the website directly and check your account that way.
~Forward questionable emails to the company directly. Most companies have a department that handles scam or "spoof" emails and they will usually let you know with 24 hours if the email you receive was actually generated by them.

 

[escape]

Great information.

I'm constantly reminding my FIL about this sort of stuff but I'm still afraid he's going to answer one of these emails some day. He's way too trusting.

 

[Dopey Sharon]

I got that email, yesterday, from Comcast. It really did look like it was from Comcast, until I started reading what they wanted...my cc account numbers, my pin numbers, social security number, my mother's maiden name, etc.

This is the third or fourth one I've received. I just got one last month! There's information on Comcast's home page, telling you what to do when you get one of these "phishing" emails.

I thought the same thing as you did. What if I was an older person who didn't really think about it and put all that information in? I wonder how many people do give them all that information?

It's a shame that this goes on.