Most scams, hoaxes, malware and ransomware starts with a phishing e-mail, designed to trick you into giving out your personal information, account sign-in credentials, or credit card. The phishing e-mail asks you to click a link, open an attachment or call a phone number. The scammer wants your valuables: your identity, money, account access or to infect your device with spyware and malware. They may send spam from your email to your contacts,
With the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Phishing e-mails are more sophisticated, have better spelling and grammar, look more real, and can fool even the most savvy computer users. The best clue that the e-mail is phishing is to check the e-mail FROM address; hover over the sender’s name - if it does not match the company name in the message, it is a phishing scam.
Scammers are masters of social engineering - getting you to do what they want. Phishing e-mails appeal to your emotions and curiosity, often impersonating trusted companies by using their logos. Here are frequent e-mail scams and what NOT TO DO:
- 1) ”Greed” (too good to be true!)
- to claim your $100 gift card from [CVS / Target / Home Depot / …] complete this survey.
- You did not win anything; DO NOT fill out any unsolicited surveys. - 2) “Fear” (scares you)
- call or click for a refund if you did not make this large purchase from [Amazon / Xfinity / …]
- There is no purchase on your credit card; DO NOT call the scammer or click any links. - 3) “Protection Expired” (cause for concern)
- Your [Norton / McAfee / …] security has expired and you will be charged $hundreds to renew.
- You do not have this software; you are not being charged; DO NOT call the number in the email. - 4) “Need Your Personal Information” (promise of a windfall)
- Need your personal information to release millions of dollars found at [airport / embassy / post office / inheritance /African country …]
- There is no money. DO NOT provide any personal information to anyone you do not know. - 5) “New Medical Information” (makes you nervous)
- Need your medicare number to issue you a new card [claims to be from Social Security Office]
- DO NOT give out your medicare number or personal information to anyone
- 6) “Package not Delivered” (curiosity)
- Your [DHL / UPS / FedEx / USPS …] Package Was Not Delivered; click the attachment for details
- There is no package. DO NOT click. This delivers malware to your computer. - 7) Multiple e-mails about same topic (Scam-in-a-Box)
- Scammers bought e-mail addresses and how to run a scam to steal your money or identity
- DELETE all of the duplicate emails.
I will cover how to recognize phishing emails in my hands-on workshop about Cleaning Up Your E-Mail on March 1. I am committed to protect your computers at an affordable price. Thank you for trusting me to keep your computers healthy. Contact us at 239-567-0104 when it is time to renew your protection software, if you want to enroll in a workshop, or if you need computer and internet help. Be well.
By Linda Lindquist, February 12, 2024
https://www.computerandinternethelp.com/contact-us
