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Advice about Online and Electronic Communications Safety  Electronic media offers huge convenience and great opportunities for entertainment, but also has a dark side, in that it also provides many opportunities for those whose intentions are not good. Dangers are present in every form of electronic media, with more threats seeming to appear every day. It has now become critical that we all be very aware of these dangers and become very pro-active at taking precautions to ensure our own safety. |
Using the phone.
Text Messages.
The telephone, especially mobile/cell phones have unquestionably transformed our lives. However, they have also proven to be a 'gold-mine' for scammers and fraudsters.
Such people are able to use mobile phone technology to send out hundreds of texts per day, using machines that use tens of sim cards at a time. These texts are always cleverly worded to try to get the recipients to contact them, ultimately for the purpose of being tricked into handing over their bank details. They are also able to use internet-based phone technology to imitate local numbers from overseas, creating the illusion of being legitimate.
Never reply to, or click on a link sent in a text message from an unknown sender. If unsure, always 'google' the destination and use the link that Google offers.
Phone Calls.
One might also include in this category not only scam callers, but also other unwanted pest callers such as cold sales-callers and callers soliciting "charity" donations, often of a very questionable nature. These callers often call at meal times or late at night when people are likely to be at home and tired at the end of the day.
Scam phone callers are today becoming increasingly common and are unbelievably brazen and aggressive in their approach. Sadly, often a regular feature of a scam call is an accent from certain countries, some of which having governments which allow, even encourage such activities as it brings money into their countries. Needless to say, the police from these countries make little effort to prosecute these criminal activities.
Scam callers are often very unprofessional in their conduct. If an unknown caller contacts you, and demonstrates an attitude of aggressiveness or rudeness, hang up immediately and block their number. Genuine callers will never behave in such a manner, but scammers often do. Such behavior is a certain sign of a criminal at work.
Never give an unknown caller access to your computer, either directly or by allowing them to tell you what to do. They are almost certainly looking for your banking details. And never give over your credit-card, debit-card or banking details to any unknown person who calls you.
Also be aware that scammers will often keep lists of phone details which they will either reuse with different scams, or on-sell to other scammers, so the same victims could be targeted multiple times.
Never, under any circumstances, give your banking details to an unknown person or allow any unknown person access to your personal computer (using remote access services such as 'anydesk' or 'teamviewer'), and never, under any circumstances whatsoever, give an unknown person your bank account or credit card details. No reputable person will ever call or text you and ask for these details.
Another common scam involves scammers ringing and claiming that they are from the tax department, bank, phone company or other such authority, business or utility, demanding that "outstanding accounts" be paid for using "gift-cards" from itunes, google, steam or other such gift-cards. No utility or business will ever demand payment by gift-cards. This is a certain sign of a scam. Hang up on such callers immediatly and block their number.
If someone 'cold calls' you about your account, ask them to identify themselves by telling you your account number, your address or some other details which, if they were genuine, they would certainly know. If they don't know ther answers, lookout!
If you are not sure, then hang up and call the alleged organization yourself directly using the details that you have on record or from the 'phonebook'. Don't use any details that the caller provides.
The best advice is that if any person calls who is not known to you, simply decline the call. This will give the caller the opportunity to leave a recorded message, after which you can call them back. Genuine callers will normally do so, but scammers virtually never do, in which case the number should be blocked. It is also wise to set your phone to block all calls from 'unknown numbers', as this is also a strong indicater of a dishonest caller.
Probably the simplest and most effective advice is to make a rule of never, under any circumstances whatsoever, doing business of any kind with any person who unexpectedly calls, texts or emails you.
Scam Emails.
Probably the place where electronic scamming began, emails are still a very major source of scam traps. Fortunately, there are ways of detecting them.
First and foremost, the same rule applies as with phone calls and text messages: that is, never do business with or give your financial details to any person who is not known to you who tries to contact you using any form of electronic media.
Things to look out for in emails include:
Hover the cursor over the return address. Is the address the same as in the address bar? If not, it is probably a scam.
Did they address you by name? Any organization emailing their clients will always know who their clients are and address them by name.
Is the English grammar and spelling correct? With scam emails, the grammar and spelling are often (but not always) terrible.
Are there click-through links in the email? If so, it is highly likely to be a scam. Reputable businesses never use these in emails.
Is the sender offering unbelievably good opportunities? As in - too good to be true?
Ask yourself - is there any real reason why such a 'good offer' would be made by a stranger to you? If there is no reason, beware.
Is the email very 'endearing' or does it appeal in any way to your emotions? Again, it is likely to be scam bait.
Does the sender go to great lengths to identify themself as someone significant, such as 'Rev.', 'Dr.', 'Sir', 'Admiral', or similar? Look out!
If there are 'facebook', 'twitter' or other social-media icons included, do these links work? If not, this is a sign of a scam email.
Above all, be very suspicious of any email from any person who you don't know. Don't trust any such emails.If unsure, give the company or organisation that supposedly sent the email a phone-call and check.
Scam Websites.
It is not only emails that can lead to scams, but there are also some very well developed and very convincing but very fake websites as well.
As with any scams, their object is to deceive you into handing over your money.
One well known example is the Pacific Tycoon scam. This set-up actually consists of at least two independent websites for companies that do not exist, pacifictycoon com and davenportlaroche com. They provide authentic appearing documentation and regularly appear to exchange trade between themselves. There may be others as well. In reality however, they are nothing but a well polished scam. There are many independent reviews, easily 'googled' and found, all attesting to the fraudulent nature of this operation, despite the smooth and polished appearance of their web sites and documentation.
The lesson here is not to take any website at face-value, regardless of how good it looks. Never underestimate the ability of a fraudster to present a slick and convincing presentation. After all - that's the primary weapon which they use to deceive you.
QR Codes
There can be no doubt that those little square dotty labels that you can scan with your phone to bring up all manner of websites have made life much more convenient for all of us. That includes scammers, who can never let a chance go by.
Before scanning a QR code, always check that the code is coming from a reputable source and that it has not been tampered with, for example, by having a sticker with another code placed over it.
Whenever you scan a code to bring up a website, always check to make sure that it actually is the site you are expecting. Check the address bar in particular to make certain that the spelling of the website is perfectly correct. Be alert for subtle differences such as "successrefundservice.somesite.com.au", "successrefindservice.com.au", "successrefudnservice.com.au" or "successrefundservice.org.au" for example, instead of the correct address of "successrefundservice.com.au". Such differences are a certain indicator that something is not right.
ATM Card skimming
This is when devices are used to extract your card information without your knowledge.
The are two main types. The first consists of a small device that scammers fit over the card inlet on ATM machines so that your card has to pass through it to go into the machine. This may also be combined with a video camera placed to record your PIN nimber input.
The second is where your card data is skimmed using portable RFID detectors, similar to the card "tap" facility used at checkouts. Passports can also be skimmed in the same way.
When using the ATM, always check that there are no devices fitted over the card input. Such devices may look like foreign attachments, or may be loose rather than tightly fitted, or may simply look out of place. And always cover your hand with your other hand when inputting your PIN to ensure that it is not visable.
When storing cards and other documents using RFID chip technology, it is highly advisable to invest in a purse or wallet that has built-in RFID shielding, which will prevent your card or document data from being skimmed in this way.
Social Media.
The dangers of this one are well known and well publicized. Here are some links which discuss these dangers much more thoroughly than I can.
https://www.kaspersky.com/resource-center/preemptive-safety/top-10-preemptive-safety-rules-and-what-not-to-do-online
https://raisingchildren.net.au/school-age/media-technology/online-safety/internet-safety-6-8-years
https://www.esafety.gov.au/
And there are many others.
Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Artificial intelligence is the latest major development in the IT world. Unfortunately it is also providing new and innovative opportunities for scammers.
One technique which they are using is to use AI to mimic the voices of family members, delivering messages of distress and asking for money. Families are thinking that they are assisting a family member in distress, only to later discover that they have been robbed.
If a family members calls and asks for money, always call them back and check that it is, in fact your family member and not a computer imitating their voice. It would also be wise to ask their birthday or some other identity confirming questions as well, or even to organize a "safe-word" that can be asked to confirm who they are, just to be sure.
Other AI scams can occur where scammers use AI to create highly personalized but very fake photos or emails pretending to come from family members or loved ones.
More information about this can be found by doing a 'google' search for "AI scams".
Conclusion.
There can be no doubt that internet safety has become a huge issue, is a large variety of ways. Because of this it is up to each one of us to be constantly on guard and aware of the dangers, for our own safety and that of our families and friends.
And never hesitate to seek advice if you are not sure.
This page is proudly hosted by Success Refund Sevice (including SRS Disability Support) as a community service in the hope and belief that the best way to combat the huge and growing problem of internet safety is by information and education. Scammers, fraudsters and other internet criminals hurt everybody and do immense damage without remorse. They hurt both individuals and honest businesses alike and are deserving of every possible effort to neutralize their activities.
Governments and law-enforcement agencies around the world could and should be doing much more to eliminate these dishonest activities, but sadly, they are not. So it is left to us to be as alert and aware as we can be and to take every possible action to protect ourselves and our families from becoming victims.
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