Five Tips for Safe Online Shopping
1. Go straight to the site: Type a store's Web address directly into your browser instead of using a search engine to retrieve it. Cybercriminals plant malicious links that look like popular sites within the first few pages of search results.
2. Be strict about passwords: Use a different password for each site on which you have an account; do not allow your browser to store passwords for you; and use a password manager.
3. Look for the "signs of security": On sites where you're making a financial transaction, look for "https" in the address bar and a padlock icon in the browser Status Bar. On sites where the retailer uses extended SSL validation, look for the address bar to turn green on secured pages.
4. Keep Paypal your pal: If you use Paypal, check the accounts that Paypal debits from frequently to quickly detect fraud. When using plastic, shop with a credit card instead of a debit card so you can stop payments immediately if you suspect fraud.
5. Watch for seasonal scams: Be wary of spam emails claiming to be shipping confirmation or undeliverable package alerts that require you to open an attachment. Delete any message that claims to contain tracking information, but which lacks a tracking number in either the subject or body of the message. The safest way to track a package is through the shipper's Web site, or the online store where you made the purchase. 1. Go straight to the site: Type a store's Web address directly into your browser instead of using a search engine to retrieve it. Cybercriminals plant malicious links that look like popular sites within the first few pages of search results.
2. Be strict about passwords: Use a different password for each site on which you have an account; do not allow your browser to store passwords for you; and use a password manager.
3. Look for the "signs of security": On sites where you're making a financial transaction, look for "https" in the address bar and a padlock icon in the browser Status Bar. On sites where the retailer uses extended SSL validation, look for the address bar to turn green on secured pages.
4. Keep Paypal your pal: If you use Paypal, check the accounts that Paypal debits from frequently to quickly detect fraud. When using plastic, shop with a credit card instead of a debit card so you can stop payments immediately if you suspect fraud.
5. Watch for seasonal scams: Be wary of spam emails claiming to be shipping confirmation or undeliverable package alerts that require you to open an attachment. Delete any message that claims to contain tracking information, but which lacks a tracking number in either the subject or body of the message. The safest way to track a package is through the shipper's Web site, or the online store where you made the purchase.
"5 Ways to Stay Safe on Facebook"
Facebook? They oughta call it brace-yourself-and-hope-for-the-best book. more
Trick or Treat - Scams to watch out for
"The army of criminals who commit fraud and theft over the Internet have several tricks up their sleeves. They disguise themselves and rely on you to not stop, not think, and to click links or open files immediately. That's how most people infect themselves. Luckily, you can prevent most of these infections yourself, simply by exercising a little restraint."
Putting the brakes on social engineering tricks usually takes all the steam out of them. To that end, below are three of the most common cyberscams that lead to the loss of personal information or sensitive data. Hopefully, if you know what to expect, you'll simply walk away from the encounters unscathed. For more tips and scams to watch out for, read the full blog post: Five Reasons You Should Always "Stop. Think. Connect."
Scam #1: Your computer is infected! The biggest criminal enterprise is the rogue antivirus product. It tries to convince you that your computer is infected so you hand over money for "antivirus protection" - which is not actually protection at all. The minute you see a fake alert, stop everything you're doing, kill the browser, and perform a full scan with the legitimate antivirus product of your choice.
Scam #2: Check out this cool link! Your friend's email or Facebook account is hijacked, and you receive a brief message with a short URL to watch a video or check out something equally "cool." The link actually leads to a malicious page with a malware download. Most shortlink services have a feature that lets you preview where the shortlink will go; use it. If you've never heard of the Web site, check the true destination domain against a reputation service, such as Webroot's Brightcloud. And don't be the first one among your friends to click a link.
Scam #3: John Doe wants to be your friend. In this one, the scammers usually duplicate the message format of popular social network sites. Instead of linking to "friend request," it takes you to a malicious page instead. To avoid this one, without clicking anything, move the mouse over the link in your email message, then look at the Status Bar to see exactly where the link leads. If the message claims to come from one company, but the URL points to a domain you've never heard of, don't click the link.
