Fishing and hacker damage increased. Experts explain countermeasures to smartphone and Internet fraud | Harpers Bazaar (Harper's BAZAAR) official
In a modern age where credible fraud is rampant on the Internet and smartphones, everyone will lose their life savings if they take one wrong step. In the United States, about 2.2 million people lost more than $3 billion in 2020 alone, while 1.4 million people suffered personal information theft (impersonation), the report said. This is twice as much as in 2019.
Good Housekeeping Institute experts have teamed up with security professionals to summarize strategies to help protect families from potential frauds and frauds. The following tips should help you stay safe on your smartphone, email and face-to-face.
- How to distinguish between mobile phone and e-mail fraud?
- How to prevent smartphone Fraud
- How to prevent Internet Fraud
- If you are defrauded, discuss with the police immediately.
How to distinguish between mobile phone and e-mail fraud?
It makes people feel that they are calling from a local community and are more likely to respond, so swindlers imitate local numbers or use fake software.
Always carefully check the title of your email. Liars sometimes change their e-mail address by one or two words. Also carefully confirm the link you want you to click on. If it is blurry or not real, please do not click.
Liars tend to create a sense of urgency. "I want to instill fear and excitement," said Casey Stokes, director of the fraud prevention program at AARP Fraud Watch Network.
For example, this is the Department of Social Security. "your number is stopped due to a crime" and so on will incite your fear. "this is Publishers Clearing House (a direct marketing company that offers a reward or merchandise sales subscription). I won you 1 million dollars! "it's a way to incite excitement."
Government agencies such as the IRS do not suddenly call or ask for payment.
Stokes asserts this. "if you keep asking for payment by buying gift cards and sharing negative numbers, that's fraud. It's 100% right. This is not a legal method of payment. "
How to prevent smartphone Fraud
Use the tools of the mobile phone company you are using. Check your phone settings, change your privacy options or turn on the junk call blocking feature.
If you suspect that the call you received was fraudulent, please hang up temporarily and find the redialed number to confirm that it is really the company. The same is true of e-mail and text. Do not click on the link or open the attachment data.
Stokes' mother said it was impolite to hang up the phone even if in doubt. So she and her mother made a rejection script if you need to hang up.
I said to my mother, "I'm sorry, I can't talk right now. I was having tea with Officer Brady. "he told him to hang up," Stokes said. To prepare for unnecessary or suspicious people, it is recommended to put the script next to the phone or door in an enhanced sense.
How to prevent Internet Fraud
Good Housekeeping lab experts love password managers who issue intuitive notifications and warn of potential security problems.
The website says, "what's the name of your high school mascot?" "if you ask for answers to security questions, you may feel safe. But, thanks to social media, a lot of personal information is available online.
"the liar has known which high school since you posted the news about the classmate reunion on Facebook," Stokes said. "
Therefore, one of the strategies to maintain security is "seasoning". In the answer, spread a little information that makes it difficult for hackers. For example, if your high school mascot is "Cougar", add unforgettable words and numbers such as "Cougar719" and "CougarDoritos" to the correct answer.
For example, when accessing private data, ask for a second password, etc., access will take time, but a little inconvenience for you is a great inconvenience for swindlers.
Stokes agrees that coupled with a feature known as multiple factor authentication (MFA) is beneficial. "the company will send me a password to the device I know I'm using. Just one more step. If a liar has your cell phone, it's a different story, but it's not usually the case. "
Mark unwanted e-mail as spam, increase privacy through email security settings, and have a second email account to provide e-mail addresses such as online transactions.
Do not call the number in e-mail, text, letter, etc. Let's check the number of that company before you call.
If you are defrauded, discuss with the police immediately.
Although some people are ashamed to report the encounter of swindlers, a recent study by AARP (formerly known as AARP) found that Stokes is vulnerable to "personal attributes that have nothing to do with socioeconomic status, age, education, etc."
"it has something to do with what I experienced at that time in my life. I lost my job. I lost my spouse. Was diagnosed with a serious illness. At a time like this, people are most likely to be cheated. "
If you report fraud, you can help others avoid being victimized. Or, if the report is collected, law enforcement agencies can use it and help fraudsters accept legal decisions. If you think you or someone you love has been defrauded, talk to the police right away.
This article is a translation published on overseas websites. All the data and research results come from the original article.
Translation:Mitsuko Kanno From Good Housekeeping US
Related Storiesオンラインショップの偽レビューを見破る方法とは？「パニック買い」をしてしまう前に自問するべき３つの質問ジョージ・クルーニーの名をかたった詐欺師たちがタイで逮捕されるThis content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io
