Protect Yourself From Phishing Scams

Phishing attacks have become more sophisticated and users need simple steps they can use to protect themselves from becoming victims of phishing scams. Follow these 5 steps to avoid being a victim and protect yourself from phishing scams.

1. Be Skeptical: It is better to err on the side of caution. Unless you are 100% sure that a particular message is legitimate, assume it is not. You should never supply your username, password, account number or any other personal or confidential information via email and you should not reply directly to the email in question. Ed Skoudis says “If the user really suspects that an e-mail is legit, they should: 1) close their e-mail client, 2) close ALL browser windows, 3) open a brand new browser, 4) surf to the e-commerce company's site as they normally would. If there's anything wrong with their account, there will be a message at the site when they log in. We need people to close their mail readers and browsers first, just in case an attacker sent a malicious script or pulled another fast one to direct the user to a different site.”
2. Use The Old-Fashioned Way: An even safer means of verifying if an email regarding your account is legitimate or not is to simply delete the email and pick up the phone. Rather than risking that you may somehow be emailing the attacker or mis-directed to the attacker’s replica web site, just call customer service and explain what the email stated to verify if there is truly a problem with your account or if this is simply a phishing scam.
3. Do Your Homework: When your bank statements or account details arrive, whether in print or through electronic means, analyze them closely. Make sure there are no transactions that you can’t account for and that all of the decimals are in the right spots. If you find any problems contact the company or financial institution in question immediately to notify them.
4. Let Your Web Browser Warn You: The latest generation web browsers, such as Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 2.0 come with built in phishing protection. These browsers will analyze web sites and compare them against known or suspected phishing sites and warn you if the site you are visiting may be malicious or illegitimate.
5. Report Suspicious Activity: If you receive emails that are part of a phishing scam or even seem suspicious you should report them. Douglas Schweitzer says "Report suspicious e-mails to your ISP and be sure to also report them to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at www.ftc.gov".

Help! I've Been Scammed Online!

Scammers are doing their best to hit us from just about every possible avenue these days, from email phishing, to cell phone SMiShing, and everything in between.
Much like master pickpockets learn to use misdirection to confuse and distract their victims, modern-day internet-based scammers use fear, false urgency, curiosity, and other tactics to help them in their quest to steal money and information.
It can be hard to bring scammers to justice because of the difficulties associated with tracking them down. Scammers often cover their tracks by using fake or stolen identities, coupled with anonymizing Internet services, spoofed e-mail addresses, and disposable phone numbers.
Victims of scams don't always report when they've been conned because they feel embarrassed for having fallen for a scam.
If you have just fallen for a scam, you shouldn't feel embarrassed. It can happen to anyone. Scammers are constantly refining their scams to make them as effective as possible. They know what works and what doesn't.
If you're reading this article then you are here to find out what you can do after you've been scammed. Here are some tips to help you try and recover after you've become the victim of an online scam:
Call Your Credit Card Company or Bank IMMEDIATELY After You Realize That You've Been Scammed
If you've given out your credit card number or bank information to a suspected scammer then you need to tell your financial institution as soon as possible so they can put a hold on your account to prevent further charges against it. Always call them on the number on the back of your card or on your most recent statement. Never call a number in an email as it might be part of a phishing scam.
File a Police Report
Calling the police after you've been scammed might sound silly but it's not. You were just robbed, weren't you? When you're robbed on the street you contact the police, right? It shouldn't matter how you were robbed. The fact that the criminal used the Internet to steal your money doesn't make it any less of a crime.
You'll need to file a police report as soon as possible after you've been scammed, especially if money was actually stolen from your account. Your bank and/or credit card company will likely want a copy of the police report as will the major credit agencies.
You probably shouldn't call 9-1-1 for this type of issue, unless the scammer is threatening your life and you are in physical danger. When filing a Internet scam / fraud-related report, you may want to call the non-emergency number for your local police department and ask for the fraud or computer-related crimes division.
File a Fraud Victim Statement"(a.k.a Extended Fraud Alert) with the 3 Major Credit Bureaus
Filing a fraud alert with the three major credit bureaus adds a note to your credit file that states to anyone trying to pull your credit that you have been a victim of fraud. The note requests that the business pulling the credit report call you on one of two phone numbers you provided when you filed the fraud alert.
This doesn't guarantee that the lender won't grant the thief credit anyway, but at least it throws up a big red flag to anyone who is paying attention. Hopefully they will call you and you can tell them that you did not authorize the credit inquiry and that the person trying to open the account is an imposter.
Consider a "Security Freeze" of Your Credit Reports
If you've been the victim of identity theft or you believe that scammers have gotten all the information they need to obtain a credit card or a loans in your name, you may want to contact the 3 major credit bureaus and ask them to place a "security freeze" on your credit reports.
Adding a security freeze to your credit reporting helps to halt ID thieves from opening accounts using your stolen identity. When a security freeze is in effect, if someone tries to get a loan or open an account using your name, the credit reporting agency will ask the requester for your PIN or password before they give over your credit score to the lender. Since the identity thief won't know your PIN, assuming the lender is following proper procedures, the lender won't give them an account without knowing if they have good credit.
For more information on the pros and cons of requesting a security freeze on your credit reports, check out credit.about.com's page on Credit Report Security Freezes.
If you opt for a security freeze then you will need to contact all 3 of the major credit bureaus and put in a freeze request with each of them.
Update Your Anti-malware Software and Scan Your Computer
When you opened that scam-related e-mail, the internet criminals who sent it may have embedded links to malware within the message which may have infected your computer. This malware could be capturing your account information and might be relaying it back to the scammers. Make sure your anti-malware software is up do date and do a full scan of your computer. You might want to install and run a Second Opinion Scanner as well.

How to Safely Unfriend a Facebook Creeper

The top voted definition of a creeper on Urban Dictionary is "A person who does weird things, like stares at you while you sleep, or looks at you for hours through a window. Usually a close friend or relative."
Sometimes we befriend people that end up being Facebook creepers and, while we may want to unfriend them, we are afraid to, for fear that they might hunt us down and harm us or send us unsolicited Grumpy Cat memes.
How can you unfriend a Facebook creeper in a friendly way so that they won't seek retribution?
Here are some suggestions for keeping creepers out of your Facebook life:
You have the right to unfriend or defriend someone at any time, however, you may want to consider a different tack:
Consider a Creeper Abatement Strategy Instead of Unfriending
Let's face it, if you unfriend a creeper, you might hurt their feelings. Depending on how unstable they are, those hurt feelings may lead to more negative outcomes. You might want to consider a more polite way to distance yourself from your creeper instead of unfriending them.
If you have to deal with this creeper in your daily life, unfriending them may create some awkward moments, especially if they are a close relative such as an aunt, uncle, or your spouse.
Don't think they'll notice when you unfriend them? Facebook doesn't notify when someone unfriends you, but if they are a true expert-level creeper, they likely have an unfriend finder script running on their computer that takes a snapshot of their total number of friends and checks over time to see if there are any changes. Trust me, they'll know, they always know.
One possible way to keep your creepers at a distance is to quit feeding them your Facebook updates. Here are a couple of ways to highly limit what your creeper sees without unfriending them:
Add Your Facebook Creepers to Your "Restricted List"
Facebook allows you to restrict what certain friends can see. People on your "Restricted List" can only see posts that you make "Public". So basically, they are still on your friends list but they are highly restricted in what they can view (assuming you don't have everything set to "public" that is).
You can add friends to your restricted list by performing the following:
1. Click on the Facebook padlock icon from the top-right corner of your Facebook homepage.
2. Choose "See More Settings" from the bottom of the menu.
3. Click "Blocking" from the menu on the left of the screen and then choose "Edit List" from the "Manage Blocking" > "Restricted List" section of the page.
4. Click the drop down menu in the top left corner of the window that opens and choose "Friends".
5. Choose the friends (creepers) you want to restricted and click the "Finish" button.
Change Visibility for Future Postings
Creepers love keeping up to date with your life. Part of a any good creeper abatement strategy is cutting off your flow of status and Facebook content updates to them.
You can easily keep them from seeing future postings by performing the following steps:
1. Click on the Facebook padlock icon from the top-right corner of your Facebook homepage.
2. Click on "Who can see my stuff" from the drop down menu.
3. Click on the little blue triangle directly below "Who can see my future posts?"
4. Choose "Custom" and locate the text entry box under the "Don't share this with" section of the pop up Window.
5. Type in the person's name that you want to block your future posts from and click the "Save Changes" button.
This will restrict your status updates so that they are now only viewable by those who are not on your "Don't share this with list", effectively preventing your creepers from keeping up with your updates (assuming you added them to the "Don't share" list). A Word of Warning
Problems may arise if you and your creeper have a lot of mutual friends. Sometimes a friend might repost something that you posted to your non-creeper friends and your creeper will wonder why they never saw your original post. You should never talk negatively about your creeper thinking they won't see it because inevitably you'll click the wrong list, or they'll see your post on a friends phone and your comments will get back to them.
If Things Get Really Scary
All kidding aside, if you start to get creeped out to the point that you begin to fear for your life because of a creeper's actions, or if threats are made and you believe that your personal safety is at risk, contact your local and/or state law enforcement immediately. A threat, whether it is made over the Internet or in person, should always be taken seriously.