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email phishing

how to identify scammers and protect yourself

Email Phishing /Remote Support Scams

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IMPORTANT NOTICE:

Never provide remote access to your device to someone over the phone that you don’t personally know and trust! Scammers will often direct unsuspecting users to visit a website and will typically either ask the user for a code or will provide one for you to enter on your device. Microsoft or any other company will never directly contact you by phone or email to provide you with unsolicited support.

We have received many phone calls and service requests due to the increasing rise of email and phone scams occurring. We encourage all users to read over the following information to know what to look for to spot scams and avoid being taken advantage of.

Email Scams

Most email scams occur by the scammer emailing an unsuspecting user impersonating a legitimate company or one of your email contacts.

Never respond directly to emails claiming you placed an order you don’t recognize or that you owe money or are owed a refund. This has been the most common scam recently, many users report receiving emails that appear to be from an antivirus supplied such as Norton or Mcafee claiming that automatic renewal for their products is enabled and that you will be billed. Other times users receive emails for an order that they did not place showing delivery for an address that is unfamiliar. Users that respond to the email, click on any links, or call the number listed are often asked to provide sensitive information and/or remote access to your device. Scammers have gone so far as to make it appear that they have accidentally deposited funds into your bank account and at times will even attempt to guilt the user into believing their “mistake” will cost them their job. At this point in their scheme, they will instruct the users to reimburse them for their mistake, typically by purchasing prepaid gift cards which are untraceable once cashed.  In reality, no money has actually been deposited into the user’s account as they are providing false images that are misleading the unsuspecting user.

Click here to read what Norton has to say about phishing emails involving Norton.

Check the sender’s actual email address not just the name displayed. Often scammers use email addresses that are similar to the actual email address but not exact. For example, an email from Amazon would always come from an @amazon.com email address not something slightly misspelled like @amacom.com. If you get an email from someone that you normally correspond with via email but they aren’t speaking in a manner that is consistent with their normal behavior, are making spelling errors, or are asking for “favors” it is possible that the sender’s email account has been compromised. We have also seen scammers create new email addresses (most commonly outlook.com accounts) that are identical in spelling except for the @outlook.com portion. If you suspect you’re receiving emails from someone other than the actual sender do not respond instead reach out to the sender in another manner and let them know. If you believe your email has been compromised you should change your password immediately. If you suddenly stop receiving emails that could also be a sign that your own account has been compromised and that emails are being redirected to the scammer’s email address.

Phone Scams

A plumber would never call you to tell you that your pipes are leaking, Microsoft or any other tech support company is not going to call you to tell you that your computer is infected or that you have a virus. (The only exception to that is if you personally signed up for a service that involved your device being monitored. Many of these services offered are scams and we only recommend subscribing to these types of services with local companies that you know and trust in person.) Remember a scammer will do WHATEVER IT TAKES to convince you that something is wrong and that if you don’t follow their instructions that either you or they will be in some sort of trouble.

Pop-Up Scams

If you are on the internet and suddenly find yourself unable to do anything except to seemingly call a phone number for support you are likely visiting a malicious website or one that has been compromised. While you are on your computer if you are receiving notices in the corner of your screen that something is wrong, you have a virus, or need to renew your antivirus you should be aware that many of these notifications are providing false information. Even if you are unable to get rid of the notifications or pop-ups on your own, you should never click on any links or call any phone numbers associated with these notices. Instead, you can reach out to your local computer repair shop (us included!) to have your computer cleaned up and to have any remote software removed.

Text / Instant Messenger Scams

Anyone who has your phone number or email address (or randomly selects your number or generates your email address as a sender) can attempt to reach you. While you can block a specific email address or phone number it doesn’t stop these things from occurring in the first place. It’s important to never believe any messages or notices you receive that sound too good to be true. For example, a popular scam on social media websites occurs when users are led to believe they are going to get something free or that they are requesting some kind of information often for things that are too good to be true. Scammers often take advantage of unfortunate situations such as the rental market shortage or those looking for work at home opportunities.

If you find yourself falling victim to a scam involving your computer, you should immediately disconnect from the internet until you have confirmed that your device is free of remote software that could leave you even more vulnerable. At Jester’s, we offer our clean-up/maintenance service for a flat rate of $99, contact us for support or more information.

stop

SCAMS: How to protect yourself and what to do if you are a victim

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Your phone rings, an automated voice states that the IRS has sought a lawsuit against you and the recording urges you to call a phone number to get the matter resolved. Perhaps your phone rings and a live person explains that they are calling from Microsoft and that suspicious behavior was detected on your computer and they need to take control of your device immediately to prevent further damage. STOP! None of these claims are true and a large number of people especially the elderly are being taken advantage of by falling victim to their claims and many people have even paid the “IRS” or “Microsoft” to protect themselves.

Phone Scams

Let me ask you this, does a plumber call you when your pipes leak? Does the Fire department call you when your house is on fire? These scams have become increasingly popular and they are working harder and getting smarter about how they try to trick you into handing over your hard-earned money.

The scammers have gone so far as to make it appear that legitimate companies are calling you. For example, a few weeks ago we received a call with the caller ID stating it was Dell calling us, the number that called us was actually DELL’s phone number but it was not Dell that was calling. The scammers were spoofing their phone number to make it appear that they were Dell in an effort to gain your trust and steal your information or money.


What to do if you are a victim of a phone scam

If you or someone you know has fallen victim to these scams you should document any information related to the incident and forward the information to your local police department. If you allowed someone to take control of your computer they could leave malicious software behind that can log your keystrokes and steal your sensitive account information. You should turn your computer off immediately and seek professional assistance in cleaning up your computer. (Jester’s Computers in Fairfield provides clean-up services and they are fast, reliable and affordable).

If you provided the scammer with account information or sent them money, contact your financial institution right away and have the charges reversed. You should also cancel any accounts that you have provided information for to avoid any unexpected future charges. Many times, the scammers claim that you need to have your computer cleaned and will charge you upwards of $250 for a service that is much less expensive locally ($99 at Jester’s Computers).

E-mail Scams

Many users have reported phishing scams in their email which are very similar to the phone scams. Users receive an email that appears to be from their bank or a popular website such as Ebay, PayPal, FedEx, UPS or Amazon. Phishing scams are emails that are received that appear to be from a legitimate source but are not. Most of the time the emails will state that there is a problem and that they need you to logon to their website to resolve the issue. Upon clicking on the links in the email you may be taken to a website which appears to be the legitimate website but many times they are fake and steal your account information.

If you receive any emails claiming that your entitled to money or instructing you to open an attachment with a password the email could contain a virus. Don’t open any attachments from anyone you don’t know. You should even be wary of friends or family members that send you attachments you are not expecting since their accounts could be compromised. It’s best to send a quick email to them or give them a call to verify that they sent it.

How to protect yourself from e-mail scams

If you receive an email that states your account has a problem don’t click on any links inside the email. Instead you can visit the website directly by typing the web address in the address bar at the top of your web browser. For example, if you receive an email stating that your Paypal account needs verified you should type in the address bar www.paypal.com any information that Paypal sent to you regarding your account should also be available on their website.

If it’s too late and you realize you are the victim of a phishing scam you should immediately change your password for that account. If you have any other accounts that use the same password and username (or email address) you should change those as well. Mark the phishing emails you received as spam to help report the email address.

Anytime you receive an email that comes from a big company you should be able to identify if the email is real or not by looking at the actual email address. Scammers will register similar domain names to appear as though they are from a legitimate source. For example, an email from FedEx should be coming from @fedex.com not @fedx.com. When you click on any email links you can also verify that the web address takes you to the correct website in this example you should land on www.fedex.com not www.fedx.com.

If you find yourself to have fallen victim to a phone or phishing scam contact Jester’s Computers at (717) 642-6611 or email customerservice@jesterscomputers.com to seek help. Jesters computers is located at 5135 Fairfield Road in Fairfield PA and is a family owned and operated business that has been established for over 20 years.