How well do you recognize email scams?

The first type of email scam belongs to the ‘something for nothing’ category. This is the most common of all email scams and unfortunately, it shows no sign of stopping, simply because these types of emails offer instant wealth for practically nothing. It usually involves someone unknown to you emailing you from another country, offering to hand you a huge sum of money for simply cashing a check they send you, and then sending some of that money back to them.

So….anytime you get a mail like the one described above, you know what to do – delete it immediately!

Another way to identify an email scam is when you get a ‘lottery winning notice.’ Do not get caught into the scammer’s trap. Because, the reality is that you haven’t won anything. If you go ahead and cash a ‘lottery check’ from these guys and then send back their share, and the bank discovers it was a fake….well, you’ll be in hot water, because you owe the bank the entire amount.

That’s why you need to avoid all ‘lottery winning notice’ emails like the plague!

Yet another way of recognizing an email scam, is 1) if the sender requests your private information, such as credit card and bank account numbers, or 2) if they ask you to click on a link in the email that’ll lead you to their website. Often times, the info what the link displays and the info you find on the website is totally different. This is because the website is actually a fake one designed with purpose in mind – to steal your personal information.

HINT: 98% of email scams contain an awful lot of grammatical errors. This is often a dead giveaway, so if you receive emails that seem suspicious, and are filled with spelling errors, it might be a good idea to hit that delete button!

How can I report an email scam?
Well, for starters, you can get in touch with the FBI’s IC3, otherwise known as the Internet Crime Complaint Center. You could easily fill out a form to report all sorts of online-related crimes, and you can also sign up to receive updates when new scams are reported, on the FBI’s website.

Another way to report an email scam is to directly contact companies that may have been entangled in the scam. To elaborate, if you happen to receive a suspicious email from a person claiming to be Best Buy, you can log onto their website and file in a report.

There are also special email addresses where you can forward all of the suspicious emails you receive. One of them is the FTC’s email address, which is spam@uce.gov.

How do I protect myself from an email scam?

• Never ever give out personal information via email to strangers.
• Do not click on any links inside an email if you’re not sure of the identity of the sender.
• Don’t event think about replying to an email that seems suspicious.
• Finally, you might want to sign up for an identity theft service, for eg. LifeLock.

OK, that’s a wrap for this article! Keep in mind all of the above tips and you’ll be safe from unscrupulous email scams!

Fraud Alert defined
Now the question comes- What is fraud alert? Fraud alerts are those red-flags installed to your credit reports, so that as soon as any probable fraud is detected involving your account you will be notified.

How does a fraud alert protect my credit
After the beginning the fraud alert, if anyone tries applying for a new credit card or try to take a bank loan, or any other activity falling in the credit category, you will be asked to confirm whether the request is authorized. To know more about the entire procedure relating to a fraud alert read on.

How do I place a fraud alert
Firstly, place a call to each of the credit bureaus for activating the fraud alert. It is recommended that you call using your cell phone, as this will insure a constant communication and the creditors can reach you anytime. There you request them to activate the fraud alert service and this will be done within the next 24 hours. Following, you will receive a confirmation mail about the successful activation. Additionally, for the protection of your account, services like credit and insurance offers that come in your junk mail, with be terminated for the next two years after you request fraud alert.

Be sure to renew every three months
The fraud alerts on your account will then be turned on for the next three months. It does not possess the nature of getting renewed by itself, so it will be turned into off mode automatically after the completion of three months. Furthermore, if you find yourself wanting to apply it for another three months, you will need to request the credit bureaus again for activation. Bear in mind that this needs to be done after every three months, so that the fraud alert remains flagged.

Credit protection services offer even more protection
If all this sounds like more than you want to tackle or keep up with, then you may wish to try one of the  protection services like TrustedID, Lifelock, or Debix- the three top rated identity protection companies. Being their clients, you not only gain advantage from the automatic renewal of fraud alerts, but you will also have the 24/7 monitoring services. They monitor individual credit reports, and notify of any dubious acts, as well as if unnatural activity is undergoing your account.

Fraud alerts do not protect all accounts
Fraud alerts definitely sound like an incredible idea, but wait there are a few cons involved.

Fraud alerts are solely applicable to new account, meaning that accounts opened before the fraud alert are unprotected. This also means that your bank information and other credit cards also need to be monitored.

While there are some negatives to renewing the fraud alerts every three months, a bad account may stay on your credit report for up to seven years.  Be sure to inform the credit bureau that you are placing the fraud alert for protection.  This will inform them that you are monitoring your credit situation. Identity theft protection must be practice and fraud alert is just one of the few steps you can take.

The first factor to keep in mind when it comes passwords you are using online is to make sure you create effective passwords in the first instance.  In other words, you need to make certain that you craft passwords in the first instance that will do the job.  You need to make sure that passwords you create are appropriately complex to prevent easy cracking by someone intent on identity theft.

The next factor that you need to pay attention to when it comes to identity protection and passwords is to make sure that you do not actually store your passwords on your computer itself.  This is the case whether you use a desktop computer or a laptop.  The fact is that a person intent on identity theft (including people in the workplace) can lift password information off of your computer.

You do not want to use the same password for all of your accounts.  This is precisely what many people do, however.  If you take this approach and use the same password for everything you really are giving a person intent on committing identity theft the “key to the kingdom.”  By not using different passwords for all of your accounts you will permit a person intent on stealing your identity the ability to access all of your accounts easily.

Another factor to keep in mind in regard to password protection, identity theft and the Internet is to change your passwords with a considerable degree of regularity.  Of course, many people never bother to change their passwords.  However, you are best protected by changing your passwords with regularity in order to ensure that you are developing the best line of protection for these codes.

By paying attention to these factors you will be in best position to have effective passwords.  With effective passwords you will be able to better protect yourself against the threat of identity theft.  You will be able to use and access accounts online in a much safer and secure fashion.

This really occurs mostly with the younger generation that use these social networking sites as a way of meeting new people and communicating with their friends. On signing up to these sites, they are asked to provide names, addresses, contact telephone numbers, dates of birth and schools they attended. This sort of information is being viewed by people that are viewing their profiles, and only a few of the sites have a scheme where your profile cannot be viewed unless you specifically add them as a friend. Many of the users of the sites add other users as friends with no real idea who they are. That is the worst thing about the internet, it allows you to be who you want to be and come up with characters.

Think of the ways that these social networking sites can be used as a focus for identity theft. The majority of the users post their birth date and this is a question commonly asked by banks to determine a person’s identity. Combined with the full name and also things like pet names, Mother’s maiden name and other such information, it doesn’t take a genius to work out the rest. Not only can information be stolen this way, but names can be searched on internet search engines and information can be found that way. A person could also try to be added to your friends list, without you actually knowing who they are and discreetly ask questions in conversations, such as home address, and other personal information that can be used to perform identity theft.

This carefree attitude to private details not only puts the users of the sites at risk, but also the people that they live with are put wide open to the risk of identity theft. If a child or young person gives away personal information over the internet on these social networking sites, their parents or guardians are at an increased risk of identity theft. A few carefully asked questions, randomly dropped into conversation are encouraging the users of these sites to give away details that they wouldn’t normally give away. What’s your Dad’s name? Where do you live? When’s your birthday? How old are you? A pattern emerges. These are questions that could commonly be seen as friendly conversation, but can very often lead to the exchange of details that could potentially be used in the cases of identity theft.

The unbelievable thing is that many of these sites have been under scrutiny in the media for the public access of personal information, but still it goes on. More and more people are signing up under recommendation of their friends and family meaning that thousands, sometimes millions, of people are left wide open to the risks that identity thieves that may be operating can pose.

Pretexting is basically the art of lying. A person will conjure up an imaginary situation or scenario and use it to trick people out of their personal details or to participate in a certain act. The most common forms of this type of identity theft is done over the phone.

When a well known company phones you up, for example, a representative of a bank or credit card company, they will use personal information to allow you to know not only who they are, but also to prove that they are speaking to the right individual. Pretexting will work in exactly the same way. A person will find out information about you, prior to the phone call, or house visit, and then use it against you so that you believe they are a person of authority and from a legitimate company with a legitimate reason to ask you personal questions about your private details. This misconception will then allow you to divulge other information that you would normally only give to the people in the bank, as one example.

The person who is performing the art of pretexting will then use the details you have supplied to perform crimes related to identity theft – applying for loans or credit cards in your name and then stealing the successful applications from your mailbox before it reaches you. This is just one example of how that information can be used. It can be used for applying for passports and other official documents to be used in the act of illegal immigration, and also in terrorism and maybe even blackmail, against you, the identity holder.

Pretexters will impersonate anyone, from colleagues from your place of work, police officers, insurance company personnel, and also may pretend to be someone from banks, loan and credit card companies, the list goes on and on. How many times have you divulged information over the phone to someone who you believed had a legitimate reason to know the information? The chances are, it was a real person from a real company, and they weren’t pretexters, but in reality, how can you be so sure?

There are no definite answers on how to prevent this from happening, apart from – never give your personal details out over the phone or to someone that visits your home. Always go to the branch of your bank to sort out any problems, or phone the number back yourself to ensure you are actually phoning the right people, and not giving out details about yourself to just anyone! Just always be on your guard and if you don’t think it is real, don’t tell them anything!