Cyber scammers attack email, phone and social media. Most cybercrimes involve identity theft. Criminals steal personal information to hack various accounts and access funds. Awareness is your best defense against scammers and hackers who want to steal your information. Here are some common scams.
- Phishing – Scammers impersonate legitimate entities using malicious
emails and texts to trick you into giving them your information. - Form jacking – Cyber scammers hack a legitimate website to steal user information. Each time a customer fills out a form, a duplicate of the entered information is sent to the scammer.
- False Quizzes – Surveys and quizzes are used to access personal data. Launching a quiz app may give permission to pull information from your social media profile or phone, giving hackers an opening to steal your identity.
- Public Wi-Fi – Using public Wi-Fi puts you at risk for having information stolen. Avoid storing sensitive information on your phone and never share personal information over public Wi-Fi.
By: Brenda Langdon
Spoofing is when a caller deliberately falsifies the information transmitted to your caller ID display to disguise their identity. To trick you into answering, spoofers may use local area codes and numbers that look familiar. Here are some ways to avoid being spoofed.