Fraudsters are constantly honing their skills and swindling money from gullible victims. This article covers new scams and tips on how to avoid getting scammed.
Apple ID Hacking
Scammers gain access to Apple ID accounts by sending users an email on behalf of Apple. In this email, the person is informed that their account will be blocked if they do not pass identification. To confirm their identity, they need to follow the link and enter their data. The site, of course, turns out to be fake. As soon as the user does what they are asked to do, the attackers intercept the data and block their access to Apple ID: they change the password and enable two-factor authentication to make it difficult for the owner to restore access.
How to protect yourself:
- Look at the sender’s address. If the email is from Apple, the address should end in @email.apple.com. If the ending is different, it may be a scam.
- Saw a strange address? Do not open the email or follow any links in it, it is better to immediately send it to the “Trash”.
- If you open the email and see crooked lines and errors in the text, this is a sure sign of fraud – delete it.
- The main thing: do not wait for letters, but immediately connect two-factor authentication, then the scammers will not be able to log into the account only by login and password without a verification code.
Account Theft through Damaged Microsoft Word Files
Email services have learned to recognize phishing letters with malicious files and links to suspicious sites. They scan attachments and warn users about the danger. Therefore, scammers have come up with another method of attack: they deliberately damage the .doc or .docx file with malicious content, and the security software module cannot read it. The fact is that Microsoft Word easily restores a damaged file when opened, making it available to the recipient. The file, as a rule, contains a QR code for going to a phishing Microsoft 365 page, where the user is asked for data to access cloud services.
How to protect yourself:
- An antivirus program should be on any PC or Android smartphone, especially if you download files from the Internet (a file from an email is no exception).
- Carefully analyze incoming correspondence and do not open suspicious ones.
- Do not download files from emails from unknown senders.
- If you downloaded and opened a file in Word and saw a link or QR code, do not click on it, no matter what they promise you, no matter what they threaten you with. Close the document and delete it from your computer.
Stealing Money Under the Pretext of Placing an Order
This danger awaits those who accept work orders on the Internet. Fraudsters send messages in instant messengers about work on an advance payment basis, with a link to a detailed description of the order. A person follows the link to a site designed as one of the popular services for finding specialists, studies the order, accepts the application and leaves the details for the advance payment. He is asked to provide a code supposedly to confirm the transfer. But in fact, this is the code for entering the online bank, which the imaginary employers were hunting for.
How to protect yourself:
- Communicate with potential employers only through the built-in messenger of the site where you place the ad.
- Do not follow links from dubious messages in public instant messengers.
- Do not enter one-time codes from SMS in forms on unfamiliar and suspicious sites.
- Deception using false delivery.
During the holidays, cases of flower or other gift deliveries become more frequent. Imagine that a courier hands you a bouquet or a beautiful box and asks you to give the code from the SMS to confirm receipt of the order. You, being carried away by thoughts about the secret sender, lose your vigilance and give the code. In doing so, you give the fraudster access to your online bank or account on Gosuslugi.
- Delivery services rarely require confirmation of receipt of the goods with a code from the SMS – this should already alert you.
- If the courier asks for a code, clarify the name of the company and look it up on the Internet to make sure it exists.
- Check whether the SMS came from this company and not from the online bank or Gosuslugi. If this is an SMS from the delivery service, the text will indicate what the code is needed for.
Extortion of Money at a Fake Interview
Fraudsters post an ad on the Internet about a vacancy in a large company. The candidate who responded is invited to a remote interview. They talk about working conditions and job responsibilities, and ask about professional skills. In the end, they ask to transfer money to sign an employment contract. The pretext can be anything: training courses, a medical examination, buying special clothing – it depends on the company’s field of activity and the proposed position. Sometimes they also ask to install a service application on the phone, which will actually spy on and transmit account data and secret codes to the scammers.
How to protect yourself:
- If you are asked to pay for something during an interview, feel free to hang up – these are scammers.
- Recruiters from reputable companies usually communicate from a corporate e-mail, the address of which will contain the domain of the organization’s website, and do not conduct interviews from personal accounts in public messengers.
- If you have any suspicions, check the vacancy information on the organization’s official website.
- The golden rule of countering scammers: think ten times before dictating a code from an SMS or entering it into a form on a website.
Pre-New Year’s “Scam”
Gift certificates to stores, salons, and gyms are popular New Year’s presents, and scammers have decided to make money on this. They offer to buy a certificate in messengers and social networks at a price almost half the face value, explaining this with a New Year’s promotion. A link is attached to the message or post, which leads to a phishing site or a chat bot. There, you need to fill out a feedback form and, naturally, enter the code from the SMS to open an entrance to your online bank or State Services for hackers. Additionally, attackers can offer to install an application that informs about the coolest promotions and discounts, but in fact intercepts codes from SMS and push notifications.
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