The Star: February 22, 2018

intErnEt safEty
3
AvoIDINg
tHoSE NASty
Internet scams
BY KEVIN MEDRI
Kevin has had a varied career in many
different industries where he successfully
implemented many IT related systems
and processes, as well as being hands-on
in the field.
“I understand the frustration and
anxiety computers can give you, because
I have been there."
More recently Kevin has established
a computer and IT repair business in
Rangiora, North Canterbury where he
and his staff successfully help people
with their computer needs.
So we have all heard about it, seen it in
the media, someone we know has been
affected by it, then one day, wham, it hits
us – an online scam.
We all think at our age we should
know better; well the truth is we are
trusting, sometimes too trusting, we
were probably brought up that way. So if
you been affected by a scam of some sort,
don’t fret.
I get fed up with the tactics used
by the scammers, so thought I
would share some handy tips
with you. If we get that email
with an offer too good to be
true, it usually is. These can
arrive and look very convincing
and even appear to be from a
legitimate source, like a power
company, lawyer or bank. They
will always contain a link for you
to use to go to a website to enter
your details.
The trick here is to hover your mouse
curser over the link without clicking,
look at the bottom of your browser
where, a website address will appear, this
tells you exactly where you are going.
Let’s look at how a website address
works – we will take ASB bank as an
example:
INSERT PIC 03 HERE
Let’s just look at the address (URL,
Uniform Resource Locator for the
techies) https://www.asb.co.nz. Https
stands for hyper text transport protocol
secure, (yawn), sorry that’s the boring
bit over, www stands for world wide
web – we are getting somewhere. Now,
for the important bit, asb. Note the full
stop at the beginning and the end of the
letters. This is the name of the website
and it usually represents the name, in
this case ASB bank, and directly after the
full stop must come the domain type, i.e
.co.nz, .org.nz, .com, .org etc. There may
also be something after the .co.nz, which
will always start with a / like the example
here. Sometimes there may be something
before the first full stop like when we
want to login:
INSERT PIC 04 HERE
Notice the word online before the .asb.
co.nz. This is perfectly ok because the
asb. Is still followed by co.nz. However,
what is not ok is a link the may be
pretending to be ASB's login:
INSERT PIC 05 HERE
Here we have online.asb but then it
goes on to .scam.co.nz, and because the
.scam.co.nz comes after asb, the actual
website name is scam.co.nz, and we don’t
want to go there do we!
Just as a side note, internet banking is
very safe if used properly. Never save the
username and password in the browser,
you know the annoying popup that asks
you every time you login somewhere.
Never click yes, and when you click no
if prompted by the statement ‘never save
password for this site’, click the box. Most
banks now offer a secondary security
measure, like texting you a secret code
that you have to enter before any money
leaves your account.
What about the phone call? "Hi I'm
calling from Microsoft and you have an
issue with your computer that is affecting
your neighbours." Firstly, Microsoft will
never call you out of the blue; secondly,
no one will know you have a problem
with your computer unless you tell them.
However, they can be very persuasive
and sound convincing and even
threatening. Keep a whistle by the phone
and blow it as hard as you can down
the phone – that will keep them away.
They have no idea who you are or where
you live, they are simply calling random
numbers in the hope to catch someone.
No legitimate company will ever ask
you to give your login details for your
bank, credit or debit card over the phone
by text message or by email.
Another tip is if you know the domain
name of the website you want to visit
type it straight into the browser bar:
The search bar is used when you are
trying to find something like a local
garage to fix your car, or a restaurant.
The internet can be a great place to
look up or research something, to go
shopping, connect with family and
friends, plus a whole host of other
things. Don't be afraid to have a go – all
you need is a desktop computer, laptop
or mobile device like an iPad and a web
browser.
At the age of 34,
Kevin Medri moved to
New Zealand from the
UK along with his wife
and four children in the
year 2000.
He now has five children
and four grandchildren, and
just in case you are wondering,
yes he still has his wife of nearly
30 years.
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