CR5 Issue167 April 2019

Don’t be an April Fool
Beware the tech scams trying to trick you.
Unlike April Fools’ Day,
which ends at noon,
online trickery goes
on all day every
day. Some fraud is
easily spotted but
others can be really
convincing.
One of the most
common kinds of
trickery is ‘phishing’,
which is when you
receive official-looking
emails from what
appears to be your
bank or a big-name
website. The email
usually says there’s
something wrong
with your account:
click here to log
in and fix it. But
the link goes to a
sophisticated fake, and if you
enter your details the fraudsters
can then use your details on the
real website.
That’s bad enough if it’s just
one site, but many people use
the same password on lots of
different ones. If the fraudsters get your details
for one website, they can then get into all the
other sites you use.
To prevent that from happening you can do a
number of things. Firstly, never use the same
password on more than one site and use the
password manager built into Apple Macs, iPads
and iPhones or use a third-party password
manager such as 1Password, LastPass or Dashlane.
Secondly, set up two-factor authentication. Sites
from Google, Microsoft and other big names
enable you to supplement your password so that
when anybody tries to log in, a code is sent to your
phone. No code, no entry.
Thirdly, invest in security software. Look for ‘antiphishing’
in the features list: that means incoming
emails are scanned against a list of known
offenders. It doesn’t get rid of every fake email
but it does filter most.
Fraudsters can
take control of your
computer
48 Log into www.cr5.co.uk your local community website!
Finally, be suspicious.
Your bank will
never email
you if there’s a
security problem
or other issue
with your account;
similarly Apple or
Microsoft don’t
remotely monitor
your computer and
contact you if they
find problems. If in
doubt, phone the
company or visit
their website by
typing its address
into your web
browser.
Sometimes the
fraudsters will
phone you. They’ll
say they’re BT, or
Amazon, or Apple, or Microsoft,
and their goal is to get you to
download and install a program
which they say will fix your
problems. It won’t: it enables
them to take control of your
computer and either get your
personal details or lock it up until you agree to pay
a ransom. These calls are never genuine.
Other scams are really old, but they’ve been
updated for the digital age. Fraudsters
misrepresent items on online shopping or auction
sites, or they run offers for too-good-to-be-true
deals as Facebook adverts – recent ads offered
mountain bikes worth more than £500 for less
than £50. There were no bikes, of course, and
because the fraudsters weren’t in the UK anybody
they fooled would find it exceptionally difficult to
get their money back. Stick to reputable sites and
go with your gut: if it seems too good to be true,
it usually is.
Images top clockwise- Norton internet security box,
Suspicious page warning in Google Chrome, Google page
showing 2-step authentication.