Tips for Avoiding Online Fraud

How to avoid online fraud?

How to avoid online fraud?

Picture this: a complete stranger comes up to you and asks you for your apartment keys. Would you hand them over? Most certainly not! But you’d be amazed at the number of people who are ready to part with their login names and passwords to strangers.

Take the case of Rohit Sharma . One morning he got an email, apparently from his bank, which simply stated that they were checking on the validity of their customers’ email accounts. And to validate his account he should fill in his account number and online banking username and password or else his account would be blocked. He followed the instructions and his bank account was cleaned out the very next day.

The truth is that despite countless headlines screaming about online frauds-phishing , pharming and online scamsthe idea of online security is still pretty abstract for most people. So instead of ranting about the sneaky scams fraudsters pull on us, here are a few quick checkpoints that will help you take stock of your security quotient:

How to avoid online fraud?

Picture this: a complete stranger comes up to you and asks you for your apartment keys. Would you hand them over? Most certainly not! But you’d be amazed at the number of people who are ready to part with their login names and passwords to strangers.

Take the case of Rohit Sharma . One morning he got an email, apparently from his bank, which simply stated that they were checking on the validity of their customers’ email accounts. And to validate his account he should fill in his account number and online banking username and password or else his account would be blocked. He followed the instructions and his bank account was cleaned out the very next day.

The truth is that despite countless headlines screaming about online frauds-phishing , pharming and online scamsthe idea of online security is still pretty abstract for most people. So instead of ranting about the sneaky scams fraudsters pull on us, here are a few quick checkpoints that will help you take stock of your security quotient:

Be wary of emails that ask for your personal details:

The first thing you need to remember about such scams is that most of these scamsters don’t rely on the technology, they rely on you! Agreed that they keep thinking up new ways to con you and technology does help them, but remember that it’s still a con game, which won’t work without your “cooperation”.

They are playing mind games with you, which work better if you are upset or excited. So think calmly. In Sharma’s case for instance, if he wasn’t upset about his bank account being blocked, he may not have filled in his details.

Therefore always be suspicious of any email that contains urgent requests for any kind of personal or financial information. Read it over and over again.

Give it some thought. Ask questions such as has this institution ever contacted you via email? If it’s a bank won’t they know my details? Why would an online survey need your credit card number? The easiest way to check validity of websites is to get an antiphishing toolbar. New versions of most browsers, such as IE 7 FireFox version 2, come with such toolbars built-in. You can also download this from sites like Earth-Link (www.earthlink .net/earthlinktoolbar).

Be wary of emails that ask for your personal details:

The first thing you need to remember about such scams is that most of these scamsters don’t rely on the technology, they rely on you! Agreed that they keep thinking up new ways to con you and technology does help them, but remember that it’s still a con game, which won’t work without your “cooperation”.

They are playing mind games with you, which work better if you are upset or excited. So think calmly. In Sharma’s case for instance, if he wasn’t upset about his bank account being blocked, he may not have filled in his details.

Therefore always be suspicious of any email that contains urgent requests for any kind of personal or financial information. Read it over and over again.

Give it some thought. Ask questions such as has this institution ever contacted you via email? If it’s a bank won’t they know my details? Why would an online survey need your credit card number? The easiest way to check validity of websites is to get an antiphishing toolbar. New versions of most browsers, such as IE 7 FireFox version 2, come with such toolbars built-in. You can also download this from sites like Earth-Link (www.earthlink .net/earthlinktoolbar).

Be wary of emails that ask for your personal details:

The first thing you need to remember about such scams is that most of these scamsters don’t rely on the technology, they rely on you! Agreed that they keep thinking up new ways to con you and technology does help them, but remember that it’s still a con game, which won’t work without your “cooperation”.

They are playing mind games with you, which work better if you are upset or excited. So think calmly. In Sharma’s case for instance, if he wasn’t upset about his bank account being blocked, he may not have filled in his details.

Therefore always be suspicious of any email that contains urgent requests for any kind of personal or financial information. Read it over and over again.

Give it some thought. Ask questions such as has this institution ever contacted you via email? If it’s a bank won’t they know my details? Why would an online survey need your credit card number? The easiest way to check validity of websites is to get an antiphishing toolbar. New versions of most browsers, such as IE 7 FireFox version 2, come with such toolbars built-in. You can also download this from sites like Earth-Link (www.earthlink .net/earthlinktoolbar).