Check the “sent from” address Look at the domain name of the sender of any emails received claiming to be from a particular company. Legitimate companies will send emails from their own domain, so unfamiliar email addresses that end in “@gmail.com” or “@yahoo.com” should be considered suspicious.
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Go directly to the source If you receive an email asking for personal information or requesting any action from you, you should refrain from replying to the email and call the company it is reportedly from directly to confirm whether the email is legitimate.
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Beware of urgency If an entity contacts you demanding immediate action for an “emergency,” that is a red flag. Scammers commonly utilize a sense of emergency to coerce people into turning over personal information or performing another task at their expense without the target having sufficient time to consider their actions.
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Watch for grammar or spelling errors Professional notifications and other communications will generally have gone through some kind of proofreading process. Emails that include obvious spelling errors or odd punctuation are a sign of a scam.
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Set strong passwords Passwords should include a combination of letters, numbers and special characters in order to provide the best protection. You should make a habit of regularly changing your passwords for added security, and immediately change them if you are alerted to any sign your data has been compromised.
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Embrace two-factor authentication Two-factor authentication adds an extra layer of security to your accounts, which will make it harder for hackers to access your information and will alert you of any suspicious activity.
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Install security software on your devices Security software that automatically monitors and identifies scam URLs in messages and on the web can help block any threats that could potentially do harm.
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More than 92,000 people over age 60 were victims of fraud totaling around $1.7 billion in 2021, according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). This is a 74% increase in monetary losses from 2020.
The National Elder Fraud Hotline, from the Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), offers resources for those whose elderly loved one has been, or suspects they are being, scammed. According to the OVC, some of the most common scams targeting seniors include:
- Romance scams: These are incidents in which a scammer takes advantage of a person who is looking for romantic companionship online.
- Grandparent scams: Scammers contact (usually by phone) a person and claim to be a family member who is in urgent financial need.
- Tech support scams: Scammers pretend to be a tech support representative, and will offer to fix non-existent computer issues in order to gain remote access to the target’s devices.
- Email extortion scams: These scammers often begin the interaction by sending a message that proves they know a password you use for an online account, and claim they’ve been monitoring you through things like keystroke capture and your webcam. They then threaten to release embarrassing information they’ve gained with your contacts unless you pay them.
In the slideshow above, we’ll cover some common red flags for you and your elderly loved ones need to be aware of in order to prevent becoming victims of fraud, courtesy of Hank Schless, senior manager of security solutions at Lookout.
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