Spotting Fraud

There are so many types of online fraud going around. Work at home opportunities, email scams, fake financial websites, even fraud attempts resulting from popup windows and malware. 

There too many types of fraud to try and cover here in this article, so I will focus on giving you advice on avoiding email scams and Malware delivered though email.

Email Scams and SPAM are more commonplace that genuine emails from friends or family. I tend to get more SPAM and "opportunities" in my Inbox than legitimate emails from customers. Unfortunately, once your email address is picked up by scammers/spammers, the SPAM and scam attempts will never stop. Your email address will be sold, traded, and shared with dozens of other scammers.

We all hear the popular advice to delete emails from people we don't know. There is no better advice. That one tidbit of advice is the single best and most effective at avoiding 99% of all email scams, malware delivered through email, and fraud attempts that originate from emails. It's important to remember that no financial institution will ever email you asking to update your account, or inform you of problems with your financial account. If you use Bank of America (example), and you receive an email from BOA asking you to click a link because there is a problem with your account, or to update your information, just delete the email and move on. Never click on links inside of emails. If you have any doubt call your financial institution and speak with someone personally.

I try to do my part and help fight these types if fraud attempts by forwarding the offending email to the company's Abuse Department. I encourage everyone to do the same. Simply forward the email to: abuse@(name of institution here).com. There is no way to avoid these emails once you start getting them in your Inbox, but if deleting the account and starting over with a new email address is out of the question, then simply delete the emails from people you do not personally know and move on with your day.

If you use Outlook, Outlook Express, Incredimail, Windows Mail, or another email client that runs on your computer you can reduce the likelihood of catching email-born viruses by turning of the preview pane in your email client. The preview pane automatically displays the email body once you select a message. Convenient, but any malicious code, images in particular, are often executed (ran) automatically, and if your computer is vulnerable, infection occurs.

• Don't open emails from people you don't know.
• Never click on links in emails... no exceptions.
• Turn of the preview feature in your email client.
• Turn off "Show" images, or block all images from being downloaded automatically.
• Always ensure your antivirus is active and updated.
• Always ensure Windows is updated

The last two bullited points are critical, not only in protecting yourself from virus delivered through email, but also browsing websites. Your antivirus should always be turned on, and your operating system should have the most current security updates installed. The rest is up to you...and the delete button.