You may find the possibility of a scam compromising your financial accounts unnerving, but there are many ways you can protect yourself. Here are some tips to help reduce your risk.

• Review your accounts. Check your credit card and banking accounts on a regular basis to ensure that there are no unauthorized charges. To help you catch fraudulent charges quickly, monitor your online or mobile banking accounts daily.
• Change your account passwords. Switch out your passwords on sensitive accounts frequently, and make sure not to use the same password for multiple accounts.
• Use online transactions with caution. When shopping online, always make sure you are using a secure internet connection, and avoid using public Wi-Fi.
• Confirm all financial communication. Be wary of common scams such as phishing, a process in which scammers send emails posing as a bank and ask you to update or confirm your account information. Always contact your bank directly to ensure that your account information does not fall into the wrong hands. Also, remember that the IRS will never initiate contact with you via email, text, or social media to demand personal or financial information.
• Check your credit reports. At least once per year, check your credit report from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion to make sure all your information is up to date and all your accounts are accurate. You can access your free report each year from AnnualCreditReport.com, but be cautious of lookalike sites that may charge unnecessary fees.
• Monitor your credit. You may also want to sign up for a credit monitoring service, which immediately alerts you to any activity relating to your credit history and accounts. This can be helpful in detecting suspicious inquiries or identity theft.
• Properly dispose of documents. If you are throwing away old bank statements or other paperwork with sensitive information such as account numbers, social security numbers, personal identification numbers, etc., make sure to shred everything before disposal.

The post How to Protect Yourself from Financial Scams first appeared on Bridge Pioneers.

Spam and Phishing E-mails Used Fraudulently

Fraudulent e-mails adopt many different forms and are the unauthorized actions of third parties not associated with misleading brand. These e-mail messages are referred to as “phishing” or “spoofing” are becoming more common and may appear legitimate by incorporating company brands, colors, or other legal disclaimers. Help protect yourself by becoming familiar with these methods of fraud:

• Spam:

   Often referred to as “junk mail,” spam consists of e-mail messages that are unsolicited by the recipient and that target the recipient with direct mail messages.

• Phishing:

   The term “phishing,” as in fishing for confidential information, refers to a scam in which the sender attempts to fraudulently obtain and use personal or financial information.

Most real brands do not request payments, personal information, financial information, account numbers, IDs, passwords, or copies of invoices in an unsolicited manner i.e through e-mail, mail, phone, or fax or specifically in exchange for the goods or services. Also most companies do not accept responsibility for any costs or charges incurred as a result of fraudulent activity.

Examples of Fraudulent Emails

Awareness and recognition of fraudulent letters, e-mails and phishing attempts is vital to protecting yourself against theft and other related crimes. Common indicators that an e-mail might be fraudulent include the following:

• Design Flaws: An e-mail containing distorted or irregularly sized logos
• Poor Grammar: Grammatical errors and excessive use of exclamation points

 

• Misspellings: Incorrectly spelled words or links to altered websites
• Sense of Urgency: Alarming messages requesting immediate action, such as “Your account will be suspended within 24 hours.” or “Contact us immediately to claim your parcel or prize.”
• Unexpected Requests: A request attempting to obtain money, financial information (e.g. bank account or payment card numbers), or personal information in exchange for the delivery of a package or other article
• Communication Gaps: An e-mail that does not provide an alternative method for communicating the requested information (i.e. telephone, mail, or physical locations)
• Deceptive Link: A link contained within an e-mail that appears to direct your browser to a known, safe site but actually directs your browser to another location, potentially to an unsafe or fraudulent site. You can detect this by hovering over the link with your cursor.  This causes the actual destination of the link to display in a pop-up, the lower left of your status bar, or other location depending on your e-mail client. It is suspicious if the actual destination does not match the address in the link. Also be suspicious of links containing numbers in place of letters, abbreviations, and slight misspellings in the link.

Fraudulent e-mails often appear to come from trusted sources, with the true sender revealed only through the Internet headers (not the same as the email headers).  The Internet headers can be found through your e-mail system from within the e-mail, using various methods depending upon the e-mail system you use.  For example, in Microsoft Outlook, this is accomplished by opening the e-mail in a separate window, clicking on the “File” tab and then choosing “Properties.”  The internet headers will be shown in the box at the bottom of the window.
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The post Spam and Phishing E-mails first appeared on Bridge Pioneers.