It will come as no surprise to anyone who has opened an email from someone claiming to have compromising personal pictures they are ready to release to your entire contact list, that scams are on the rise. Our recent reliance on technology coupled with a weakened economy have created the perfect storm for scammers to attempt to take advantage of our fear—and take our money while they’re at it. So, how can you make yourself scam-proof? A little bit of knowledge goes a long way in this situation. As always, when in doubt, give us a call and we can help advise you about whether you’ve encountered a scam. Read on to find out about some of the most rampant scams we’re getting phone calls about, and how to recognize and avoid them.
Email Scams: These are some of the most common scams you will encounter and—luckily—also some of the most benign. If you get a suspicious email, chances are your computer is not infected with a virus, and no action is required beyond making sure you change your password to something more secure, just in case the scammers have access to this information as well (which they likely don’t). The most common email scam we’ve been hearing about is one where the sender purports to have compromising photos that they will send to your family and friends unless you pay them. They do not have any photos of you; nothing will happen if you ignore the email. In some versions of this scam, they will say they have your password and will actually list a password you’ve used either in the past or currently. This does not necessarily mean they have access to your computer or your account; they purchase lists of these passwords, gathered during large data breaches, on the black market. In many cases you will have already changed your password, but in case you haven’t, you should.
The Take Away: You can safely ignore these emails, but be sure to change any compromised passwords. It is always necessary to make sure you do not use the same password for anything, so that if one location’s password becomes compromised, your other passwords will remain secure. If you need help generating discrete passwords for your many accounts and finding a way to manage your passwords, give us a call; we can help you set up a password management system.
Bogus Websites or Pop Ups Offering Tech Support: Let’s say you run into a problem with your printer. You’d probably go to Google, type in “Epson Printer Help” or something similar, and then call the phone number that Google pulls up, right? Not so fast; a lot of the websites you’ll see that claim to be legitimate support sites/ phone numbers from the company you’re looking for are not legitimate. If you call the first number you find, you’ll likely be connected to a scammer who will want to take remote control of your computer, will tell you that you have a big problem, and then demand a credit card number or gift cards to pay them to fix it. Occasionally, we see clients encounter pop-ups that tell them they have a problem with their computer and need to call the number on the screen. These are also scams; your computer will never direct you to call a specific phone number for help.
The Take Away: When looking for tech support, always go directly to the legitimate website (www.apple.com, for instance) and find the support page there, rather than using a search engine to find help. NEVER let anyone you do not know and trust take control of your computer remotely; this can be very dangerous and have bad consequences. A legitimate tech help company will also never demand payment in gift cards. If you have a pop-up that tells you to call for help and you cannot close the window, try to force quit the program or power down your computer (you may lose saved information if you have to do either of these things). If you have allowed someone to take control of your computer, call us immediately so that we can help undo whatever damage they may have caused.
Malware: Malware on the Mac is usually more annoying than dangerous, but should still be avoided and dealt with if you find yourself with any. Malware gets installed when you download and install software from a questionable website, or, more frequently, you respond to a prompt or pop-up that offers to protect your computer (MacKeeper is a very common piece of malware that purports to protect your computer) or update a plug-in such as Flash.
If you are presented with a pop-up or web page while you are on the Internet telling you that your computer has been compromised or you must update your software, say no! Never download or install software when prompted in this manner. Either close the window, or if that doesn't work, Quit or Force Quit your web browser. Many people don’t even realize they’ve downloaded malware. Some ways to recognize you have malware are a sudden uptick in the number of ads you see in your internet browser, or pop up windows telling you that you should clean your Mac. If your search engine is no longer what you expect it to be (i.e. it has been changed without you making that switch), this is another sign you may have malware.
The Take Away: Do not download or install anything that you’re unfamiliar with. If you suspect you have malware on your computer, there is a free software called Malware Bytes that can help identify it. Of course, give us a call if you have any questions, or if you would like help removing malware.
