• Be careful what you click on – A link in an e-mail may not be legitimate.  If you mouse over a link that is supposed to be your bank and it says 92jh3nf8923n.com or something similar, it is likely NOT your bank.  Or it could be cleverly disguised; wellsfarg0.com for example.  When in doubt, go directly to their website in order to log in.
• Is Microsoft calling you? – Not a chance!  You can barely call them let alone them calling you to tell you something is wrong with your computer.  At best they are trying to fix non-existent issues for a very high price.  At worst, they will remote in and download your ‘My Documents’ folder hoping to get your password list.  Same goes for the IRS, Apple, and Verizon.
• Sign into your Microsoft account to view this document – When you try to open an attachment, maybe even from someone you know, it prompts you to log in with your Microsoft account.  You are unknowingly sending the scammer your Microsoft account details.  At that point they will be able to access your account to find out who you do business with.  Oftentimes if you have a work e-mail account they will find out who you interact with–who your vendors are, etc.  They will disguise themselves as you and send e-mails wanting to wire transfer money instead of paying by check.

These are the types of things we are seeing happen more and more.  Keep your guard up, make sure your antivirus and Windows is up to date, and when in doubt, don’t click or open!!  If you are a business, our Managed IT Services will help you keep focused on your customers and not on IT issues.

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• Microsoft, Adobe, Apple, etc. will NEVER call you to say something is wrong with your computer.  Have you ever tried calling these companies?  You can barely contact them if you have an issue; they certainly don’t have an army of phone reps calling to let you know something is wrong.
• Anything that resembles ‘driving to Walmart to buy Apple gift cards’ for payment is a scam.  Legitimate companies want good ol’ cashola and NOT gift cards.  Scammers want gift cards because they’re untraceable and can be sold for cash or bartered on the dark web.
• Do not allow people you don’t know to remotely access your computer.  Some scammers will simply claim there are things wrong with your computer by opening Event Viewer (which shows errors on a fresh Windows install) or they will do this AND download your files in the background hoping to find your coveted list of passwords or other information they can use or sell.  They can also remotely install keyloggers which record everything you type into your computer including bank passwords, e-mail passwords, etc.

So in summary, be very cautious about who you let into your computer.  If you get a cold call, 99.99% of the time it is not legitimate.  Most companies you are able to engage with online have the option of two-factor authentication (2FA).  It is strongly advisable to enable this feature for added security.

Be safe out there!

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