Mytrendingstories brings tips about protecting yourself from online scam today

MyTrendingStories brings advices on protecting yourself from online scam? After gaining a person’s trust, scammers often present a story of a personal hardship or struggle to get the victim to send money. And nearly as often, victims fall for the bait out of a mixture of generosity and what they believed was a genuine connection with their online partner. This is a mistake. You should never send money to someone online, particularly someone who you have never met in person. Additional tips to prevent you from becoming a victim of romance scams: Research the person’s photo/profile using online searches (like Google Image) to see if the material has been used elsewhere. Look out for poor grammar, spelling, unusual expressions and flowery language that don’t coincide with the person they are pretending to be. Ask a lot of questions and note any inconsistencies in current or past information they provided. Never provide personal information, including account, passport, social security or credit card numbers. New online scams pop up every week. While the internet has changed the world for the better in many ways, there is a downside.

Latest news by Mytrendingstories.com online platform: Hacking is an attack directly on computer systems or websites that contain financial information. Merchant account takeovers is a type of fraud that have been trending upwards over the last few years but exploded in 2020 and 2021. This is when a fraudster logs into a person’s merchant account (Amazon, Uber, Venmo) and uses saved payment information to make purchases for themselves. Merchant account takeovers can happen when a person uses the same password across multiple online accounts. If that log in information is leaked from any one website, scammers can do something called “credential stuffing”, where they use programs to test that log in information across hundreds or thousands of popular websites, hoping to get a hit. The best way to combat this type of fraud is to use strong, unique passwords for online accounts. Use a password manager can create and store unique passwords with ease. Learn more about password managers here.

Mytrendingstories anti-scam advice: Your computer is infected! (And we can help): How it works: A window pops up about a legitimate-sounding antivirus software program like “Antivirus XP 2010” or “SecurityTool,” alerting you that your machine has been infected with a dangerous bug. You’re prompted to click on a link that will run a scan. Of course, the virus is found—and for a fee, typically about $50, the company promises to clean up your computer. What’s really going on: When you click on the link, the bogus company installs malware—malicious software—on your computer. No surprise, there will be no cleanup. But the thieves have your credit card number, you’re out the money, and your computer is left on life support. Scams are everywhere–you can even become a “doctor” online with just $99. The big picture: “Scareware” like this is predicted to be the most costly Internet scam of 2010, with over a million users affected daily, according to Dave Marcus, director of security and research for McAfee Labs, a producer of antivirus software. “This is a very clever trick,” says Marcus, “because people have been told for the past 20 years to watch out for computer viruses.” Even computer veterans fall prey. Stevie Wilson, a blogger and social-media business consultant in Los Angeles, got a pop-up from a company called Personal Antivirus. “It looked very Microsoft-ish, and it said I had downloaded a virus,” she recalls. “It did a scan and said it found 40 Trojan horses, worms, and viruses. I was concerned that they were infecting emails I was sending to clients, so I paid to upgrade my anti-virus software. Right after I rebooted, my computer stopped working.” Wilson had to wipe her computer hard drive clean and reinstall every-thing. Although most of her files were backed up, she lost personal photos and hundreds of iTunes files. “I felt powerless,” she says. Find more details on https://mytrendingstories.com/benjamin/mytrendingstories-scam-avoidance-tips-and-tricks-ewmjlk.

Mytrendingstories discuss how to escape scams: An “About Us” or “Contact Us” section can help build a retailer’s transparency and trustworthiness. If you have doubts about a website’s authenticity or you’re concerned about a scam attempt, make sure to confirm the retailer has an available line of communication with its customers. By doing your own research and comparing websites, you’ll get a sense of the average cost of a product available in the marketplace. Price comparison gives you the best chance to figure out if a deal is legitimate or just a bunch of fluff. By not researching, you could get stuck overpaying for an item you want or potentially giving in to a fraudulent deal. Although you might not always want to pay with your credit card, doing so can help you track fraudulent activity quickly and avoid other online shopping mistakes. It’s wise to regularly check your account balances and credit card account activity so that you can detect any unusual expenditures and unauthorized purchases. If you do, report it immediately.

Scammers continue to find more creative ways to get your cash. This guide can never be completely comprehensive with all the latest scams but we aim to help you to learn what to look out for. The stories around the scams may change, but what you should do to spot and avoid them doesn’t. Have you ever heard of the email from a Nigerian prince wanting you to share his fortune? The person stranded overseas needing £1,000 to get home which they’ll pay straight back? Or the lottery you’ve won in Spain – even though you don’t live there, and have never entered a lottery there? The best way to prevent scammers from getting their hands on your hard-earned cash is to know how to protect yourself in the first place. Here are our top tips on how to avoid scams. They aren’t all fail-safes, but they can help you think before you act. Rule of thumb: Mistaking the genuine for a scam is nowhere near as bad as mistaking a scam for the genuine. See extra info at https://mytrendingstories.com/.