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Tags: PC Speak: Abney Associates Tech Blog, Peter Hoss: Steps to take to stay safe on the internet
It is becoming increasingly difficult to live without the internet. We are Urged to buy products, pay bills, store records, and obtain information online. Telephone books are becoming obsolete. More seniors are buying and using a variety of hand carried products capable not only of making telephone calls, but also of storing a multitude of private personal information.
We seniors did not grow up with the internet and often are not proficient in using it. We often seek guidance from our grandchildren. We have to learn an entirely new language of computer speak. This growing trend of internet use is likely to continue faster than we seniors can keep up with it. Declining to use the internet at all is not recommended, although some try it. We are too likely to be left behind in a fast changing culture.
Scam artists have taken full advantage of the internet. And seniors are a prime target having grown up in a more trusting age, in which most business was conducted by humans talking to humans, rather than strangers initiating contacts over the internet. Scam artists have kept up with the technology and have become smoother and more creative.
However, the good news for we seniors is that virtually all internet scams can be avoided by common sense, reacting rationally rather than emotionally, and following a few simple rules. Hopefully by living a long life we have perfected these traits.
I recently came upon a 2010 Reader’s Digest article summarizing some common scams and how to avoid them. I was struck by noting that these scams are still being commonly used. People must still be falling for them. The rules for avoiding them have not changed.
Here are some examples:
The grandchild in trouble or the tourist robbed in a foreign country. Winning a lottery in which you did not buy a ticket. A “free trial offer” which obligates you to sign a contract. An offer to relieve one of interest on credit cards. A foreign national, often Nigerian, whose assets are frozen by a corrupt government or bank who need a U.S. partner. A fake charity. A fake lover often from a foreign country who needs money to join the victim. Fake collection agencies. Fake home repairs. An e-mail which invites one to check something out or announces an opportunity by clicking on a link, purporting to be from a known person whose e-mail address has been pirated. An offer for something for nothing or a high monetary return for no risk.
The rules for avoiding all of these scams are remarkably simple:
View any unsolicited e-mail from a stranger with extreme suspicion. Seldom, if ever, has anyone lost anything by simply not replying. Verify the source independently. Do not respond to the e-mail sending the message but contact the purported sender by phone or a different e-mail. The familiar grandchild in trouble or robbed in a foreign country a scam can sometimes be avoided by probing the caller by asking personal questions. However, remember that a scam artist can obtain personal information by hacking into Facebook or other social media. The safer practice is not to reply, then verify the source independently. Never ever give a credit card, debit card, social security number. or bank routing number to anyone over the internet unless you have initiated the request. This is just an invitation for identity theft or cleaning out ones bank account. Never click on a link sent by e-mail until the source has been verified independently.
Scam artists often use Western Union as an unwitting participant in a scam because it is a fast method of transmitting funds. I know of instances in which knowledgeable and helpful Western Union operators have smelled a scam and talked a would be victim out of it.
Do not assume that personal information on Facebook or social media will remain private.
I know I may sound like a broken record repeating this advice, but the scams go on and people keep falling for them. It would be nice to live in an idyllic world where everyone could be trusted, but unfortunately, we do not.
Peter T. Hoss is a retired lawyer and an adviser to Legal Services for Seniors.
