Recently, an email released by a scammer pretends to be from Capital One, a major, well-respected financial institution. In it, the scammer attempts to lure the email recipient into believing the Capital One website could be at risk of a fraudulent attack unless the individual clicks on an embedded link
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Business email accounts are as susceptible to scam attacks as personal accounts. Though a spam filter may do its best to weed out these malicious digital assaults from the daily onslaught of incoming email, some scams sneak past them. When they do, these cloaked villains do their best to fool
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Criminals use email as an inexpensive, easy way to reach a large number of people quickly. Their promises of an easy payday can be tempting, but don’t let their tricks fool you into giving up your hard-earned resources. Here’s a sample email recently received from a scammer. The email has
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How old email accounts can rise from the dead. As we move through life, we may find that email account names outlive their usefulness. Email names such as “partymonster” or “superslacker” may be fine in high school, but entirely unsuitable when adding them as contact information to an important job
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When is a fraud alert not a fraud alert? When it’s a scammer trying to lure you into giving up your personal information. A recent Own Your Defense article reviewed a powerful strategy scammers employ to lure targets into taking a specific action. That strategy, the exploitation of fear, is
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It’s in the news frequently. Individuals, businesses, and government agencies fall for it every day. It’s also nearly impossible to put an end to it once and for all. What is it? Email scams and everyone is a potential target. Criminals are aware that news of their exploits are more
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Repeat this saying to yourself – “there is no free lunch.” In a world with scarce resources, very few people can afford to offer free goods or services to all who want them – at least not for long. Those resources have to come from somewhere. Someone has to offer
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You open your email on a bright, sunny day and peruse recent messages. Among the collection of personal notes, news articles, and advertisements is a message from the local police department. After opening the email, you discover a notification for a red light traffic violation. Your mind races back through
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On Halloween, children often dress in outfits they wouldn’t normally wear to request delicious treats from strangers. Scammers often do the same using familiar disguises, but the treats they’re after are the dollars in your bank account. In the email scam above, a thief is attempting to fool recipients into
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Spammers and scammers appreciate the value of their email distribution lists. Culled from a variety of sources including contest entries, request for information forms, business databases, and suppliers that specialize in consumer data warehousing, these lists represent the life’s blood of their income. Once these data hoarders acquire a person’s
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Curiosity can sometimes be a good thing. It can prompt someone to take a college course on ancient civilizations, explore the great outdoors, or ask that special someone out on a date. It can also lead someone down a path of misfortune by clicking on the wrong email message. With
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