On Thursday April 20th we looked at the latest information on Phishing and Scamming which seems to be getting more frequent and more sophisticated. Certainly, the British Tabloids are full of it!
“Google says you’ve won a prize”: https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/22071851/google-prize-search-reward-redeem-scam-warning/
“Get your passport renewed quickly” (this is very current!) https://www.mirror.co.uk/travel/news/brits-warned-new-scam-targeting-29709461
“We’ve suspended your Amazon account”: https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/22067993/gmail-outlook-android-iphone-danger-words-message-warning/
“The phone number linked to your online Natwest Banking account has been changed” https://www.nationalworld.com/money/natwest-warning-over-new-email-scam-that-can-drain-bank-accounts-4106689
Even a fake Chrome update hijacks your computer to mine Bitcoin! https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/hacked-sites-caught-spreading-malware-via-fake-chrome-updates/
We ran through the tips and hints described in this article : https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/phishing-faq-how-to-spot-scams-and-stop-them-in-their-tracks/ Phishing FAQ: How to Spot Scams and Stop Them in Their Tracks and discussed personal experiences. We explored how to check if an e-mail or company is legitimate or not (some legitimate requests can look as if they are scams). It’s worth Googling some of the phrases and websites mentioned in the message to see if they are legit. Most members use two-step authentication as recommended, though apparently some people don’t even lock their phones!
A very useful site for checking suspicious sites and emails is: E.Veritas : https://www.emailveritas.com Which focuses on protecting corporate users from Phishing and scams, but whose tools can be used free of charge, including a URL Checker and Phishing e-mail analyser.
Your e-mail program usually intercepts scams and phishing e-mails and puts then in your Spam folder…Chris BJ’s Spam folder contained 48 such e-mails!
We checked up on the Correos scam, which quite a few JCC members had experienced. Here’s what Correos said (translated by DeepL)
” In Correos we have detected 3 cases with different variants that are repeated a lot in these attacks and that are customs payment, package location and payment for shipment. If we notice, all of them include payment or the need to provide financial data.
In the case of payment for shipping, the message usually states that the recipient is waiting for a package and must pay an amount to receive it if he wants it to be sent and delivered. This is something that Correos never does and much less through an email.
They are usually very effective since they are sent to millions of people and among all of them it is common that many expect packages sent by Correos, so they end up believing it. The amounts they try to steal are small, from 1,49€, 1,79€, etc. “
Mobile bank, N26, has launched a social campaign, ‘Security Explained Simply’, that aims to decode the increasingly complex landscape of security in digital banking. The campaign launched with five 60-second videos. Each of the five videos discusses a separate security concept narrated by a character that relates to the topic at hand. https://n26.com/en-es/security We watched the videos and questioned whether having your banking data in the cloud was more secure than on a Bank’s servers as well as whether it’s safe to use an agent to book flights etc. since there have been some scam sites that look very real. The use of AI such as ChatGPT means that fake web pages and phishing messages can sound really legitimate since they don’t have the bad grammar and spelling mistakes that were giveaways in the old days.
If in doubt. Come to the Jávea Computer Club to discuss your possible Scam message and we’ll help investigate!
This BBC documentary highlights how big the scamming industry is!
Chris Betterton-Jones – Knowledge Junkie.