HESSEQUA NEWS - For the past year the number of cases reported for internet fraud has seen a steady increase in numbers.
Every day, consumers receive offers sounding too good to be true. Scammers do not discriminate and will target people of all backgrounds, ages, and income levels.
A recent analysis at Still Bay Saps have shown that most victims of these types of fraud are between the ages of 40 to 86 years, with most falling in the age category of 60 to 86 years.
Interesting enough was the fact that 62% of these victims are male, while only 38% are female.
Follow these measures to avoid falling prey of internet scammers:
Internet purchases
- Only make purchases through a reputable website and/or company.
Emergency scams
- Never send money to anyone you do not know and trust
Romance scams
- Use legitimate and reputable dating websites.
- Never provide personal information about banking accounts when chatting online.
Targeted computer crimes
- Don’t respond to or open attachments or click on links in unsolicited emails.
- Be wary of pop-up messages claiming your machine is infected and offering software to scan and fix the problem.
- Install and maintain real-time anti-virus and anti-spyware desktop firewall and malware detection and removal software.
- Do not use the same computer that’s being use to send/receive MoneyGram transactions for checking email, accessing the Internet, or online.
Targeted social engineering
- Banking institutions will never call clients and ask them to perform a money transfer of any kind.
- Never send an item to anyone without first having cash in hand
- Do not perform any transactions initiated over the phone
- Never share your log-on and PIN information with anyone
Still Bay Saps strongly urge every person to continue to be vigilant in watching for suspicious activities.
If you suspect fraud or feel uncomfortable in any way, do NOT complete the transaction.
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