Scammers now target intelligent users

 

by Art Samaniego, Manila Bulletin

The number of social media users recently scammed, hacked, and even harassed online is alarming. While cyber crime victims before were the clueless titos and titas, now, journalists, doctors, teachers, and even those in the religious communities have fallen to the more sophisticated forms of scams. We could see now the impact of cyber crime across all ages and spectrum of society.

My job as the Tech Editor and Information and Communications Technology head of Manila Bulletin has made me the unofficial 24/7 tech support guy for my friends. Just last week, I got urgent messages from five of my friends asking about different cyber security issues.

I always tell my friends to be careful when clicking links from emails. Scammers could convincingly copy websites to look the same as the real ones. Check the URL before clicking, hover the cursor on top of the link, check the lower-left corner of your browser. If you don’t recognize the URL, don’t proceed.

Never trust Facebook-sponsored posts immediately. Facebook allows scammers to target you using its platform. If a sponsored post asks you to log in to your account, it’s a scam. Don’t proceed. If you see these scam ads, it means the scammers target you. Using the Facebook algorithm, the scammers know that you are more likely to click their sponsored post.

These are the messages I got from my friends. With the help of some members of the Phillippine Hacking University (PHU) group, we recovered three Facebook and one Instagram accounts. Read on and learn how not to be a victim of cyber scams.

Scammers are out there waiting for your to make that mistake of clicking and engaging with them.

Question: I got a private message asking me to post an article through an instant Facebook article. He will pay 60 dollars per published article and 120 dollars for videos. Is this legit?

Answer: That’s a scam. It happened before. A struggling Facebook page immediately grabbed what seems to be an opportunity. Instead of getting that 60-dollars for the article and 120-dollars for the video, the scammers took over the page. If you agree, the scammers will then ask you to give them access to your Business Manager Account, don’t!. Giving permission will provide them with authority to kick you out as owner/admin of your page.

Question: I got a message that says my Facebook account would be verified and have that blue check after my name. I need to follow the instruction and install an app from someone who claims to be from Facebook.

Answer: That’s a scam. Facebook will never ask you to install an app to verify your account. Be careful. Third-party apps you would install could not only compromise your social media account but also take over your computer.

Question: I got a message from a friend that says I won a government agency raffle. I need first to send PhP 28,500.50 for a tax clearance fee to get the one million-peso prize.

Answer: That’s a scam. Never believe a message like this or its variants. Sometimes, scammers would use your friend’s account to ask for money from you. Never send anything. Verify first if it is really from your friend or that agency who said that you won something.

Question: I think hackers compromised my Facebook account. Someone is accessing it without asking permission. What would I do?

Answer: If you’re worried about the security of your FB account, go to

 https://www.facebook.com/hacked. Facebook will walk you through how to change your password if you think your account is compromised. After following all the instructions, immediately activate the 2FA feature to add an extra layer of protection to your account.

Question: I got a message saying that he has access to my email. As proof, he gave me the old password that I used for my account. He told me that he would forward my incriminating messages and photos to my friends and family if I won’t pay US$100 using bitcoin.

Answer: This is a scam. These criminals usually get email addresses from compromised databases. A breach like this is not your fault. To secure your email, you need to change your password regularly. It would be best to use a password that you could easily remember but difficult for hackers to guess. Don’t worry. A message like this is a scam, and the sender has no access to your email.

Remember, always think before you click.

Constant Vigilance Needed in Fight versus Computer Scammers

It happened all over the world. Computer Scammers are increasingly moving away from email and into social media to exercise their fraudulent activities. A Canadian consumer watchdog said this in a report several days ago.

With the growing popularity of such social media as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and You Tube, the increasing number of platforms was just adding to the avenues where fraud was occuring.

Interesting to read is Danielle Primrose's opinion. Danielle is president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Mainland British Columbia in Canada. Danielle states, "Emails still prevail, and I myself get them as well, but now with texting and smart phones and just the rapidity of social media platforms, Twitter, all of these new accounts are just opening up an absolute new form of scammers to get in there."

Example: By hooking to an app that promised the latest gossip, gullible users are directed to an online survey that puts an advertising commission into a spammer's coffers. Whether the content is non-existent or fake, in come cases a person may end up installing malicious software on a computer after clicking through to the video content, according to the report.

Other scams included "astro-turfing", the practice of posting fake online reviews to boost a business's profile, and "curbers", unlicensed car dealers who sell junk vehicles or others that may be stolen.

There were also phone telemarketers demanding money for fake services and mail lottery scams that targeted not only seniors.