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Online Self-Defense: Avoiding Email Scams
Chau MaiDecember 5, 2013
The Internet is mostly safe …
… but any public environment
filled with unknown people
requires
caution, preparedness, and awareness.
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Today You Will:
–Learn the “Golden Rules” for email safety
–Learn how to spot Internet / email scams
–Practice with real-life examples
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The “Golden Rules” for email safety
1. If you don’t immediately recognize the sender, don’t open it, just delete it
2. Never send personal information via email > Call them
3. Never click on a link from an email unless is from a friend and it sounds like is from them
Avoiding email scams 4
Email Scams: Chain Letters • They instruct to “forward to 10 other people” or
“everyone you know”• Sometimes sounds well-meaning• Often their purpose is to spread a dangerous virus!
What to do:• Delete them• Don’t click on any links• If sent by a friend, ask them not to forward to you
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Email Scams: Tax Time Scams• They offer an “inexpensive tax preparation service”
> Don’t click on links; call them to verify
• Comes from the IRS or State of California
> Don’t click on links; delete the email
> IRS/California will NEVER contact you by email (they will send you a letter)
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Email Scams: ‘Get Rich Quick’ Schemes
• Promise earning money by selling items for them
• Become a ‘professional shopper’• Process an inheritance or other payment for
people other of the country >Don’t click on links; delete
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Email Scams: Financial Institution Asking for Your Personal Information• Your bank, insurance, broker, PG&E, etc. asking to
verify your password, social security number, etc.• Usually with an excuse: ‘need to verify …”, ‘need to
update every year …”, “we have detected potential fraud …”, etc.
• They will look EXACTLY as the institution you do business with
> Don’t reply; don’t click on links
> Call them > Report the scam
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Activity: Practice your Internet Self-Defense
• Read the email message or website text• Circle any “danger signs” - things that make
you think the message could be a scam • What would you do?• Be prepared to explain your choices.
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Case Study #1
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Subject: Prayer Request from Peggy Lesley
Special Prayer Request from Peggy Lesley at Brookwood Church . I am starting a signing for my son's best friend who has cancer (Hodgkin's Lymphoma). He is 11 years old and is not doing well at all. He was diagnosed with this cancer 2 weeks ago.
The tumor is the size of a large eggplant and is sitting right above his heart. This little boy needs all the prayer he can get.
When I get the 1,000 people that have signed it...I am going to print this up for my sons best friend and show him how many people care and how many people are praying for him to get better. If you have a heart at all, you will all do this for me.
Hit FORWARD and add your name to the bottom of the list and send it out to as many people as you can and pray for him!
Case Study #2
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Case Study #3
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• Instead of clicking a suspicious link from an email, type the web address yourself when you want to visit the site. – This is especially important for bank, credit card, and IRS websites.
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Case Study #3
Case Study #4
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Greetings of the day to you, although you may be skeptical receiving this email as we have not met before, I am Mr. Patrick K.W. Chan (Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer) of the Hang Seng Bank Ltd., nevertheless I have a business proposition involving the sum of $22,000,000.00 usd in my bank which I know we will be of mutual benefit to both of us, and I believe we can handle it together, once we have a common understanding and mutual cooperation in the execution of the modalities.
Should you be interested, please send me:1.Full names,2.Age3.Occupation,4.Private phone number,5.Current residential address.Via this email address:([email protected])
Your earliest response to this mail will be highly appreciated.Mr. Patrick Chan.
Remember the “Golden Rules” for email safety
1. If you don’t immediately recognize the sender, don’t open it, just delete it
2. Never send personal information via email > Call them
3. Never click on a link from an email unless is from a friend and it sounds like is from them
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Questions?
Thank you!
Copyright © 2011 Symantec Corporation. All rights reserved. Symantec and the Symantec Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
This document is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended as advertising. All warranties relating to the information in this document, either express or implied, are disclaimed to the maximum extent allowed by law. The information in this document is subject to change without notice.
Avoiding email scams 17
