With more and more people using the Internet both in their business and private life, no wonder it's become scammers' favorite playground. But since most of us have already learned to secure our emails, social media accounts, and dating profiles, criminals have to adjust and invent new schemes. So, here's some bad news for you: it's getting way harder to protect yourself against scammers, because now they've started to target - brace yourself - your Google Calendar! In short, this scam uses hyperlink-embedded events to get access to your sensitive information. The scam goes like this: first, cybercriminals begin to spam your Google Calendar with tons of alluring calendar events. And if you have the default settings, which adds any event you're invited to to your calendar, beware - you're the very person these scammers need. Once the event is added, Google will start to send you notifications, and believe me, they’ll look very trustworthy! Ok, let's say you've opened the invitation. Inside, you see something along the lines of, "Congrats, you're getting a cash reward!" But don't get your hopes up. As soon as you hit the hyperlink attached to the text, it’ll take you to a special form where you'll need to enter your personal information, from your family name to your credit card number! Well, I guess it's obvious how con artists can use this info, right? Why do people fall for this scam? Well, nowadays we've learned the hard way to be cautious about each suspicious letter that drops into our email inbox. But very few people expect a phishing link to be sent to their Google Calendar. So a person who's only been receiving invitations from co-workers and friends for years will fall into the trap. Luckily, you can protect yourself from this scam without much trouble. And no, you won't need to delete your life-organizing app! Open your Google Calendar, go to Settings, choose Event Settings, and look for "Automatically Add Invitations." There, select "No, only show invitations to which I've responded." This way, once you ignore a suspicious invitation, it won't appear in your calendar ever again. Plus, make sure that the option "Show declined events" is unselected. Did you just change your settings and breathe a sigh of relief? Sorry to disappoint you, but that's not the only Internet scam you should be aware of these days. For example, who doesn't like free Wi-Fi? But you should be extremely careful while using an unfamiliar hotspot. Imagine you're at the airport or in a coffee shop and in urgent need of the Internet. You check available Wi-Fi hotspots and - how convenient - here it is, no password required! But what you don't know is that this network has been set up by a con artist and is connected to their laptop. As soon as you join the hotspot, they’ll immediately have access to your computer or cell phone. And you can be sure that they won't hesitate to mine your gadget for your personal and financial data! To avoid falling for this scheme, you need to tinker with your gadget's settings some more. First, make sure that your device doesn't join any open Wi-Fi network automatically. Switch on "Ask to join new networks" option and turn off your Wi-Fi when you’re not using it. On top of that, before visiting public places, such as an airport, find out the official Wi-Fi network's name in advance. Are you a Netflix lover? Then you could become a victim of the following scam. Recently, Netflix customers have started to receive fraudulent emails that claim to be sent by Netflix itself. Inside, there are messages that encourage you to click on a malicious link and provide your personal data, as well as your payment information! For example, the email may go like this, "Dear customer, in the process of regular maintenance, we noticed an error in your account. If you don't update your data within the following 24 hours, we'll restrict your access to the account." At first sight, this scam may seem amateur. But as soon as you’re the one to get the email, it suddenly becomes very convincing - after all, who wants to get cut off from all their favorite shows? Luckily, Netflix has published several tips on how to avoid being tricked. First, do NOT enter your financial and personal details after you've followed a link in a text message or an email. Even better, type www.netflix.com directly into the browser's address bar. Also, if you think that the email you got isn't from Netflix, don't send any reply. The "hitman scam" is another scheme that’s recently become popular. One day, you get a threatening email with money demands. This scam may have different variations, from a threat to kidnap a family member to a promise to damage your property. To make this threat sound more realistic and dangerous, cybercriminals fill the email with your personal life details. Where do they collect this info? Well, naturally, from your social media accounts and personal blogs. Don’t fall for these threats and don't click on any links they may have attached. Admittedly, this scam is the most psychologically scary, but if you're in doubt, it’s better to notify the police and don't transfer any money to the criminals. The next scam is particularly nasty since it uses your kindness and compassion. A scammer starts a crowd-funding website based on something that's recently gotten a lot of news coverage, be it a natural disaster or a viral person-in-need story. After that, the con artist encourages the site's visitors to contribute their money to the case and share the link on social media. On top of that, they send out emails asking for donations. If you open the link and transfer money to the mentioned account using a bank card, the criminal will get access to your bank information and can drain your account! To avoid being tricked, don’t follow any links you get via email and don't click on any suspicious web addresses you may come across on social media. If you want to help someone in need, find the charity that's working with this case and go straight to their official site. Make sure that the site is secure, and the URL starts with "https://." Only after that, provide your bank card information. Oh look, and now you've got an urgent email coming from your social network! It says that someone's trying to get access to your account, and you need to sign in immediately to verify the information. Alarming, isn't it? But it gets even more disturbing once you find out that this is another phishing scheme, and the email has been sent by a con artist. If you click on the link provided in the email, you'll get to a fake website which will ask you to sign in. If you do, scammers will be able to access your real account and steal your identity to send spam to your contacts or even blackmail you by using your personal data! Luckily, you can easily avoid becoming the victim of this scam. If you get a disconcerting message encouraging you to check your social media, visit your account via the network's app. If you don't have this app on your gadget, type the web address of the page directly into the address bar. Besides, it's a good idea to set up two-step verification on your social media account. This way, if someone tries to access it, you'll receive a text notifying you about a threat. Tech support scam is not only common, but it also sounds exceptionally convincing, especially to those who don't have technical knowledge. So, the scam goes like this: your smartphone rings, but you don't recognize the number on display. Still, you decide to answer. The person on the other side introduces themselves as a software company representative and explains the reason for their call. According to them, your computer has been hacked by cyber criminals, and no one but this representative can help you to deal with this urgent issue. Their story is very convincing: they tell you the serial number of your computer and assist in getting access to its unique ID. After that, they persuade you that your computer's having serious problems after it was hacked. If you fall for this scam, the scammer may talk you into giving them remote access to your computer. Then they either steal your personal info or tell you about additional software you need to install to protect your PC. If you agree, they tell you to pay for this software. As a result, there's nothing you can do but provide the cybercriminals with your credit card details. But you can avoid this unpleasant situation if you choose not to trust unknown people who call you, introducing themselves as tech experts and requesting your personal and financial info. Do NOT give strangers remote access to your computer - they may easily install malicious software. Download software only from official sites and always use an antivirus program to protect your data. So there. How about you? Have you ever become a victim of an Internet scam? Let me know down in the comments! If you learned something new today, then share it with a friend. But – hey! – don't go falling for any more scams ever again! Meanwhile, we have many posts for you to check out.
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