Vigilance is Key in Avoiding Consumer Fraud

As the internet and computer-based technologies become more and more advanced, the strategies used by criminals evolve to keep up. Where once a criminal had to actively confront their victims to steal money or personal property, many criminals now use the internet to enable them to steal money and personal information from the comfort of their own home. However, it's a common misconception that cybercriminals are highly-skilled hackers who can crack your bank's encryption and empty your account. It's much more common for a criminal to attack through misleading or illegitimate emails that trick the target into giving up personal information.

Consumer fraud is commonly defined as "any instance in which an individual suffers a financial or personal loss because of unfair, deceptive, false, illegitimate or misleading business practices." In recent years, consumer fraud has tended to be focused on identity theft, Social Security fraud, and credit card fraud. Additionally, the targets of such scams tend to be individuals with little financial and life experience, like college students, or those who are not very technically-savvy, like the elderly. However, all demographics of the population have been successfully targeted by fraudsters.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the main agency that works to protect Americans from being defrauded by these criminals, and in recent years, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has also joined the fight, especially regarding mortgage scams, banking/wire fraud, and student loan scams. Their goal is to educate the more vulnerable consumers, to try to prevent the fraud from happening to begin with, but they also step in to help get things back on track for people who have unfortunately been targeted successfully.

There are several common methods of consumer fraud that you should learn to quickly recognize so that you can more easily avoid being defrauded in the future. One strategy is referred to as phishing. Basically, the cybercriminal sends you an email that appears to come from your bank or credit card company. The email will say something about your account being compromised or terms of service being updated, then will provide a link that seems to take you to the website where you can sign into your account. This webpage is actually a clever copy that just looks like the real webpage, so when you input your username and password, the cybercriminal records that information for later uses.

In other situations, the criminal gets ahold of your Social Security number (often through phishing attacks, but they sometimes use other methods), and they open up credit cards using your identity. Millions of Americans every year experience this kind of identity theft, and for the inexperienced or elderly, who don't know enough to keep track online, this attack can leave their credit score trashed for many years to come. Targets of identity theft often don't even find out that it has happened until much later, at which point their banks or credit card companies make them jump through all kinds of hoops to try to clear things up. One thing to note: no matter how careful you are with your cyber security and keeping your personal information private, you could be the target of a cyber attack. Being vigilant and suspicious in your online financial life can save you months of stress and frustration down the road.

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Deter Hackers by Improving Online Security on Social Media Accounts

As time goes on and technology continuously improves, the ability to hack into the new technology improves with it. So, because hackers are getting smarter and finding ways to attack our internet-enabled devices, we too have to develop and work harder to prevent such attacks. Over the past few years, popular social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have been targets of hacking and phishing schemes. According to Jessica Roy's article in the L.A. Times, one feature on your Twitter account could be making you more vulnerable to hackers.

Lately, there have been several situations in which Twitter accounts have had their security compromised. From celebrities like Justin Bieber to multi-million-dollar businesses like McDonald's, hackers are taking over. Sometimes they just want to "troll" and post something that they think is funny or that might get a reaction. Other times, the messages are designed to trick other people into clicking a link that will allow the hacker to break into other accounts. 

In at least one case, the cyber attacks were due to third-party tools and applications, such as "Twitter Counter." Years ago, when Twitter was still new, third-party applications like Twitter Counter allowed users to keep track of followers, find new followers, and post their Tweets on a schedule. Nowadays, few people use such tools, because Twitter has since updated their system to be able to offer many of the same abilities. However, even though most users stopped using Twitter Counter, many of them forgot to disconnect the tool from their account, leaving them vulnerable to a cyber attack. 

Because the third-party tool is more easily hacked than Twitter itself, criminals often look to use a program like Twitter Counter as a springboard to get into an account. Once they have hacked the app that has permission to access your account, they will have the ability to post from your account. In order to prevent similar issues on your account, make sure to check the options on your account (under "settings and privacy") and revoke access to any third-party applications that you don't use. To make your account even more secure, Twitter has some built-in security features. 

First, two-step authentication can be enabled on your account. While it seems more annoying to have to put in a password and a special code sent to your cell phone by text message or call, overall it can be worth it to avoid data thieves. Additionally, to make your account even more secure, you can choose a complicated password with a variety of letters, numbers, and symbols. Finally, make sure your password doesn't match that on one of your other accounts. If you use the same password for every platform, then if one account is compromised, they all will be. These quick and easy changes to your behavior online can help to protect you and make it much more difficult for hackers to make you their next target.

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Find out more about us at www.sepulvedaescrow.net. Any Questions? Contact our Escrow Expert! Sepulveda Escrow Corporation (818) 838-1831. Follow our company on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.

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