PHISHING

Phishing on Digital Devices

 I remember the good ‘ol days when hucksters would call our ‘ol land line at home and attempt to talk you into buying something while initially offering something for free to get your attention.  I once got a call from Arthur Murray Dance studios announcing that I had won free dance lessons!  The caller had to put me on hold after I got very excided and then asked if his studio was handicap friendly?  His manager got on the line and profusely apologized for rescinding their free offer which left me devasted.  Another call from Omaha Meats offered big discounts on their meat.  I informed the caller that we had grown up in Kansas on healthy, lean buffalo meat and would be happy to purchase some.  He had to put me on hold and discuss with his manager only to return with the sad news that they couldn’t comply.

But today’s electronic devices and apps have pretty well eliminated the human element in place of unresponsive robo contact.  In the span of one week, I received a call on my iPhone that was flagged as “SPAM RISK”; received a voice mail on my land line that my vehicle warranty had expired; been notified on e-mail that my McAfee subscription had expired, so I needed to urgently respond; received wonderful news that I had won a Ninja Kitchen System from Lowe’s and a Dyson Vacuum from Home Depot and $100 Wal*Mart and $500 Costco gift cards, to name just a few of my many windfalls!  Vandals are copying profile photos on FaceBook and creating fake accounts to ask your friends to friend them.  If you have many friends, they may forget that they are already friends.  Your new friend may then ask for money for a good cause!

Social engineering has now been defined as manipulating people to give up confidential information.  Cybercrime is now just a click away.  This new ruse to gain access to your personal and financial information has been flagged as “phishing” and if it wasn’t profitable to dupe unsuspecting folks it would stop.  Or you could be asked to click on a link which leads to a sham website.  Malicious Trojan horses disguised as malware files may breach a computer to lock it up in exchange for Bit Coin ransom.  Phone calls or “Vishing” may ask you to purchase and provide the numbers of gift cards to rectify a bogus debt or bail out a close relative.  They cannot be traced.  Even “SMS Phishing” text messages can now be received.  Some major companies are now buying Phishing insurance and have mandatory training for compliance.

The old adage “If it seems too good to be true, it probably isn’t” still applies to all solicitations on digital devices these days.  Delete this correspondence or call the organization such as your bank or Social Security to verify notices.  Since I once had McAfee security software on a laptop years ago, I recently attempted to unsubscribe from the McAfee notices and my system responded with the message that “This website can transmit malicious software and has been involved in online scams or fraud.”  Some common warning signs include dubious grammar, attached documents, unsolicited correspondence, using popular, current events, free stuff and the need for urgent responses. 

“WARNING Will Robinson!”