Open Source Intelligence 101

If you have any sort of common sense you would know that there isn’t a prince or member of a royal African family that wants to send you their millions with no strings attached! However, even though this sort of scam has been ongoing for many years, the overall principals of a spam scam are still going strong and continue to grow and become more malicious each and every day. These are 4 of the most popular spam scams that like to pretend to come from an actual legitimate source, often tricking unknowing people into clicking on links and opening dangerous attachments. Fake password changes One of the most common scams is the password change alert or confirmation email that users will receive either from their bank, social media network or another trusted source. The scammers will trick the users into thinking their accounts have been hacked and urge them to click on a link or open a malicious attachment to reset their password. False bookings These scams ap...

Hackers, scammers and cybercriminals love the holiday season because it gives them the chance to take advantage of the crazy holiday shopping and make a nice profit out of unknowing shoppers. By using phishing scams, online scammers take advantage of the fact that your email inbox is so full of holiday specials and offers that you won’t think twice before clicking on a malicious link. Here are 5 scams to keep an eye out for this holiday season… Receipts and invoices. A lot of people do their shopping online these days and during the holiday season, there is a huge increase in online receipts and invoices that shoppers will receive via email. Scammers will hide malicious code in an attachment or link and shoppers won’t think twice when clicking on an attachment that’s apparently from Amazon! Shipping status. Just like the fake receipts and invoices, fake shipping status alerts are a great way for scammers to trick shoppers into thinking there is a problem with their...

As humans, we’re basically wired to social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. And because of our obsession scammers are taking advantage and more and more people are falling for social media scams. Here are the 5 most common social media scams to look out for. 1. Chain Letters. You’ve probably seen this one before. For example, retweet or like this and we’ll donate a million dollars to charity! The truth is both the post and the claim are obviously fake. Either a post like this is done by someone looking for a laugh or simply sharing it from someone else; otherwise, it could be a scammer trying to trick you into clicking a dangerous link. 2. Cash Grabbing. We use social media to stay in touch with friends, right? But how well do you really know half the people on your friend's list? Always think twice if you get a request from someone claiming they need cash for an emergency. Rather call your friend first to double check if it’s really them o...

As the internet expands so do the online scams and how sophisticated they are becoming. What online scams all have in common is that they prey on your fear, greed, and ignorance – here are some of the most sophisticated online scams on the internet that everyone seems to fall for. Phishing – One of the most popular scams out there is email phishing. Victims of phishing scams will be tricked into giving out their passwords through legitimate emails and seemingly trustworthy businesses. According to a recent study, nearly 100 000 attempts of phishing are reported each month. Learn more about phishing scams here. The Nigerian Prince Scam – One of the oldest online scams in the books is the Nigerian prince scam. You’ll receive an email from a Nigerian prince or investor offering you a chance of financial gain, the catch is you need to pay a small portion upfront or give out your private banking information. Ticket Fraud – Victims of the ticket fraud scam will be...

Letting your guard down can lead to serious consequences, especially when it comes to fraud through your emails, SMS’s and even telephone calls. Phishing, smishing, and vishing are some of the many ways that criminals may try to defraud you… Here’s what you need to know about phishing, smishing, and vishing! Phishing: This is a scam that takes place through emails. A typical attack will occur when you receive an email that looks real, either appearing to be sent from your bank or other financial institution.  Most of the time the email will ask you to click on a link or update your private account information. Even though these emails may look legitimate, they are simply trying to scare you into clicking a link that will lead to a legitimate-looking website – but it isn’t! They will try and scare you into clicking links by saying, “your account has been blocked.” or “you need to install this new software to stay protected.” If you fall for this fake email, yo...

In this day and age, it is so easy for criminals to use a digital device to carry out a traditional crime. A traditional crime such as blackmail which, back in the day, would usually be done using newspaper cuttings collaged together to create a ransom note is now being done in a completely different way using the power of digital devices as well as the internet. These days, it is so much easier for criminals to just use a computer to carry out a range of crimes such as, blackmail, identity theft, social media scams, ticket scams, dating bots, data theft and so much more. Some examples of other traditional crimes where a digital device can be used include instant messaging, which is often used to commit harassment. Criminals also continue to pose as your bank where they will SMS you and try to scam you into paying fake accounts, etc. Email is also used by cybercriminals on a regular basis to commit fraud by using phishing scams. It seems that the list is endless and ...

Billions of messages are sent out every day by spammers, most of it is annoying advertising and harmless in general, but every now and again there is a dangerous file attachment in one of the messages! To trick you into opening the attachment, most spammers will pretend it is something useful or important such as a Word document, gift card, a PDF, etc. Here are the top 4 dangerous file attachments to look out for… ZIP and RAR archives – Cybercriminals like to use archives to hide the malware they are trying to send you! On Valentine’s Day this year attackers were sending out files named Love_You_0899 to people into clicking them and installing ransomware. Microsoft Office documents – Word documents as well as Excel spreadsheets are some of the most popular Microsoft Office files cybercriminals love to use. Most of the time, they will target office workers and disguise the malware files as urgent messages, contracts or bills. PDF files – A lot of people kno...