The web or Internet is a great place to be if you are the owner of a small business, but like all great places, it does have its drawbacks. So being alert and watchful especially in your email box will save you lots of time and of course money.
Scammers do try it on, so we have picked a selection of widely used scams on us to show you what to look for and how to avoid the bad boys on line.
Take your time and never rush when checking your emails, as one wrong click will ruin your day. There are a number of types of scam emails to look out for, first the email that looks like it came from financial intuitions like Banks and PayPal saying your facilities have been limited and you are required to log in via that email and make the necessary adjustments.
Most banks and even PayPal do not send emails out like that, so do not log in as the senders are after your log in details and password, thus resulting in the account being emptied very quickly.
We have also seen websites of major Banks and PayPal front pages being recreated to make it look even more real and again you are asked to log in on an official looking website. Usually it’s just the front page that has been recreated on another server; again your passwords and user name is the target.
Looking in the top of your browser window you will see the full address of the website http://www.bankname.com but on real bank and financial sites it will be https://www.bankname.com and just before the https will be a padlock, here you can view the PayPal, HSBC and Barclaycard genuine address versions.
Think before you click on any email sent you even from friends and never download anything your unsure of.
We have had hundreds sent us, some saying please view your latest bank statements, others claiming to be from ITunes and even Virgin Media. They all go in the junk or spam box and we never read any of them. We think if Virgin or the likes of want to talk to us they will call or send us a normal letter. But if you do get a call, never give out passwords.
Malware is when someone sends you an email and you download it and as soon as you do the viruses get to work either taking the info off your computer or smartphone hoping to get financial information they can use to obtain your money or even worse locking up your device and demanding a ransom from you to unlock it, paid in bitcoins of course, so they cannot be traced.
Our message to you is do not download anything, unless you know 100% what it is and where it came from.
There is away to trace people who do this and we do and report them.
Keep it safe on line think b4 you click
