Cyber Safety: shop smarter by avoiding online scams

 

It's easy to say it would never happen to you, but the reality is with over $2.7 billion lost in online scams between 2021 and 2023, everyone is at risk of falling victim to a scam.

The people scamming you are getting smarter and using technology to their advantage.

Their methods are aplenty, ranging from romance scams to fake merchants or fraudsters who take over your social media profiles and con your friends out of money.

Experts warn, scammers are taking to social media to reach potential targets to get a person to trust them and then take advantage of them.

Be cautious about what you share on social media, considering you know all the things that are happening in social media today.

It's not just those fake accounts that's at risk.

Scammers can get information from what you post about yourself, your family and your friends.

If you're going on vacation, never post that you're at the airport leaving.

Scammers can find your name, address and now they know your home is empty while you're away.

You should be careful about who you allow see your profile as well, something you can do by changing your privacy settings.

Imposters are getting a hold of information, taking screenshots of photos and putting that on another fake Facebook profile with your name and then soliciting your friends for friend requests.

Also, make sure you're updating your passwords on a regular basis.

Experts say passwords should be at least 14 characters long with special characters.

And while it may seem tedious, your password should be changed every six months so no one can get into your profile.

All of this makes it harder for scammers to target you, but if they get through and you spot a scam, you should report it to the social media site and the FTC.