Beware Fraud Alert E-mail Scams

E-mail scams tend to be a ‘phising’ expedition by scammers that are looking to gain the information necessary to take advantage of random victims. 

E-mail is a very efficient way to send out tens of millions of cleverly crafted messages that incorporate social engineering tactics that can fool even the most diligent of users.

Social engineering is designed to exploit the weakness in people instead of a vulnerability in your computer; think of it as hacking humans.

For instance, saying that you had requested the information will sometimes cause victims to assume that it’s legit and let their guard down.

Another version of the scam might alert you that your credit card has been shut off until you verify the questionable charges, which you can do by clicking the enclosed link.

If they can get you to trust the information and include an easy way to resolve the situation (usually a link to a site that would look exactly like your financial institution’s site), it can all seem like business as usual.

I’m not aware of any credit card companies that would ever use e-mail to alert you of potentially fraudulent activity on your account. It’s usually a phone call or in same cases, an app that you chose to install on your smartphone or tablet.

Even phone calls from what seems to be your credit card company can be scammers trying to get you to give up your three digit security code on the back of your card, because they acquired your credit card number and contact info and need the code to use your account to make online purchases. 

Once again, the credit card company wouldn’t ask you for that code, since they already know what it is. They’ll generally ask you a series of security questions that may include the last four digits of your social security number or a security code that you setup yourself.

The biggest problem with social engineering scams is that they are constantly changing to reflect what credit card companies are setting up as security measures, which makes them difficult to protect against with simple advice. 

E-mail is still the most productive way for scammers to gather victims, so your suspicion level for anything you get from what appears to be a bank, credit card company or merchant should always be high.

This focus by cybercriminals on e-mail scams is a really good reason to seek out a mobile app from your financial institution so you can always directly communicate with them from a trusted interface. 

Even when you think an e-mail message is legit, you should avoid clicking on any of the links. Instead, call the company or open a browser window yourself and manually go to the company’s website or use your mobile app and access your account.

If the info sent via e-mail is legit, it will show up when you log into your account or mobile app or call the number on the back of your credit card.