Scams: They just never seem to stop popping up

Telephone scams, phone scams, email scams, they just never stop and you really need to be on high security outlook for them. Especially now, as scams today are looking more and more legitimate and the con artists behind them are certainly clever. But, once you start to dissect them there are usually some tell tail signs that can alert you to a scam.

Email scams are very popular and can come into your inbox in all forms. Last week an area resident contacted me to share how he had been targeted. The email he had received read that it came from ‘NS SYMPATICO ONLINE,’ with the subject line reading: Upgrade Notification.

The email then went on to read: “This is to notify you that we are presently working on our NS SYMPATICO ONLINE Emails, this maintenance can close your ns.sympatico.ca email account completely.”

The email then goes on to read: “Please do not say you were not informed, your urgent response is highly needed, to protect your email account from being closed.”

So, lets look at this paragraph. Can you really imagine Sympatico (the legitimate company) addressing its customers in this manner - Please do not say you were not informed....No legitimate company is going to take such a tone with its customers - let’s at least hope not.

The next paragraph of the email reads: “You are hereby advise [sic] to forward your USERNAME and PASSWORD to our Account maintenance [sic] Team email address: maintenancedept08@rocketmail .com. We await urgent response.”

Looking at this last paragraph you will notice the spelling mistake, punctuation mistake, the last sentence is missing a word, and again the tone is harsh. You will also notice that the Account maintenance Team address is suspicious - @rocketmail.com - doesn’t sound like it is going to be sent to Sympatico, does it?

Another new tactic techno thieves are taking in trying to dupe their victims lies in the subject line of the email itself. The subject line may read: Your Complaint; Your Meeting Tonight; Your Appointment; Response to your question, etc.... As you can imagine, these subjects would apply to so many people as there would be a great number who would have meetings, complaints in process, and appointments. In fact, one area resident actually had a complaint into her Internet service provider and coincidently received a message a few days later regarding her ‘Internet complaint’ directing her for more personal information -which was a scam. This tactic can really catch people off guard as it strikes you by appearing to be an update with a subject or event you are already involved in.

When you receive emails in your Inbox, have a look at who the email is coming from before you open it. If you do not recognize the sender’s address and the subject line is suspicious - you may want to delete it without opening. If you do open the email and realize it is a scam, don’t click on any links within the email. And remember, legitimate companies do not ask you for your personal information, passwords, pin (numbers), social insurance numbers, bank information, etc,.... And, if in doubt, you can always call the Seniors’ Safety Program for assistance.