August 5, 2010

How to Avoid Craigslist Scams

How to Avoid Craigslist Scams

Gently used clothing, bartered services, even free books and bicycles… these are all commonly found deals you can luck into on Craigslist, one of the worlds most popular (mostly) free online sites for classified ads. But just like with any other popular website, the unscrupulous use Craigslist to scam folks looking for a great deal.

With all of the items and services being sold, bought, bartered, or advertised, there’s a lot of temptation for an e-crook to use Craigslist to scam people out of their hard earned cash. Luckily avoiding Craigslist scams mostly falls under common sense, but there are plenty of tricky grifters out there, so watch out!

To help you avoid scams on Craigslist, we’ve written down some of the commonly used tactics used by alert buyers and sellers to avoid hassles with scams. Hopefully these tips will help you avoid a big headache, too.

  • Meet Face To Face:

    Keeping things in the real world vs. on the Internet of via snail mail will help make sure that you actually get what you paid for. And this tip leads us to…

  • Locals Only:

    Only buy/sell from/to someone who is close enough to you that you could arrange to meet in a public place. Choose someplace like the parking lot of a grocery store or a department store, and only meet during the daytime. There’s no sense in letting a stranger know where you live and into your house just to save a buck on gas.

  • Cash Only:

    If you’re selling something, make sure to ask for cash only. Wire transfers and checks can be faked, but cash in hand is much harder to scam with.

  • Avoid 3rd Party Services:

    Many online escrow services are well-known to be run by scammers, so keep things nice and simple. If you’re dealing with someone who insists on using an online escrow service, save yourself the hassle of a headache and look for a new person to deal with.

For more details on Craigslist scams, check out the official word from Craigslist on their “about scams” page.

Image courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/_skylark_/ / CC BY-ND 2.0

If you're looking for great anti-virus software that won't break the bank, try StopSign. You don't pay extra for tech support for difficult malware, and our web protection software just works. Download & install StopSign to find out why our members choose us over the other options.

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May 26, 2010

The Most Dangerous Threat to Your (Internet) Security.

The Most Dangerous Threat to Your (Internet) Security.

There’s a threat lurking on your computer right now. A presence so fraught with security holes that to expose it to any malicious element on the Internet would likely result in things such as identity theft, spyware, hacked accounts, and worse. What’s this problem? The problem, my friend, is you.

“Only amateurs attack machines; professionals target people.” Bruce Schneier (computer security expert)

So you’re a danger to yourself and others around you when it comes to Internet security… don’t feel bad. We’re all guilty of it. As humans, we’re notoriously good at being bad: we forget to pick up the milk even though our significant other reminded us, we skip a meal and eat way too much later that night, and we certainly get complacent when it comes to Internet security. And that last thing, that’s what we’re talking about. You can deal with your SO and your doctor on those first two. 🙂

We’ve talked about social engineering before, which is an easy way for hackers and phishers to get information out of you. Instead of breaking into your computer they attempt to break into you, using emails, instant messages, and in some cases even phones or talking to you in real life (both of which are much more rare, but still possible). Once they have gained your trust they begin to break down walls and get at what they really want: your sensitive information. Passwords, account numbers, access codes… anything they can get their hands on that might prove valuable.

In order to stop these people from breaking into your life, you have to train yourself to jog your brain out of complacency when it comes to Internet security. Three of the easiest ways to lock out the bad guys are:

  1. Strong passwords:

    Maybe we’re sounding like a broken record here, but a good password is one of the easiest, and best, deterrents to attacks ranging from account privacy to identity theft. Build yourself a better password.

  2. Trust but verify:

    We’re not suggesting that you live your Internet life in a bubble, just use the same precautions you’d use in the real world. Use some of the tips we wrote in our blog post “5 Simple Tips to Staying Secure Online” and that should cover your bases.

  3. Lock down accounts:

    Your privacy is one of your most important assets online. For every service you use, from your bank to Facebook, make sure that you understand how their security and privacy policies affect you and lock down information such as your physical address and home phone number so that only people you want contacting you can do so.

Reducing the amount of information publicly available about you and keeping up with a few easy Internet security tips will go a long way to keeping you safe… from yourself. 🙂

Image courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/johntolson/ / CC BY-ND 2.0

If you're looking for great anti-virus software that won't break the bank, try StopSign. You don't pay extra for tech support for difficult malware, and our web protection software just works. Download & install StopSign to find out why our members choose us over the other options.

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January 18, 2010

Beware of Haiti Relief Scams!

Beware of Haiti Relief Scams! Please donate to the Haitian earthquake relief efforts at http://www.redcross.org/

It’s hard to believe that in a time of crisis people could stoop so low as to try to scam people trying to help out those in need. The Haitian earthquake disaster of January 12th 2010, however, has seen it’s fair share of scammers preying on those who would help.

If you’re looking for a way to donate to help the people of Haiti, we suggest you go directly to the charitable organization(s) themselves, or through a trusted source, in order for you to not fall for a scam. To help you find a reliable source we have put the links of a few organizations who are taking the donations and putting the money to good use.

  • Red Cross Donation Page

    Clicking on this link takes you to the Red Cross donation form online, where you may choose how you would like your donation distributed.

  • Google Disaster Relief Page

    You may also visit Google’s page to donate to other charities such as UNICEF and CARE.

  • If you’d like a really simple way to donate, you may donate to the Red Cross via a text message. Just text the word “HAITI” to 90999 and $10 will be sent to Red Cross relief efforts.

UPDATE: USA Today has an article about the FBI fielding over 170 Haiti fund-raising scams recently. The FBI has a team of computer analysts and fraud investigators reviewing the scam complaints.

Image courtesy of the American Red Cross.

If you're looking for great anti-virus software that won't break the bank, try StopSign. You don't pay extra for tech support for difficult malware, and our web protection software just works. Download & install StopSign to find out why our members choose us over the other options.

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September 9, 2009

5 Simple Tips to Staying Secure Online.

There’s a lot to worry about online, and as an internet security software company we hope that you use our StopSign products to help keep you safe. But even if you don’t use our software, there are a few things you can easily do to ensure that you are less likely to be the victim of phishing, malware, or internet fraud.

  1. Secure? For sure! – “https”.

    When a web page requests personal information, like your Social Security number, when you’re making an online purchase, or if you need to access your bank account online, make sure that you look in the address bar of your browser to make sure you are on a secure server.

    It’s easy to see if the site you’re on is secure by seeing if the URL starts with “https”. Non-secure websites use “http”, so just look for that additional “s”. No real company who is concerned for your security will ever ask you for any sensitive, banking, or credit card-related information without a secure server in place. Anything else is a scam, pure and simple.

  2. Watch where you’re browsing.

    A lot of phishing attempts are done by using similarly-named domains or by tricks with the URL. The domain name of the website you are trying to view should always be before the “.com” (or “.net”, or whatever top level domain they use).

    For example, our blog is supposed to be on stopsign.com. If you saw blog.stopsign.example.com, that is not the official StopSign blog, because our domain name (stopsign) isn’t before the “.com”. See our blog post “How to Spot a Fake Website” for more information on fake websites.

  3. Use a secure password.

    Making a secure password is a simple solution to staving off the casual hacker who wants to try to break into one of your online accounts. Often one of the first things they do is use a “dictionary” of common passwords and/or common words to try to access accounts. See our blog post “12 Tips for Making a Good Password” for additional details and tips on secure password creation.

  4. Don’t open that email attachment.

    Like most people you probably get dozens of emails per day. It’s not uncommon to get attachments to your email with pictures from friends and family, but make sure that you never open an email attachment from an unknown person. Lots of viruses and spyware are spread online by email, and if you open one of them you’ll be instantly infected.

  5. If it’s too good to be true.

    Beware the scam artists online who prey on the kind-hearted and the uninformed. The Nigerian scams (and their many variants), “donation” seekers who want your bank account information, and other pests flood the internet daily. If something you’re being told seems too good to be true, it is, and if an email or website is asking you for private information it’s more than likely a scam or some other type of internet fraud. Unless of course it really is from your bank or the government, but it would still be on a secure server (when in doubt, give them a call and ask if they actually sent the email), and you should also be sure to watch where you’re browsing!

So there you go… 5 simple things that you can easily do to make sure that your browsing experience is safe and worry-free.

If you're looking for great anti-virus software that won't break the bank, try StopSign. You don't pay extra for tech support for difficult malware, and our web protection software just works. Download & install StopSign to find out why our members choose us over the other options.

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