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The Anatomy of a Scam
This is not ham radio related, but I thought it might be a good public service announcement non-the-less...
I just watched this 23-minute long video detailing the anatomy of a scam and why they work so well. Oh and the glitterbomb stuff is pretty cool too!
In a nutshell here's why these scams are so effective:
- They hook you in by telling you that they owe you money.
- They have a very effective way of making you believe that they refunded you too much (10 or 100 times more) and that it was your mistake because you typed too many zeros.
- So now you feel guilty and will go the distance to pay them back the difference.
Tips to Not Get Scammed
I often receive text messages or emails from “Fido” telling me that they owe me a refund. The link posted kind of looks like Fido but not quite. So what to do? Don't click on the link. Instead:
- Go to the official website and login to your account to see if there's anything unusual. Most accounts will even have a “message” place where they post their official communications.
- If your account looks normal, delete the message; it's a scam.
If the message instead gives a phone number, do not call it. Instead:
- Independently look up the number from whatever institution it's supposed to be from and call that number instead.
Now, I don't even bother with the weekly Fido texts I receive, but last week, I got an email from Telus saying I had a lot of points to redeem. I didn't click on the link, which looked legit. Instead, I logged into my account and lo and behold: I managed to apply a $50 credit to my next bill and redeem a $25 Amazon gift card. Sweet!
Any other tips? Leave them in the comments below...