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Some Online Scams Can Look Very Real
The majority of us love being online, but many of us are also victims of online scams, which really can be a pain. Some of them are so sneaky and look so real; you have to be really vigilant to spot where the actual ‘giveaway’ is that it is not, and other scams make themselves known a little more easily.
Either way, avoiding them all together would be the ideal outcome, so we have put together some top tips on how you can stay safe from online scams while you enjoy the internet in all of its glory.
Privacy Settings
Keeping on top of your privacy settings is one of the easiest things we can do to protect ourselves online, yet many of us either do not use them or do not know how to use them properly. That being said, alongside the awareness of new privacy settings and how they can help, around 80% of users from a small DuckDuckGo survey had adjusted their settings in the past 12 months, in 2019. The awareness is rising, but users really need to sit down and learn about what these privacy settings mean and who they can keep out.
Ignore Unsolicited Messages
The chances of someone sliding into your DM’s to offer you money for no reason is on the rise, but the authenticity of these messages is not. If you get a message from someone you do not know, someone who has no friends on their profile, no interactions, and a picture that has only been uploaded one day ago, the chances are they are not who they are pretending to be, which will also mean they are probably pretending to offer what they are offering. A common version of this is people posing as princes or sugar daddies.
Beware Of The Sugar Daddy Scam, as it can seem pretty ‘harmless’ even if they do not appear to be real. They have a very systematic approach to receiving money from you and taking back any they gave you.
Keep Your Passwords Strong and Safe
Passwords are becoming easier and easier to hack. Password123 might have, at some point, been relatively safe, but opting for anything obvious that does not have a unique mixture of capital letters, numbers, and symbols is a disaster for you and a hacker’s dream come true.
If you are not good at remembering passwords or making up strong and safe ones, then you can use a password generator and password manager to keep on top of them. If you save them in the Google Keychain, they will also let you know if your password has been breached.
Keep Your Software Updated
Software updates are there to keep our chosen software working as best as it possibly can. And while we might automatically think of improved speed or more features, there are also vital improvements made to security which, if not implemented, could be a massive ‘in’ for those looking for one. Avoid giving immoral opportunists the chance to get into your device by making sure all of your software is regularly updated.