In My Opinion: Don't Be A Victim of Cyber Crime [The Press-Republican, Plattsburgh, N.Y.]

Dec. 4—According to the FBI, there are over 800,000 victims of online crime annually.

The largest victimized group are seniors. It's a massive problem, resulting in a record $10.2 billion lost last year.

How do we avoid becoming victims of cyber crime?

The key is identifying untrustworthy sources and never giving up personal, technical or financial information to these criminals.

Some simple rules.

No government agency, health service provider, insurance company or utility will demand payment for anything with: gift cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency or cash through the mail.

Never respond to solicitations in emails, texts or phone calls. Don't even give them your name. These solicitations may appear legitimate, from: Medicare Advantage Plans, PayPal, Amazon, FedEx, your bank, cyber security companies, utilities or insurance companies.

Don't click on texts, emails, links or answer phone calls from unfamiliar sources.

Beware of "Spoofing", using phone numbers or email addresses from people or sources you know to trick you into communicating with digital criminals.

No one's going to: arrest you, shut off your electricity/heat, void your bank accounts, take your home, evict you, take your possessions or cancel your Medicare through a simple email or phone call.

Dont's

Don't volunteer information when contacted, particularly your: name, phone number (since a bot probably called you), address, email address, credit/debit card numbers, bank IDs or Social Security/Medicare numbers.

During Medicare or healthcare enrollment windows, don't respond to phone calls, texts or emails. Instead visit healthcare.gov, medicare.gov or call:1-800-318-2596 (TTY: 1-855-889-4325).

Don't click through to fill out online forms or surveys that come via text, phone call, email or Facebook, especially if they seek personal information.

Don't respond to solicitations from businesses, charities or individuals you're not familiar with, even if it's "urgent".

Never respond to pop up messages or junk email. You'll be unwittingly joining an email mailing list or worse.

Never send money to people you meet romantically, or otherwise, online. That also goes for emails out of the blue from people in distress, some of whom may claim to be your relatives.

Never share login information/passwords with anyone unless absolutely necessary.

Be wary about buying/renting property or purchasing from online marketplaces or auction sites (like Craigs List, Ebay or Facebook Marketplace). It's often difficult to verify the trustworthiness of sellers.

Never save credit/debit card information on websites.

Disregard text or email messages providing phone numbers for Microsoft or Google. They only have website access.

Do

Contact the government, companies, charities, banks or individuals by direct mail, phone numbers, email, or texts utilizing information you already have, since legitimate entities include their web/mailing addresses and phone numbers in their correspondence with you.

Change your passwords regularly.

If using Google, Yahoo or another search engine to find contact information, closely examine website addresses to make sure it's the actual website for the group or company you're trying to contact, not some "click through". If you're trying to contact a government agency, the address will generally end in ".gov". Educational entities generally end in ".edu". Civic organizations: ".org" Avoid websites with unusual suffixes in their web addresses like: ".us", or ".info". Addresses like "uk", "au". or similar, are likely from another country.

When checking email, before opening it, without clicking, roll your cursor over the email address. Let the cursor hover there momentarily. The actual email address will be revealed. Often the email address isn't from whom it claims to be. Avoid answering emails if the sender's name isn't included in the last segment of the address like: ......irs.gov, ....amazon.com, ...retirededucatorsny.org or ...paypal.com.

If you find fraudulent or unwanted email: click on "Spam" or right click the email address in your email list and then click "Block Email". At the top or bottom of legitimate email there is usually an "Unsubscribe" link to remove you from an email list. If you hit "Unsubscribe", only share your email address and don't share personal information.

Keep your credit cards safe by setting up PayPal, Google Pay or Apple Pay accounts for making online payments and purchases.

Use credit cards that include fraud protection and liability limits, rather than debit cards, for online purchases

Research companies, charities and any other online entities to verify their trustworthiness.

For unwanted phone calls just say: "Take me off your list." By law they must do it. Also visit the Do Not Call Registry at: www.donotcall.gov to remove your phone number from most call lists.

Buy local whenever possible.

You are your best defense against cyber crime. If it happens to you, don't be embarrassed, report it immediately.

E-mail: [email protected]

Twitter: @jlotemplio

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