Internet safety is never a bad thing to write about. So here I am, giving you all a refresher course on today's internet safety. Let class begin.
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| Courtesy of katiecouric.com |
Nowadays you have to consider scammers, what is safe to post on social media, and how to identify fakes. Along with the basics of not blasting our contact information publicly and not posting personal information like bank accounts, we have to worry about AI too. It's a bit different than when you first learned it. Scammers get more clever and AI doesn't help.
I'm putting it in three categories for easy navigation. The first is scammers, the second is social media, and the last one is what you need to know about AI. The bell just rang. Let's start class.
Scammers
Let's talk about psychological warfare. You need to know what they will try to do. Random phone calls asking for little things can lead to big things. The more they know about you, the worse it is. Don't engage. The more casual tidbits they have, the better their chances of actually saying something to convince you of a lie.
Sense of urgency? They use that too. There is no urgency. If they try to pressure you into it and get upset when you want to double-check something yourself, hang up or stop messaging them right now. Block and report them. They are trying to make you rush into something without thinking.
Any computer pop-ups about viruses that say "click a link" or you have to pay to get it removed are scams. Ignore it. Take it to Best Buy if you need to. Best Buy at least won't scam you. What a scammer can do if you go to the scammer to remove the virus is use the leverage to get information later.
The use of authority figures is common leverage. For instance, claiming to be tax people or a manager to get someone to pay a bill they don't owe. Or, like some of my church experienced, pretend to be the head pastor and say you want to "reward hard work" by giving gift cards. People are then asked to get said gift cards.
Verify if someone is who they say they are. Know what someone's contact info is and check it. If Amazon sent an email, go straight to your account instead of clicking the email link. Some people are tricky and change font on one letter to make an email look credible. It's not easy to spot. Go straight to the website you can verify is real. Contact the person the scammer claims to be (manager, pastor...). Don't trust any link unless you know the person who sent it. Deep fakes are also possible. Check with the person via contact info you already had. If they say they didn't ask for money, block and report the imposter.
Sanity checking is running something, anything by another person. Go grab a family member to check if it is normal for (fill in the blank) to (fill in the blank). This will help you avoid scams. Fast conversations where the other person doesn't want you to check the facts are huge red flags. Hang up, stop messaging, report, and block.
Common scams for 2024 include student loan forgiveness, phone related scams (robocalls, impersonations, malicious apps, QR codes, SIM swapping, OTP bots), texts, zelle, cryptocurrency, romance, online purchases, employment, and check fraud. Lots of things to keep an eye out for. Use common sense to avoid these. Don't scan every QR code you find or click every link. Be skeptical of all callers you don't know. Do your research on what you invest in, lest they take your money and run. Don't pay with gifts cards, money order, wire transfers, or cryptocurrency. Create a password or safe word for your family and friends, one that can verify if someone is really who they say they are. Give no personal info out to strangers.
Did you fall victim? Here's what you can do. Report the scam and scammer first thing. Then, get your device checked out (for clicked links and QR codes). Change your passwords up before you do anything else. Freeze any money sources you need to.
Sure ways to spot scams are pressure to act now, being told to lie, being told not to tell anyone else, "do this or you'll be arrested" in any form, and the words "don't hang up". A scammer will tell you to move money to protect it, withdraw money and buy gold bars, withdraw cash and give it to someone, go to a bitcoin ATM, and buy gift cards. To report go to this link: ReportFraud.ftc.gov
Social Media
We've all, hopefully, been taught we shouldn't post our SSN, phone numbers, addresses, full names, pictures of IDs, and other personal information on social media. We also don't give out passwords and bank accounts. Basically, don't freely message and post personal information that could take your identity or get your house robbed while on vacation. Post vacation photos when you come back, because when people look for houses to rob vacation time is the best time to break in. Hopefully, we all know this by adulthood. If you don't, you now do.
What you need to remember about social media is that anything you publicly post is public knowledge. Private accounts aside, you don't often have to hack someone to find out where they had their vacation, went to a New Year's party, or went out with friends. Be aware that people are online chronically trying to scam people or stalk people. I wish I were joking. I'm not. If you are a public internet celebrity you can be stalked. Ask Kall Me Kris, who moved at least once because of stalking. What can people learn from your social media? Ask yourself this when you're about to post. It may make you think twice.
If you have kids you need to make sure they know what to keep to themselves. Keep half an eye on their social media. Teens don't have a fully developed brain. We know that because we cringe at our teen posts. I literally took down my Twitter to restart because of this fact. I needed it for public posting about my book. It was embarrassing. At any rate, you need to keep an eye on teens for more than this reason. Social media scams and creepers are out there. Internet friend Timmy might be an old man in a basement. Gamer Gerry might be creeping on teens, too. You never know anymore. It's scary out there.
Going private is a great idea. I can't because I'm a blogger and an author, but you can. It means only friends see your posts. Only friends can access your content. This is not feasible for promoting things, but works very nicely for people who want only friends to see their content.
As always, protect passwords. Someone hacking you can ruin your day faster than an avalanche. Two-factor identification is also a great thing to set up. This is common sense, I think, but good to remember. Vary passwords for good measure.
Posts can be set to public or friends only. It can even exclude one or more people from seeing it. It's nifty. I set my book stuff to public and my other posts to friends only. In addition to private profiles, you can set it so your friends are not seen from the public side.
Location information is a real thing we need to keep in mind. In some apps, like Instagram, you have that feature available. It can be turned off. Turn it off. You can add location to tweets on Twitter (X). Don't do it.
The block button is nifty and helpful. Creepy people and others who decide to comment weird things get blocked all the time. I also ghost creeps. It's suggested by experts to not engage with the creepers online. DMs or public posts, don't engage.
Creepy guys and gals are out there. Creepy is a relative term. Some people on dating apps and social media don't think they are crossing lines. Sometimes people send pictures and messages so inappropriate that they have to be illiterate to not understand it's creeping. It happens to me all the time because I'm online trying to promote a book or a blog post. I hate it. I block every single one. They are out there. Online predators are out to find us. Some clear ways to identify them are below. Keep an eye on your kids. They could become secretive and hide their screens, deleting conversations at random.
Online predators:
1. overly friendly and digging for details 2. wants locations 3. always available to talk
4. want to be kept secret
AI
It is 2024. AI is everwhere. What do you need to know? This category is going to scare you. Bots are everywhere, too. AI can create more convincing messages, deepfakes, and impersonations. Don't fall for AI. Sanity check and verify identity. If you need to create a safe word, do it.
Voice cloning is possible. This is why voice actors and actors are not into AI. Not only can it replicate famous voices, but also your grandmother's voice so some awful scammer can make you panic into paying her ransom. This is not a joke. Someone can replicate someone's voice asking for travel money. This is why you need that safe word.
Personalized Pinterest pages are great. Personalized scams are not. Custom scams, targeted to you and you alone, are out there to get your money. AI can track habits, purchases, and common places you buy from. This is another reason to go to the real, official Amazon page to check your notifications, rather than trusting a link that might lead you to a scam.
Deepfakes are not just NCIS plotlines. They are real. Your voice, face, information, and habits can create a fake you. This is identity fraud. Make sure you are protected. Multi-factor authentication is the best way to do this. Pay attention to log-in emails.
A scam called revenge porn is out there. Using deepfakes, you can put a face on a body and animate anything. You can guess what this scam is. It's blackmail for a fake image. "I'll release it if you don't pay" is the whole scam in a nutshell. It is hard to fight back on. Call the police anyway. It is the idea of putting your face on a porn film scene and it isn't you. Don't pay, just call the authorities. The scene is likely to be obviously wonky with no identifying marks. This will help someone realize it isn't really you.
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