Seniors in Santa Cruz hear about ways to avoid scams

"SANTA CRUZ - Soquel resident Jack Roberts, a 74-year-old retiree, wouldn't discuss what he did during his professional career, but whatever it was, it 'trained me to be skeptical' and to 'question everything.'

That attitude would serve well the entire population, but specifically senior citizens, a segment of the population that's increasingly being targeted by the pervasive scams circulating on the Internet and snail mail by those intent on separating their trusting souls from the nest eggs it took them years to accumulate - but can take just moments to lose.

'I just came today to reinforce what I already knew and see if there was anything else I could pick up,' Roberts added at the conclusion of the Senior Scam Stopper seminar, held Saturday at the Santa Cruz Police Department. It was co-hosted by the Contractors State License Board and Assemblyman Bill Monning, D-Carmel.

Among the tips Roberts picked up was a suggestion to open a separate bank account containing a limited amount of money specifically for online purchases. Even if a scam artist figures out a way to access that account, 'that's the only money they can get at,' he said."

Via Seniors in Santa Cruz hear about ways to avoid scams - Santa Cruz Sentinel

4 new internet scams- The Times of India

"Internet scammers generally want one thing: your money. To get it, they'll try to scare you into divulging account information, trick you into opening a harmful attachment, or dupe you into sending personal information. In short, scammers trade on the hope that you're gullible enough to fall victim to their deceptions, which are constantly changing.

Here's a rundown of some of the latest types of internet fraud schemes and advice on how to protect yourself."

• From the 'scare you to act' department come email messages that threaten to deactivate your account if you do not click an embedded link to verify account details. Often, these messages claim that some kind of suspicious activity has occurred with your account, and the only way that you have to keep your account from being shut down is to click the embedded link immediately or within a certain amount of time.
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• Email attachments, especially in messages from people you don't know, are common carriers of malware, spyware, or viruses. Scammers know that, by now, most people either do not open attachments sent by strangers or set up spam filters to remove such messages from their inbox automatically.
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• One prevalent scam, for example, instructs recipients that Facebook is implementing a new login system that offers increased account security. To use the new system, the message says you must click a link to update your account. If you do, your login information will be stolen once you enter it.
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• The latest twist on this tactic, however, is for the email scammer to claim that in order to receive the prize or monetary award, you must first provide a host of information by email.

4 new internet scams- The Times of India