How to avoid becoming a victim of email scams

According to my emails, I’ve been a busy little bee.

My Lloyds, Barclays, Halifax and Natwest Bank accounts have had some major activity this week. They’ve either been suspended due to suspicious activity or I’ve received funds. Sadly, I don’t bank with any of these organisations, so no freshly transferred funds for me. Never mind. Not only that DHL have a parcel for me. The fact that I haven’t ordered anything is neither here nor there. I have a parcel. Yippee!

Seriously, who falls for this shit! If you bank online you know your bank will never contact you by email. And since when do DHL send poorly worded emails with viruses attached?

Do these arse wipe douche bag scammers and script kiddies think the whole online community is stupid?

They may have a point. People are still jumping onto the internet without a clue of the dangers and without anti-virus software. Those who do have software fail to update them (the amount of times I’ve cleaned my brother’s PC, I had to start charging him as punishment).

I don’t like the idea of the internet being over policed but it would be nice to see the end of these scams.  In the meantime here are some tips for staying safe online:

DO

• Do remember that your bank or building society will never email you asking for account details
• Do install anti-virus on your computer and make sure it scans emails
• Do remember to keep your anti-virus software up to date. Automate the process so you don’t have to worry
• Do make your account passwords strong. Try to include numbers and symbols
• Do remember that scam emails are usually written in poor English so be alert
• Do have a personal email account for friends and family, another for shopping and one for sites you are unsure won’t sell your email details

DON’T

• Don’t use the same password for all your accounts
• Don’t click attachments in emails from people you don’t know
• If you receive emails purporting to be from Ebay, PayPal, Amazon or even your bank that has a link asking you to log in to your account, don’t click on the link. When banking or shopping online always enter the web address directly in your browser