Spencer Alessi

Spencer Alessi

hacker | pentester | researcher | active directory connoisseur | wiz-bang exploit slinger hiding in the shadows | Live now, be yourself, remember death 🛹🏂👨🏼‍💻🎮❄️🏔📷

Dos and Don’ts: Scam Prevention Tips

  1 minute read  

My bank recently sent me an email about the DOs and DON’TS of protecting yourself against scams. While they had some great tips, I felt like some of them fell short. So I wanted to share some of my own scam prevention tips in hopes that they provide you some things to consider. So here are 6 DOs and 6 DON’Ts when it comes to scam prevention.

The Dos and Don’ts of Protecting Yourself from Falling Victim to Scams

DOs

  • DO be cognizant of WHO you share your personal information with and WHERE you share it
  • DO be careful what links you click on
  • DO be careful what attachments you open
  • DO be careful who you send money to online
  • DO go to the site or service directly when you receive a text message with a link, instead of clicking on it
  • DO your own research on the company, product or service with the keywords “review,” “complaint” or “scam”

DON’TS

  • DON’T send money to anyone claiming to be a nigerian prince or someone stuck in another country
  • DON’T answer calls from numbers you don’t recognize
  • DON’T send money from instructions you receive through email or text
  • DON’T click on links in text messages from unknown senders
  • DON’T believe your caller ID. Phone numbers and caller IDs can be faked
  • DON’T pay upfront for a promise for things such as debt relief, credit and loan offers, mortgage assistance, or a job

Some Helpful Scam Prevention and Recovery Websites

We are all in this together

If I can help answer any questions you have related to any IT or Security topic, please feel free to tweet me @techspence or connect with me on LinkedIn. I’m happy to answer your questions and who knows, maybe it would turn into a good blog post we can share with a larger audience.

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