Avoiding Malware and Phishing Scams

The weakest link in the security chain is often cited as humans. Social engineers try to gain access to your details using some common tricks. Be on the lookout for these easy-to-spot signatures of such tricks, and you will not be bothered by Malware and Phishing Scams.

URL

Whenever you enter your details, or download something, be sure to check the URL, specifically spot where the “.com” is located. For example, a URL such as www.youtube.com=v12345. com/r... is actually a page hosted on com=v12345.com, and not YouTube. com. Such a site could ask you to download a plug in to view a video, and inject a malware in that plug-in.

Money

This is the most common email scam. It will seem that you have suddenly received a fortune, on account of an inheritance, a lottery win, help to transfer funds of an expat – the list goes on. If you’re being offered money for no apparent reason, report the mail as spam and ignore it. The odds of winning a lottery are inhuman as it is, consider the odds of winning a lottery you did not enter.

Pharmaceuticals

Also perpetuated through direct mails, such mails will offer to sell you pharmaceuticals discreetly. Viagra, Cialis, anti-depressants and other such drugs are common “baits”. Responding to these e-mails is an unsafe activity on many levels. Ignore websites that offer similar services as well.

Porn

Ads on web sites and emails commonly use sex-based content to lure people to pages. A video downloaded may request a particular codec, or a password from a location. Such pages are notorious for using malware. Avoid sidey sites at all cost.

Charity

This kind of scam happens over phone lines as well. A cheque or a donation can be asked for in the name of a charity, but the money just disappears. If you want to donate, donate directly using known official channels.

Search term listing

These sites show up high on the rankings for almost any search term, and are just a bunch of pages that link from one listing to another, without directing you to a useful place.