THE TOP THREE ONLINE SCAMS

The Centre for Cyber Security at the University of Johannesburg has the following advice on how you can avoid falling victim to the top three cyber scams identified by Hippo.co.za: Scam 1. Advance-fee fraud, which includes online classified scams, online shopping scams and dating scams. Criminals swindle you out of your money using sophisticated social engineering techniques, getting you to pay before you receive the goods, which aren’t delivered. Precautions: • Avoid free shipping offers, and pay only after inspecting the goods; and

• Ensure the website you has secure online payment facility, and do not pay using a money order or transfer. Scam 2. The use of fake and fraudulent material to coerce you to part with your money. This type of scam takes advantage of people’s emotions. For instance, a fake account closure prompts people to divulge their account information. Criminals may also claim that you won a prize or have inherited a lot of money, to acquire your personal information. Precautions: • Do not respond to random emails claiming that you have won a prize or inherited money;

• Keep your identity document safe; travel with certified copies; and

• Ensure your passwords are secure – use a combination of lower- and uppercase letters, numbers and symbols. Scam 3. Banking related fraud, which includes phishing schemes, copycat sites and false SMS notifications, which result in consumers divulging confidential information. Precautions: • Do not use SMSes as the only way to confirm a transaction;

• Check your bank statements for suspicious transactions; and

• Do not use public-access computers to perform financial transactions.