How to Protect Your Money From Scammers? Antivirus Software

 Increasingly, stories are heard of people being confronted with fraudulent email, social media, or phone calls to defraud.

Therefore, we have summarized the most relevant fraud methods and give tips on how to avoid them.

Recent urgency - fake calls on behalf of the bank

Fraudsters often try to impersonate a bank representative or Smart-ID. Fraudsters use all the possibilities of technology, including home pages on the Internet, as a result, they get the opportunity to call any number in the world, indicating any number or name of the company as dialling. Unfortunately, the bank does not have the ability to block such foreign calls, so everyone should beware and vigilant. The bank will never call you from a number registered abroad, so always pay attention to whether the phone number begins with the Latvia code +371.

Even if you see the bank number and they call you by your name, remember that scammers come up with new ways to make people believe that the bank is calling.

See how the impostors speak, posing as a bank employee.

How to proceed?

If you have the slightest suspicion that a fake bank employee is calling you, the simplest solution is to interrupt the telephone conversation and block the caller's phone number. Also, you can interrupt the conversation and call the bank's advisory phone number, explaining the situation and specifying whether the conversation that took place could really take place on behalf of the bank or was it an attempt at fraud.

If you do happen to become a victim of fraud, be sure to notify the police and the bank. Also, if you see unfamiliar or suspicious transactions in your bank account in the amount of one cent, block the card and contact the bank - there are different situations when shopping on the Internet, for example, the online store itself fell into the hands of thieves.

Fake  SMS

Often scammers send fake SMS on behalf of the bank. Fraudulent Internet links are sent via SMS, upon opening which the client has directed to a fake Internet bank page.

Fake online shopping

Scammers create fake online stores that offer famous brands at incredible discounts or special offers. When making purchases in such stores, you run the risk of getting fake goods or simply crediting money to the scammers' account without receiving your goods.

How to proceed?

Before shopping in an online store, read customer reviews, for example, on social media or look for complaints about a specific online store, as this usually tells about how the store owner is solving problems. Try to contact by sending an email or call - scammers usually won't answer. Shop on well-known relatively reliable sites like eBay, Amazon, AliExpress.

Call to update your details

The purpose of this scheme is to persuade you to share valuable information, such as credit card information, to seem to verify your identity and update the information. These emails are usually made similar to the official notices from the bank and other institutions.

How to proceed?

Check if the correct home page address is included in the sender's e-mail address if there is an extra number or letter in there. If the email seems suspicious, erase it and notify the bank of the fraudulent attempt. Avoid opening suspicious files, as even antivirus software programs often fail to identify attacks.

Hidden subscription contracts

The company, which allegedly offers Internet services, gives "new customers" a free test period - a monthly or annual subscription. Usually, you are promised the ability to cancel your membership before the test period expires. However, it later turns out that cancellation is an incredibly painstaking and almost impossible process, and as a result, in the best case, you will have to pay the 

How to proceed?

Always read the terms and conditions and privacy policy that you agree to. Make sure it's easy to cancel your membership. Before entering into a contract, search for the name of the business on a search engine such as Google to see if it exists at all and if anyone has filed a complaint about it. Refrain from adding your account details on unknown services for the trial period.

Promised by millions

Criminals create fake social media profiles or websites that show a luxury life with tons of money. Moreover, each such case is presented as an incredible success story that is available to everyone. All that remains is to acquire a "package of necessary knowledge", and the gates to a carefree life will open wide. True, it turns out that even if they send you something, it will be trivial theories that can be downloaded for free on the Internet and which have nothing to do with real-life or offers "profitable" to invest. Someone from this, of course, will become richer, but it is unlikely that it will be you.

How to proceed?

As with any investment, invest as much money as you can afford to lose. In the worst case, you will pay for a good lesson on how not to do it. Search Google for information on this venture and investment. Beware of transactions with cryptocurrencies on stock or gold trading platforms - they are often even legal, however, beginners still lose all their money invested due to lack of experience.

Sudden lottery win

You receive the "good news" in your email that you have won a million or some other impressive amount in a randomly selected lottery. All that remains is to pay for the transfer of the required amount to your account, and ... Unfortunately, this is a lie, and the money ends up in the pockets of bad guys or girls.

How to proceed?

If you do not remember that you participated in the lottery, immediately unsubscribe from such email addresses and erase them. If you did enter the lottery, please check if an email was sent from the relevant business. Contact him to make sure you win. Remember that scammers rely on the naivety and greed of people and the winnings are in fact always given out without any payment - on the spot or by transfer.

Suspiciously interesting content from a friend

Having gained access to the email addresses of users, scammers can send letters to friends of the person in which they call to open any link or application where the virus turns out to be, and, accordingly, your email with all its contents falls into their possession. Usually, such letters are short and laconic: "Open it, you look funny here!" or "Look, what picture of you I found on the Internet!"

How to proceed?

Please contact the sender before opening such files. In this case, he does not even suspect that he has become a victim of scammers and his email is being used to find new victims.

Social media quizzes

Quizzes and tests in which you have to find out which animal or image from the movie you look like are often done to get your data and later use it in further fraudulent schemes.

How to proceed?

As tempting as it is to find out what Hollywood star you look like, avoid the content suggested by an unknown source.

And these are not all ways of trying to deceive people, so be careful and carefully evaluate your every action on the Internet! Remember those scam tactics are basically based on luring a small amount out of as many "customers" as possible. A person who, due to his inattention or ignorance, parted with ten euros, will not go to the police and will not report a case of fraud. The damage, in this case, is mostly moral, not financial. Therefore, stay vigilant, be attentive and protect your data!