Best Practices is a term for using your computer in the safest way, the
least chance of loss to either you or it. There are so many
scams and cons out there, some coming in through email and some in
other forms, that adopting a safety first attitude should apply to
all you do.
I am quite focused on that right now due to recent
events in my own family. A family member received a phone call
from someone impersonating another family member and using names and
details that we can still only surmise the origin of. The caller
claimed to have been arrested in Canada, and needed help being bailed
out, and of course under the duress of the moment, and subsequent
calls from "law enforcement" in Canada, was convinced of the
authenticity of the call and wired money. Lots of money. None
of which, I am sorry to say, will ever be seen again.
Or other
common scams that are being seen recently like pop-ups claiming
to be able to clean your computer if you pay. Guess what? You just
paid to be infected. Then there's always the infected email link
or attachment that nails you.
The so called "grandparent scam"
has been going on for years, and my first guess is that
lots of information is being harvested from social networking sites.
Be ultra aware of what you post. Assume thieves are reading it
and using what they find. Set it to only allow trusted others to
access the information. For emergency phone calls, use a password the
whole family knows. Then stick to it. The people on the other end
are either family members that will understand or crooks who will
move on.
For anything that seems odd, either a phone or
computer attack, GOOGLE IT!!!! Like Solomon said so long ago, there
truly
is nothing new under the sun. Someone out there has had a similar
experience and put it out there. Knowledge is a powerful defense, but
gotta have it to use it. So pause before you run out to wire the
money, or click the link, or open the attachment. See where the email
is from, write the person and find out why they sent it. They may
know nothing about it. Scan the attachment, mouse over the link and
see where it is really taking you. If people are calling you asking
what the attachment was for that you didn't send, get your computer
cleaned up immediately if not sooner. Just be careful. If crooks
want it badly enough and are willing to search enough places, imagine
the kinds of information they can gather and make sure not to help
them do it. Please.