Lastpass says: watch out for scams this cyber week

This year seems to be targets of Scams. Probably more now than ever, and we’re definitely hearing about it now.

The article I sent to the list is titled Watch for Scams this Cyber Week which is a great read like all other articles I see from them.

There are a few bullet points under popular scams in 2022 which are worth highlighting. They are:

• • Fake online stores where a social media ad leads to a bogus store. They may even impersonate popular brands. When you enter your personal information and payment card, they harvest the data and steal your money, leaving you empty-handed.  
• • Payment processing scams that require gift cards, wire transfers, or money orders instead of a credit card. Not only is no product delivered, the payment method typically isn’t insured, and the victim has no recourse. 
• • Phishing attacks trick you into clicking a link that lures you to a fake login page, where they harvest your login credentials or other personal information. A fraudster may leverage social engineering to impersonate someone else or appear trustworthy before sending a malicious link. 
• • Bogus merchandise scams are where the scammer advertises one product but then sends an inferior or fake product. 

There are also tips that can be leveraged. I did link to their 2021 article in the third bullet point. As we know, there are red flags to scams, some may be voisual to where we as partials or completely blind can’t take advantage of, while others are telltale signs we can. They include but are not limited to:

• • Check the URL and look for slight variations in the domain. It’s always best to go directly to a trusted website rather than through an online ad. 
• • Verify a product and brand using social media, online reviews, comparison shopping, and “about” information for the company. If information is scant, it’s probably not legit. 
• • Compare prices to be sure it’s a good deal but not TOO good. If the price point is more than 50% lower than other retailers, proceed with caution. 
• • Watch for typos and shoddy design, which indicate something rushed and unprofessional. Dedicated retailers take great pains to make their brands look good. Bad grammar, misspelled words, and poor graphics are all typical on fraudulent websites. 

Others also include:

• • Pay by credit card for better liability protection on purchases and to better protect your checking and savings accounts. Gift cards, wire transfers, or money orders are a no-no. 
• • Think before you click to ensure you’re not downloading malicious apps or files or falling prey to phishing links. Hover over a link to see what the URL or action is before clicking.

 

I like the last one, and there was a Window-Eyes command ctrl+ins+s to see what the URL was if your cursor was on a URL. In Jaws, this selects voice profiles and I don’t know what NVDA does. I’m curious if people know how we can find out the link to a URL is besides placing our cursor on it, hitting shift+f10 and select copy link and pasting it to our clipboard and in to a program like Notepad to investigate where it is going?

If anyone knows, please drop me a line!

There’s more to the article, but these are highlights and steps you can take that I want to put forward.

Thanks so much for reading, make it a great day!