A few years ago the only scams we really knew about were the Nigerian money scams that told you that you had inherited millions of dollars and all you needed to do was to send them $5,000 to pay for the paperwork.  Of course, there was no inheritance and your $5000 went down a big hole, never to be seen again.

Another very famous scam is the “I am from Microsoft” phone call.  The idea here is to get you to open your computer to a someone who will then have unlimited access to everything on your computer, including your banking details and password.  Microsoft will never ring you up – never.

These days the list of possible cyber threats is growing at an alarming pace.  I’ll talk about these in subsequent articles but for now, here is a short list:

1. Phishing emails – these look like they’re from someone you trust eg. IRD, Air NZ, Spark, your bank. They contain links that will take you down a black hole from which it may be expensive to get out of.
2. Identity Theft – every time you provide your name, address, phone number & date of birth to a survey, facebook or an on-line quiz you’re giving away your personal information. This information goes into a database that may be sold or stolen by someone unrelated to the purpose for which you gave this information.
3. Passwords – the most common are 1234, Password and abcd. They account for nearly 50% of them.  Make sure you have at least three different strong passwords that separate your computer logon, your email and your bank accounts.

There is so much more to be careful about these days and it will only get worse.  My best advice is for you to be cautious and sensible.  Get in contact with us to protect yourself with Anti-Virus.

Until then Safe & happy computing