We are seeing an increase in the following pre-Christmas hacks. Members of staff, family and friends have all experienced these recently. Please be extra vigilant as we approach the Christmas shopping season and ensure you are not scammed. Do share with friends and family.
Download Google Doc
The Download a google doc is going around again. You may receive an email from one of your contacts that says ‘Fred Jones has sent you a Google doc, click here to download.’
Please don’t! If you do, it’s likely you will be logged into your Google account, so the hacker gains your Google password and more.
If you have received this and did click on the link you should:
Change your Google password immediately – make it a difficult one!
Set up an ‘out of office’ message that says ‘I have been hacked and if you received an email from me inviting you to download a document, I didn’t send it. Please change your Google password immediately.
The hackers are trying to gain access to your database and will keep sending out the ‘document’. They may get lucky as some people may have credit card details storied in their Google system. So it’s wise to keep a close eye on your credit cards too.
Amazon Refund
You may receive an email saying you have received an email from Amazon and there is a refund waiting for you.
Amazon didn’t send this. Don’t click on the link and once again, if you have done.
Change your Amazon password immediately – make it a difficult one!
Contact your credit card company, especially if you have ‘one click to order’ set up and let them know. They may cancel and re-issue your card.
Email Bounce Backs
If you have noticed several bounce back emails in your in box, someone has gained access to your email system. Change your email password immediately.
Telephone Call from Microsoft
You may receive a phone call from someone claiming to be from Microsoft asking to talk to you about your windows computer. This may even be to your home phone number on a Saturday afternoon, so it seems plausible. If you get this call, hang up immediately. It’s a phishing scam and they are trying to get your passwords.
eBay Buy it Now Scam
If you are selling goods on eBay, especially Apple iPhones, iPads, you may get an offer for a larger amount of money for ‘buy it now’. You have two choices. Either remove the ‘buy it now’ option or only permit ‘buy it now’ for people with a ‘reputation’ that means some previous feedback.
They say they are having trouble with PayPal and request your email address, then you receive emails that appear to be from PayPal saying the money has been paid, you post the goods, but the money is gone, so are the goods!
If you have hacks or scams to share, please do let us know. Also make sure older relatives are aware. They are often sensible and less trusting, but when an email appears to come from a family member, it may be opened and it can take a while to reverse any damage. Finally, always remember if it seems too good to be true, it usually is!
