3 New Web Scams to Watch out For

Three new scams are lurking in around the email system ready to catch users off guard. Just as a reminder; if you receive an email from someone you don't know, don't click on any links within the email message. If you do click on the link, don't enter any personal information.  Scammers frequently send fake emails with links that redirect you a site set up to steal your personal information.  Here are the scams to watch out for.

Scam #1: Your computer is infected! The biggest criminal enterprise is the rogue antivirus product. It tries to convince you that your computer is infected so you buy "antivirus protection" - which is not actually protection at all. The minute you see a fake alert, stop everything you're doing, kill the browser by holding down the CTRL-ALT-DEL keys and ending task within task manager.  Then you should perform a full scan with the legitimate antivirus product of your choice. 

Scam #2: Check out this cool link!  Your friend's email or Facebook account is hijacked, and you receive a brief message with a short URL to watch a video or check out something equally "cool." The link actually leads to a malicious page with a malware download. If you are able to preview where the link takes you, great. If you've never heard of the Web site, don't follow it!

Scam #3: John Doe wants to be your friend. In this one, the scammers usually duplicate the message format of popular social network sites such as Facebook. Instead of linking to "friend request," it takes you to a malicious page instead. To avoid this one, without clicking anything, move the mouse over the link in your email message, then look at the Status Bar to see exactly where the link leads. If the message claims to come from Facebook, but the URL points to an address you've never heard of, don't click the link.  Additionally, if you've never heard of the person who wants to befriend you, don't click the link.