Cyber Self-Defense: How to Avoid These Common Scams

Between online commerce and social media, we’re all spending more time on the internet these days. So are cybercriminals. Learn to protect yourself from their most common scams.

Social Media Impersonation

Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram use email notifications to update you on account activity and new friend requests. In an attempt to access your account, cybercriminals will impersonate these emails and make them look just like the official ones. In an ironic twist, the message will often be a warning that someone has been trying to access your account, prompting you to click a link to change your password or recover your log-in credentials. Unfortunately, that link takes you to a fake page that allows the cybercriminals to hack into your actual account.

Another tactic cybercriminals use to trick you is account impersonation. They will create an account that looks exactly like your friend or family member’s profile and message you, often saying they’re in a desperate situation and need money.

What you should do: Never click on any links that are emailed to you until you’ve verified the sender. Always go to your social media pages by typing the Web address into the URL bar or opening the social network’s app on your phone. Better yet, set up two-step verification on your social accounts so that signing on requires a special access code be texted to you in addition to you providing your log-in credentials.

In the case of account impersonation, call or text your friend or family member directly. If their new account has zero friends or followers or contains information you know is not true, be skeptical it’s them until you confirm. 

Phishing Attempts

More than one third of all successful cyber scams start with a phishing email. Like social media impersonation, these messages appear to come from an official source – like your bank – and ask you to log in to a seemingly legitimate site. Or they might ask you to reply with some private information, like a password or credit card number. Or they may tell you that you are receiving the message due to fraudulent activity on your account and ask you to "click here" to verify your information.

What you should do: Stay calm. Many phishing scams rely on your emotional response to the prospect that something is compromised or at risk to make you react quickly. Take your time to verify the URL and email address of the sender. If these elements don’t sync up with the institution’s legitimate information, reach out to your bank or credit card company directly to verify. If they haven’t sent you anything, simply hit “delete.”

Dating Scams

Dating apps have become a popular way to meet potential romantic partners. Their popularity, though, and the very personal nature of the information often shared on them makes them prime targets for cyber scams. A scammer might lure you in with messages, phone calls or pictures but will be reluctant to meet in person. Once they’ve gained your trust and learned more about you, they make their pitch – usually something to do with being short on cash.

In addition to traditional dating scams, cybercriminals can now use artificial intelligence to create a “deepfake” - an image, video, or audio of a real or non-existent person speaking or performing an action that is generated by machine learning. To trick you even further, cybercriminals could use a deepfake on a video or phone call to convince you they’re a real person.

What you should do: Keep your guard up when meeting someone online. Unless you’re donating through a reputable charity, you should never give money to someone you haven’t met in person. And anyone you connect with on a dating site who doesn’t want to meet you in person almost certainly has other motives for being there. If someone feels suspicious, it’s best to end the connection.

Online Shopping Scams

Advancements in technology and its increased convenience have driven the rise of online shopping, with 34% of shoppers buying something online at least once a week. Naturally, this has led to the rise of related scams. These scams can be hard to spot as cybercriminals pretend to be legitimate online sellers using fake websites and deceptive advertising. They catch your attention with great low prices and deals that are seemingly too good to be true. Some will simply steal your money with no product in return, while others will send you a faulty or defective product with no return information.

What you should do: Always search for reviews before making a purchase from any website. If you can’t find any or can only find bad ones, it’s safe to say you shouldn’t make the purchase, no matter the deal. Pay particular attention to the payment method. If the website asks you to pay using a money order, wire transfer, or peer-to-peer payment platform like PayPal or Venmo, it’s likely a scam.

Fake Antivirus Software

Another ironic and particularly annoying scam starts with a message that pops up on your computer or smartphone screen, usually while you’re trying to navigate somewhere: “Your device has been infected!” and to “Click this link to run a diagnostic!” or “Download this antivirus software.”

The most benign outcome of clicking that link is typically malware that plants unwanted pop-ups on your screen while you browse online, which can be pretty irritating. A far worse scenario, though, is ransomware. This kind of attack can block your operating system from working at all until you send a sizable sum of money for the “antivirus system” which is just a decryption key.

What you should do: The most important thing, of course, is to resist clicking on any hysterical warnings. Close your browser windows and reopen them. If the message reappears, restart your device. New versions of this kind of attack are being invented all the time, so make sure your real antivirus software is up to date and active. If the message is seemingly from a service you’re subscribed to, navigate to the official website through your own search engine.

Anyone can fall victim to internet scams, regardless of age, background, or tech-savviness. Your Baird Financial Advisor is here to help you identify the red flags and navigate these situations. 

This article was originally published in June 2019 and was updated in October 2024.

The information reflected on this page are Baird expert opinions today and are subject to change. The information provided here has not taken into consideration the investment goals or needs of any specific investor and investors should not make any investment decisions based solely on this information. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. All investments have some level of risk, and investors have different time horizons, goals and risk tolerances, so speak to your Baird Financial Advisor before taking action.