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Avoiding scams
An online scam is a request or offer received through email, text, or an Internet browser that deceives or tricks you into either giving away personal and/or financial information or directly or indirectly stealing your money. Many of us spend a significant portion of our time online—whether for academic purposes or staying connected with friends and family. Unfortunately, scammers know this and use the information we share to target us by pretending to be someone or something we know. Be aware of scams and how to recognize them so that you can avoid being a victim.
How they trick you
Most scams involve something to get your attention. In many cases this can involve financial gain such as money for a small task or even a job. In other cases, scammers will use information they may find about you online, your friends, family, and acquaintances. Anything published on the Internet, either by you or someone else, can be used to create a profile about you and the people that you know. A common source of information is social media, such as LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and similar platforms.
While many public platforms require an account to access information about other users, scammers will sign up for these platforms and sometimes attempt to “connect” with you, research names of people you tag or interact with, review job and educational history, identify personal email addresses; anything shared that may allow them to impersonate a trusted representative, someone you care about, or even yourself. This provides enough information to perform impersonation attempts used for scams.
Common styles of scams
Someone is in Trouble
This scam involves phone calls to loved ones (often grandparents or parents) or guardians which the caller claims to be from law enforcement, federal agencies, or a known institution or employer stating that their loved one is "in trouble". This is followed by requesting money by way of electronic means such as Paypal, CashApp, Zelle, or something similar in order to “avoid prosecution” or speak directly with the loved one.
Employment Opportunity
This scam involves an email impersonating a potential employer, in some cases someone you already know (like a Colby faculty member) offering a job with good pay and short hours or minimal effort (“earn money in your spare time!”). The scammer will ask for personal information such as age, bank names, and your ability to make a mobile deposit for paychecks.. The scammer may provide fraudulent payments, then ask you for payments, or transfer of money, in return for specific projects, duties, or equipment. The fraudulent payments fail to process and you lose the money that was transferred to the imposter.
Item For Sale or For Free
A deal that is too good to be true - a free piano, or even free money (offering to pay you in order to transfer money through your account) can sometimes skip your scrutiny filter.
Can You Do Me a Quick Favor
These scams almost always involve impersonating someone you know, trust, or both. The victim will receive an email or text message claiming to come from a relative or a person of authority such as a president, CEO, or supervisor. The message will often be a quick question - “do you have a minute” or “are you available?” - designed to solicit a quick response. After getting a response, the scammer asks you to purchase something - often online gift cards - and that they’ll reimburse you later.
How to Protect Yourself
- Verify sources. Before acting on claims of someone in trouble, job offers, or unsolicited communication offering something, inspect where the message really came from. Does the email address or phone/text match what you would expect? If you don’t know the real person’s phone number or email address, search for them online and reach out to them using the email or phone number that is posted online.
- Be a skeptic. If an offer seems too good to be true, it probably isn’t. You know the people you know - unsolicited offers from people you would not expect to be contacting you are probably not real.
- Be mindful of what you share online and review your “friends” or “connections” on these platforms. Review these platforms' privacy settings to understand who might be seeing what. For example, LinkedIn offers a page dedicated to account visibility and data privacy - https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a1337839
- Discover how much information about you is already online. Search your own name and/or identity.. If you find a site or service that is displaying your information, investigate options, or the site's data privacy policies, for requesting that information be removed.
- Report suspicious activity. If you suspect a scam at Colby or from an employer, notify their IT support center (support@colby.edu). If you've been a victim of a scam, report it to the office of Campus Safety & Security.. You can also report scams to the U.S. Federal Trade Commision - https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/
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