The coronavirus pandemic has changed the dynamics of the entire world. Among them, for example, people have had to turn more to virtual reality to do some of their daily activities.
Work, having classes, and meeting friends have become purely digital situationss. Purchases and transactions have been added to these, which are now much more done online.
Unfortunately, this need has also led to the strengthening of crime and the perpetration of fraud that undermines the confidence of businesses and individuals in e-commerce.
(See: Don’t Be Fooled!: Beware of a New Form of Fraud.)
So, here are the 5 most common online scams, so you should be careful:
– Impersonation (fishing): It almost always happens through fake emails or text messages. The fraudster impersonates people or companies that users trust to obtain passwords or credentials and carry out transactions.
– Fake company pages: It is used by passing a fake page as if it were a financial company page. They are looking for personal information and passwords. Always check your browser for the lock symbol to verify that the page is secure. And start with “https”: If you don’t have an “S”, run away
Social media fraud: Criminals offer services, such as loans, in exchange for few documents. But what they really want is to get some information from you and then order banking products by pretending who you are. Do not trust the financial products offered by the networks.
– Theft of cédulas: Often times, if your wallet or purse is stolen, the reason behind this is to obtain your identity document to order financial products in a virtual way. Therefore, if you lose your document, immediately report it to the authorities and create an alert in the credit bureaus.
(See: Google will delete third-party “cookies” in Chrome until 2023).
– “The landing page is fake”: They are fake pages of recognized financial companies dedicated to obtaining personal data, as well as providing loans. Usually, they ask to pay an “exchange fee” to deliver the loan to you. If this happens to you, run.
Do not access web pages that do not have the padlock icon on the left, at the beginning of the URL.
So that you do not have problems “online” and do not lose confidence, the Columbia Financial Association for Fintech offers more recommendations:
Take care of your personal and financial information: Do not share your personal data.
(See: Payment gateways, the financial ‘boom’ that grew in the midst of Covid.)
– Avoid clicking on suspicious links or unusual text messages which invites to identify themselves as customers using a username and password.
– Make sure that the page where you want to enter your username and password You have the correct domain for the entity and the “secure” certificate that appears in the address bar.
– Strengthen your passwords: Create combinations of numbers, signs, uppercase and lowercase letters.
– Try to buy on trusted and recognized pages Which have payment methods through channels such as PayPal or PSE.
(See: Colombians are buying more auto insurance online.)
– Check and know your credit history: It is a great method against electronic fraud, as it will allow you to know your obligations and identify any anomalies in your financial behavior.
– Activate preventive alerts for fraud on the financial system: Thus, financial companies alert you to any unusual situation that occurs with their products.
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