Another year, another set of scams. ZDNet, for example, has a report about Android malware that can steal your passwords and break into your online banking apps. I’ll spare you the details but — as with other risks on any platform — the general advice is to avoid downloading apps from unauthorized app stores, be extremely careful about clicking on and downloading content from any link you get via email or social media and — in the case of financial scams — checking you online bank and credit card statements for any unauthorized charges and reporting them immediately.
Be careful about “tech support”
I just got a call from a friend who needed some tech support from Apple, so she searched for a number and called it. The person on the other end asked her to download an app that authorized them to access her phone and, by the time it was all over, they managed to steal information and charge at least $300 to a credit card, with the possibility of additional fraud later on.
My friend’s first mistake was not carefully looking at the web address of the site that gave her the number. Had it ended in Apple.com, it would have likely been legit (though there are ways to spoof a URL). This one was something like apple.xyz12345.com and clearly not legitimate.
Her other mistake was not thinking clearly about why they would want to take control of her phone. She was calling about a subscription to an Apple service and there is no logical reason why the person on the…
