September Scam!

Scam on the month!

Hurricane season is in full swing, and Samantha wants to donate to help the cities that have been hit the hardest. Samantha planned on researching charities before donating, but when she saw a well-known news anchor post a link on social media to a charity collecting donations, she decided to donate through the link. She even reposted it to her page so others could easily contribute. A few hours later, she saw another post by the news anchor. Her heart sank as she read his alert that the previous post asking for donations was a scam. A cybercriminal had hacked his account. The link seemed legitimate, but Samantha later realized it was a misspelled version of the charity website. Frustrated and naïve, Samantha did not donate again and did not alert her followers that the original post was a scam.

Red Flags. Did you spot them?

1. After clicking on the link, Samantha did not check the website name for spelling errors or check if the details matched those of the actual charity.
2. Samantha reposted the link and did not take it down or alert her followers that it was a scam.
3. Samantha abandoned her strategy of research for what was convenient. Cybercriminals often use links sent to a user’s inbox or social media feed to catch them with their guard down.