What is an online charity scam?

Social media sites such as Facebook have a range of scams, one of the most recent being fake fundraising campaigns!

The scammers will make an emotional post, provide their banking details and add a couple of sad comments as well. The post will usually be a plea for help for a terminally ill child or to help an animal rescue organization.

New scamming groups appear every month, each with similar details and posts and even though they are shut down on a regular basis, people still fall for the scam and pay money to the scammers anyway.

How can you spot an online charity scam?

Age of the group. The fake charity group will only be a few weeks old and contain barely any posts, but they have been shared and reposted thousands of times. This is usually the first signs that the charity is a scam! A real organization or charity will take a long period of time to become established and there will be multiple posts as well as more information about the cause.

Pressure to feel pity. Using shocking videos and photos as well as lots of capitalized letters and exclamation points will pressurize you into acting quickly and spontaneously. A real charity will never resort to using these measures, because they are there to build relationships, on the other hand, scammers just want to raise money for themselves.

No supporting documentation. Scammer groups will have little to no medical reports or records to prove their cause or charity organization. And if they do have the documentation you should always read through it thoroughly to make sure the details are the same as the assistance they are asking for.

Responding to questions. It is not uncommon for people who are concerned about someone’s health or wellbeing to ask the people who created the group for information about the cause as well as updates on the situation. If the group is a scam these questions will be ignored, deleted or the user will be banned.

Websites. Sometimes links to a legitimate website for the charity or cause are posted in the group, this is how scammers will trick you into trusting them. This is to prove their legitimacy by showing they have a website presence. The website it links to often looks real, but be wary of inputting any of your personal information. Real charity foundations will always post how they spend the money they have collected, if not, you cannot trust that organization.

The desire to help others is great, but it is best to always stop and think first instead of acting impulsively.

For assistance and more information about online scams, please contact OSINT on 021 110 0422 or email contact@osint.co.za

How to protect yourself from Catfishing

With the increase in social interactions being done online, there has been an increase in relationships that are being built over social media networks as well as apps such as Tinder, etc. Did you know that a recent study showed that 1 in 5 relationships began online?

If things continue like this then by the year 2040, almost 70% of people in the world will meet their significant other online via a social media network or an app!

Because everything is online these days, scammers have taken advantage of this opportunity to con those who are looking for love online. Catfishing is an online scam where someone creates a fake online identity for the purpose of starting a fake relationship and usually scamming people out of their money over a period of time.

Are you dating online or thinking about dating online?

The person is too good to be true – 

They are extremely rich, attractive and glamourous.

The relationship is moving unnaturally fast – 

They profess their undying love for you unusually early and try to rush the relationship along.

They can never meet you in person – 

They claim they are always on the road or something always comes up so they can never meet you in person.

Their social media presence is very vague – 

They have few friends and barely any photos and the photos they do have all look as if they may have been stolen.

Never give money out to someone you’ve met on the internet, even if you feel that you can trust them, do not let someone play on your desire for love!

How to Protect your Smartphone from Spyware!

Your cell phone is an important part of your everyday life. I mean, we basically need our phones for just about everything from work and play to storing personal info and data. This is why smartphones have become one of the main targets for spyware!

How can spyware harm you?

Once spyware is installed on your phone, it will track all your movements as well as your internet use so it can target you with the appropriate advertisements. It is frightening to think that this could happen to you, but luckily this spyware rarely affects you or your information too seriously.

However, there are other, more dangerous types of spyware that you should worry about! These programs are created to gather your personal information to use for identity theft or even spy on you directly by gaining access to your smartphone camera or microphone. Because we use our mobile phones for just about everything these days, spyware is and will still become more widespread in the future.

Here’s how to protect your smartphone from spyware:

Do not install any third-party software on your phone. The only apps you should be downloading are ones from official channels such as the App Store or Google Play. Third-party apps are full of malware, including spyware, however, even some apps that make it onto the stores can have spyware.

ALWAYS check app permissions before you install an app. An app that is used for navigation will obviously need access to your location, but should a game app ask for permissions and it seems a bit odd; do not download it all together!

Be cautious of attachments, links and open Wi-Fi connections. Just like when you use your computer hackers can use all these to install spyware on your phone. Never connect to an open Wi-Fi connection; never open an email attachment as well as a link if you do not know where it was sent from.

Be prepared and protect your phone. All these rules won’t mean much if you do not have the proper protection. Always install antivirus software on your device as well as install all the latest mobile operating system updates that are available.

Take the time to protect your mobile device properly, this way you can effectively protect your identity, personal information and finances.

Have you been the victim of spyware? Please contact us on 021 110 0422 or email contact@tcgcape.co.za

Smishing Scams – Serious Fraud with a Silly Name!

Smishing attacks aim to gain access to your private information by using SMSs to target victims. Smishing is becoming an emerging threat that continues to grow over the years. Why? Because mobile banking is becoming more and more commonly used these days.

Here’s how smishing attacks work:

- You will receive an SMS that seems legitimately from a popular bank or organisation asking you to contact them on a number or click on a link.

- Once you contact them or click the link you will be asked to give out your personal information such as your account number, password or PIN.

- The scammers now have access to your accounts, etc. and can do with them what they wish.

In this day and age, people use their smartphones for basically everything, including online banking. There is a lot of private information at risk if your phone is exposed to a scammer.

Here’s how to identify a smishing scam:

- You are SMSed and asked to confirm your private details such as your bank account number, PIN or password. A legitimate bank will never ask for this over an SMS. The best thing to do is call your bank or the organisation directly to double-check the SMS is actually from them and the information is not fake.

- There is a sense of urgency such as if you do not confirm your account your bank account will be closed or you will receive an SMS with a link that you need to click on in order to make an urgent outstanding payment.

- The SMSs are usually from a strange, unknown, toll-free number and the grammar is usually bad or doesn’t make sense.

- Always remember that your bank will never ask for your private details over the phone!

It only takes one bad SMS to compromise your overall security! Use a little common sense and caution to ensure that you don’t become the next victim of smishing.

Contact our OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence) Department on 021 110 0422 or email contact@osint.co.za to learn more about smishing as well as our other services. 

What is an Online Shopping Scam?

An online shopping scam will usually include a scammer using a fake website or fake social media account/ store to trick you into buying something from them. The scam will usually also involve using fake adverts to try and lure victims in.

A scammer will try and use unbelievable deals and services such as shipping overnight and free delivery to trick victims into not thinking twice and just acting on instinct.

The goods that the scammer is offering are usually fake or you just never receive them. They will often ask you not to pay by card, but to use an EFT payment, gift card or cryptocurrency.

Not only that, but a scammer will try and trick you into giving out your personal information, such as your bank information, by asking you to fill in a form to finish the order or to sign-up.

Online shopping scams continue to increase every year, here’s how to spot and online shopping scam:

- You receive an email from an online store, but you cannot find any info about them such as their website and the link to the limited deal or offer looks fake.

- The deal is almost unbelievable and it is offered at an incredibly low price.

- There are other amazing services included such as free shipping and delivery overnight.

- The deal on offer always has a time limit.

- You are asked not to use your credit card to make the payment, but to rather pay using EFT, gift card or cryptocurrencies.

- If the online shop is on a social media network then there are almost no details or reviews that you can reference.

- You cannot find direct contact numbers on the website or no one responds to your enquiries.

- The online store website has noticeable spelling errors and does not look professional.

Always remember that if it looks too good to be true then it probably is!