As we become more reliant on technology in the modern world there are more and more sophisticated hackers and scammers out there looking for ways to defraud us. 

Here are a few simple safety tips to remember:

  • Passwords consisting of random strings of upper/lower case letters, numbers, and special characters (!,$,&,#, etc.) are much harder to break.
  • No legitimate business or government agency will ever ask you to hand over cash and/or gift cards.
  • Any legitimate person needing to contact you will have an employee ID or badge number. The best practice is to get this information and get a callback number for the person.  As an example, if someone claims to be from the IRS, get their info, hang up, and call the local IRS office to see if that person is actually an IRS employee.  Look up the IRS phone number yourself.  If the caller is a scammer, they will have a false phone number.
  • Being asked to share your computer screen is almost always a scam. Recently, there has been a scam going around where the scammer claims to be from Microsoft and asks to share your computer screen.
  • Scammers are great actors. They can sound very officious and very helpful.  Don’t get sucked in because someone sounds like they are sincerely trying to help you.  Scammers have been known to claim to be with the IRS, the FBI, Microsoft, and various banks. 
  • Another sure sign of a scam is the person telling you not to talk to anyone about the situation. There is no legitimate reason that you should not talk to your friends and family. 

As always, your best defense is your common sense.  If something doesn’t feel right, it most likely isn’t.  Talk to your friends and family about it.

Stay safe and go forth with God.

The Safety Team