Staying safe online: hacker shares top tips on avoiding email scams | UK News

As more people rely on the internet for, well, everything, there’s a greater chance that it can do just as much harm as good.

The more we store online, the more it can be used by hackers and online scammers – case in point, there are already ULEZ scammers, just weeks after the expansion came in.

Plus Martin Lewis issued a warning over Wilko scams after the retail outlet filed for administration.

An ex-hacker, who goes by the alias 404, recently shared his top tips for identifying scams online – and highlighted some of the most common mistakes many people are making.

The hacker spent time behind bars for his crimes – which included making $500,000 in one year – but now works in cybersecurity, trying to help regular people from falling prey to predatory chancers and con artists.

Read on to find out how to stay safer online…

What are the most obvious signs of an authentic email?

Confused by an email? Can’t work out if it’s real or a sophisticated scam?

First things first, 404 explained how to look out for the key four signs of a safe, authentic email.

The four tell-tale signs you can likely trust an email will be:

• There’s genuine and verified email address – an obvious one, but some can cleverly tweak it so it looks official in name, but if you check the actual sender details, this might differ
• Use of your actual name or sensitive information – if it’s real and a company you’ve consented to sharing details with – name, address, age, etc. – a real company will use this. A hacker might use a generic greeting or refer to information not specific to you.
• Proper spelling and grammar – accidents happen and even verified companies can send an accidentally unproofed email, but if there’s a lot of consistent errors, chances are, it’s not authentic.
• If the email makes sense in the context – if you have received an email about a purchase you’ve never made from a company you rarely (if ever) visit, it’ll likely be a scam.

Hover over links before clicking

One top tip 404 shares is to ‘hover links without clicking to see where they lead.’

If they’re trying to send you somewhere, hackers can show a hyperlink as anything they want, really.

But what they can’t change is the actual URL of the address they’re wanting you to click through to, so before you click, hover over the hyperlinked text.

You should usually get either a little grey box showing the URL details, either by the mouse itself or down near the bottom of your webpage.

Don’t overshare online

As unrelated as it could seem at first, a hacker trying to get you via emails can use any linked information from your social media.

404 stated: ‘Most people are woefully unaware of how exposed they are online.

‘They often don’t realize how much personal information is accessible to those who know where to look.’

A good example could be if you’re posting your pet all over your socials, with their name spelled out. S

mart hackers could guess this might feature in your passwords and crack into your sensitive information as a result.

The same applies to finding out things like your mother’s maiden name, or the name of your schools/towns.

What are some of the best antivirus software?

404 supports the use of antivirus software such as McAfee, Norton, Bitdefender.

He considers these ‘generally effective’ – but it’s not a guarantee.

He adds, ‘regular updates and proper configuration are key.’

So when you’re getting those pop ups asking you to update certain tools and let your computers restart, don’t keep delaying. They are needed for a reason.

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