My Safety

PERSONAL SAFETY

Personal Safety, for yourself, your neighbors, community, is far reaching and impacting. We all like to believe we live in a safe place.

Safe!, Safe...., How Safe?. There are entities out their, in the badlands, on the Internet, Calling us, Emailing us.

We all have experiences, and they certainly were not positive and always cost money, peace of mind and our precious time.

Consumers who believe they are or may be victims of identity theft or other scams may visit the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s Web site for identity theft, www.OnGuardOnline.gov , for guidance in what to do. The IRS is one of the sponsors of this site.

SECURING YOUR INFORMATION

Never Give Out Info: Legitimate banks, the IRS, or tech support will never call you out of the blue to ask for your Social Security number, passwords, or a verification code. Hang up and call the official number yourself if in doubt.

These entities have one primary goal, and that is...... To take what belongs to you.

Take your Identity.
Take your Money.
Take your Peace of Mind.

How do these entities achieve their goal.

They call it phishing...... I call it Fishing..... To go fishing, you need bait. The better the bait. The more, I go fishing, the chances are good, you will give me the information ( pieces of your puzzle) I need, to achieve the primary goal.

Here is the definition of phishing;

A phishing attack is a form of social engineering where attackers impersonate a trusted entity—like a bank, government agency, or colleague—to trick you into revealing sensitive personal information. It relies on human psychology / your good nature, and technical exploits, using "bait" to lure victims into performing an action they normally wouldnt. You must provide the missing pieces of your puzzle for these entities to complete there goal.

If you have ever put a puzzle together, each piece of the puzzles that you find, and place correctly, will give you a complete profile / picture. Dont give your personal information (puzzle pieces) away.

When incoming call is received, The first question, you get when answering is.

Hello, is this Mary?...... Your good nature is to say Yes, But you don't know who (the caller) your are speaking to.

Before giving your information away "Take a moment of Pause" "This is the first "Red Flag".

There is a very good chance the caller does not know who name is attached to this cell or home phone number.

Make the time to know who you are speaking with and the reason for their call. Explain this is not a good time,

take their contact information. The call will end their. This is a good time to block that phone number.

To keep your information (all the pieces of the puzzle) confidential. Its important when speaking over the phone,

or answering emails. Never Give away or Give out your personal and confidential information: Legitimate banks, the IRS, or tech support will never call you out of the blue to ask for your Social Security number, passwords, or a verification code. Hang up and call the official number yourself if in doubt.

EMAILS

Lets talk about incoming emails.

Knowledge is a powerful deterrent. Lets break down parts of the email so you can easily identify good from evil.

Part 1 = Name Definition of Name: A name is a word or set of words used to identify, designate, or refer to a specific person, animal, place, or thing.

Part 2 @ = its called the "at sign" its functions is to seperate the Name from the Mail Server.

Part 3 Mail Server = example: gmail is a mail server, Doing Business as; Google who is owned by Alphabet Inc.

Part 4 Com = is called the extension. This is where you can identify if the email is from the United States

Example a IRSGov@.de international scams frequently use generic free email providers (like @gmail.com), regional domain extensions (like @.de or @.co.uk), or free foreign services to appear legitimate, but are not.

Function: Identifies the organization, email provider, or server that hosts and routes your messages.

Example: example.com, broken down into:

Mail Server: Identifies the host (e.g., gmail, yahoo, or a private company like example).
The internet extension at the very end (e.g., .com, .org, .edu, .gov).

Email fraud and phishing are cyber scams where fraudsters impersonate trusted organizations or individuals to steal your sensitive data (like passwords and bank details) or money. Attackers use urgency, fear, or fake invoices to trick you into clicking malicious links, downloading attachments, or sending funds. As a good precaution, if you dont recognize the from email address. Do not open it, just delete the message or drag it into your spam box.

Common Phishing Tactics

Spoofed Senders: Emails that appear to be from legitimate businesses (like banks, delivery services, or tech support) but use slightly altered email addresses.
Urgency & Threats: Messages warning that an account will be closed or that a payment is overdue, forcing you to act impulsively.
Malicious Attachments: Faking invoices, receipts, or shipping documents that contain malware.
Fake Landing Pages: Directing you to spoofed websites that look identical to real login pages to steal your credentials. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

How to Recognize a Scam

Generic Greetings: Using "Dear Customer" instead of your actual name.
Suspicious Domains: Check if the sender's actual email domain perfectly matches the company they claim to be (e.g., @microsoft-support.com instead of @microsoft.com).
Grammar & Spelling: Look for awkward phrasing or inconsistent logos.
Unsolicited Requests: Legitimate organizations rarely ask for passwords, Social Security numbers, or immediate payments via email. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]