The penetration rate of smartphone use in Europe is one of the highest in Europe, which implies that the youngest are not the only ones using this tool. Middle-aged and older citizens also own smart cell phones, although perhaps The apps they use are not popular with teenagers.
But the key lies not so much in the applications used (beyond WhatsApp, which in Europe is almost a religion) as in the way of relating to technology. It is important to emphasize that For many older people, the smartphone was the first gateway to the Internetwithout first using computers.
This makes their relationship with them closer to that which they have with television than to that which the youngest have had with computers. And the problem is that There are a series of dangers and scams that were present in these, but not in televisionsand the elderly are the people most likely to find themselves in this type of situation.
Misleading ads
As we mentioned, older people were less exposed to situations on the Internet this may have led them to a scam when they were young. It’s obvious, the Internet was not yet invented, let alone popularized. This is why the starting point must always be that of doubt. Faced with a situation that seems too good, it is better to be wary.
This is applicable to advertisements that appear while browsing a website from our smartphone and they promise to be the millionth visitor, with the consequent iPhone as a gift. Many scammers seek to obtain personal data from seafarers in order to then trade with them or blackmail them.
You should never click on these types of ads and, if you do, You should never give out personal information, let alone a credit card to pay for shipping of a purported gift you won. In these cases, it is best to ignore the advertisements and, if possible, no longer visit a website that displays them.
cloned store
One of the scams that has grown the most in recent months is brand identity theft. Stores of all kinds see how criminals have created websites that mimic your business page in detail and then use social media ads to position it.
When you find a product at an extremely low price on a site that seems official, it is better to hesitate. AND If you are very interested in this product, you can manually go to the company’s website and search there., to see if the offer was real. In most cases, it will be possible to verify that this is another attempt at deception.
The son who loses his cell phone
Other common types of scams are those that They use SMS to impersonate people we know. The most popular is the attempt to pose as the son or daughter of the future victim. This scam manifests itself by the arrival of an SMS supposed to come from a member of our family.
WhatsApp is also used for possible scams
This son lost or had his cell phone stolen and asks us to write to a friend’s WhatsApp. If it is written, a story will begin that involves the request for money to immediately buy a new cell phone. Urgently. It is particularly problematic in the case of people with children in other cities.
The best thing to do is do not respond to these types of messages. And if you have any doubts about whether the family member may actually have been stolen, you can check called directly to that person, write to your usual number, etc. It will be proven that this was a scam.
A variation of this type of scam is one that pretends to be a courier company, and they ask us to pay money to release a supposed package in our name at customs. The amount is generally not too high, so as not to attract attention, but obviously the simple act of giving our bank card can cause problems.
WhatsApp Channels
An endemic evil of WhatsApp groups is the chains to convey a particularly dangerous or catastrophic message. WhatsApp tried to stop this type of sending by marking these messages with the text “Forwarded multiple times.” Normally, when a message of this type arrives, you should be wary.
Fake payment message on WhatsApp
If we believe that it is possible that what is stated is real, It’s better to go to a search engine and check. Furthermore, it is very easy to put the subject followed by the word “hoax” to see that, in the vast majority of cases, the so-called news has been debunked by proven fact-checkers.
bank mail
Another scam attempt usually occurs via email. Banks in Europe They will never ask for username and password to be entered via email.. This is a way to prevent security breaches. The best way to use banking products is to use the banks’ official applications, which must be downloaded from the official stores of the different platforms.
Banco Santander office.
Emails They usually have spelling mistakes and are sent from strange domains, etc., The problem is that sometimes everything seems to be in order. If in doubt, It’s best to call the bank and ask if the email you received is official. or if it could be an attempted scam. Entities are usually aware of a wave of fraud attempts using their name and will be able to notify us.
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