You’ve probably heard of spam, phishing, pharming and Trojan horses. You know to avoid the pleas of those claiming to be displaced royalty, and of course, you’d never click on a link emailed by a stranger. But you may not be familiar with a “Distributed Denial of Service” or “DDoS.” In a DDoS attack, a [...]
From our own Captain Safety: Warning: Our elderly family and neighbors are being targeted by Lottery type scams. Nefarious scoundrels are calling and sending letters to seniors advising them of false winnings, and asking for “fees” and “taxes” to be paid in advance of prize delivery. This can go on for years without any reciprocation [...]
Beware of Housing Voucher scams! On Tuesday, Seattle Housing Authority launched its Section 8 Waitlist Lottery, a federally funded voucher program that helps people making 30 percent or less of the area median income pay for housing. However, there have already been complaints about spoof websites attempting to mimic this program. Housing-voucher.com and housingvoucher.org have [...]
Our Captain Safety reports several phone calls from concerned Salal members. They are receiving text messages claiming their debit or credit cards have been deactivated and they must call a number to reactivate. When they call, they’re instructed to enter the card number. This is a scam. It is a fraudulent attempt to obtain card [...]
From the Federal Trade Commission, here are the steps to follow if you believe you’ve been the victim of Identity Theft.
With the growing trend of mobile computer/cell phone devices, so follows the way we manage our finances. And so follow the criminals, intent on stealing your information and money. From our laptops, iPads, iPhones, Droids and other “smart” devices, it is now easier than ever to know, in real time, every transaction as it occurs [...]
Update. They’re not from King County eCommerce, either. Read more here. Bogus emails pretending to be from Puget Sound Energy, or PSE, are showing up in inboxes across the country. Puget Sound Energy issued a warning today not to open emails that appear to be from PSE and are addressed “Dear Customer.” They most likely contain a link [...]
From Salal’s own Financial Superhero, Captain Safety: Boo! Halloween is over, but there are still some spooky things my readers need to know. According to this article on Fox Business, an estimated 10 million Americans are victims of Identity Theft every year! So, it’s important for everyone to protect their personal information and be careful how much [...]
We all know that horrible feeling: you reach for money to pay for your coffee, only to find your wallet isn’t there. First of all, don’t panic. There are steps you can take to protect yourself. If your wallet is truly gone and not just between the couch cushions, the Federal Trade Commission suggests you [...]
“Bank skimming is on the rise in the [Seattle] region. In the past week alone, six people have been arrested for skimming nearly $1 million in bank and consumer losses…,” according to a Seattle Times story published today. If you’ve read previous Captain Safety blogs then you’ve probably read about skimming, which can affect anyone [...]
