Wiley Using the Internet Safely For Seniors For Dummies
Contents
1. w Hit or Myth Online Information Exposure wa Keep Your Information Private eee earnonca odes w How Information Accumulates w Online Information le FIGG 20 ae ate e tees Part The Foundation of Using the Internet Safely Congratulations Vou re the Most Sought After Generation Online With millions of seniors going online and expanding their Internet activities service providers see folks over 50 as a critical new target audience see Figure 1 1 from AARP and so do online criminals Every age group has unique vulnerabilities in addition to general Internet risks and seniors are no exception Few entirely new types of crime are created to target seniors instead existing crimes are tailored specifically to exploit older Internet users For example while an online scam targeting minors promises trips to Disneyland or cool toys scams aimed at seniors are more likely to offer discount medications and low cost insurance Phishing scams are e mails that frequently target seniors with fake bank notices or official looking fake government documents Z amp S y 5 8 O sar er F Taa O As rI Ea 2 A Figure 1 1 Chapter 1 Understand What s Going On Out There In addition to being targeted for different types of crime seniors may share characteristics that make them especially vulnerable online Here are some of the major factors that make seni2. Roads Have Rules The Internet Doesn t 10 The Internet began as a tool for university researchers to share informa tion When it took off with the general public nobody was in charge nobody owned the Internet and no rules governed what you could and couldn t do online Today this is largely unchanged In addition because of its global nature the Internet lets us all cross borders for good and for bad Some governments have regulations about Internet use But with an international population using the Internet it s hard to enforce the laws of a single country and it s easy for people to fly under government radar For example in the United States gambling online can be illegal yet the casino in Figure 1 2 actively solicits U S customers Online casinos for US players Windows Internet Explorer ere gt http sunshine slots com gambling for us players ntml X s x US online gambling Py File Edit View Favorites Tools Help ve k gl Quiz Memory Loss CVS EN Download Snagit Trial Ss Online casinos for US p X A By em y Page v G Tools v Download Golden Casino Promotions i Golden Flash Casino niken Si Ls z CASINOS Sunshine Slots recommend Golden Casino GOLDEN Click here to download Casino and Poker map ames Casino for US Players Casinos accepting US players e recommend The legal status of the online ays sino pr make dec bout staying on th
3. product to protect consumers w Holes in consumer protection standards Right now most of the burden of online safety is on con sumers Because of the rapid growth of the Internet governments have not yet been able to create a full set of standards and laws w Criminal acts Placing the word cyber in front of criminal thief robber molester or predator only changes the criminal s tools not his motivations or goals Criminals still want to steal your money domi nate or abuse or destroy property The Internet didn t create crime and sadly it won t abolish it But it does offer some powerful tools for criminals to take advantage of The first five issues in this equation create an environment in which criminal and malicious acts can flourish What s new is that the Internet gives criminals broader access to more people and informa tion than ever before Predators are generally equal opportunity offenders happy to target victims of any age Young people represent only one segment adults and seniors are equally at risk although the motivation for exploitation of older consumers is more often for finan cial gain than for emotional or sexual gratification Online Anonymity Although you may think you are anonymous online you may not be Online companies may have exposed you For example some e mail programs display your full name in every e mail you send even if you ve come up with a clever e mail alias If you join
4. a social networking site 12 such as MySpace Chapter 1 Understand What s Going On Out There or Eons a senior focused site your publicly viewable profile might give away your name location and gender see Figure 1 3 even if you set your page to private Though you may not be as anonymous online as you think criminals are very good at staying anonymous or pretending to be someone or something they aren t Offline no one can build a fake bank or store on some street corner for a few days so you don t have to worry about whether the bank or store is real When you enter you quickly get a sense of whether it s a reputable business If you have a problem with a purchase you ca service n march right back through the door and demand Christina Ryan Search members Browse members About me I have had varied career msurance mdustry and the beauty world Currently I am the office admersstrator for a cosmetology school in FL Where Christina Ryan s been Lofew wp in North Reading Andover MA North Reading High School Sebastian FL Christina Ryan s 62 Eemale Marital Status Single My eternal puppies Located in Sebastian FL Chns amp Dan Send a prrvate message Add to my fayontes a View af 4 photos Christina Ryan s questions of the day 8 of snow If it s not at the supermarket I m mot buying it No I can t s the
5. new a were POUNOUR NERNEY Average life ay friends expectancy is rising Astrology No one Figure 1 3 2008 Look Both Ways LLC 13 Part I The Foundation of Using the Internet Safely On the Web those physical attributes and clues are all gone Anyone can build a Web site that looks official and legitimate for very little money They can trick search engines to make their Web sites show up as one of the first results when someone runs a search Anyone can copy the look and content of any other Web site This means that the fakes are sometimes very very hard to identify no matter what your age It s Not Always about Technology It s Often about Behavior Ironically people who are computer savvy are sometimes more at risk online because they believe that being computer savvy means they are Internet savvy In reality Internet safety is often more a matter of understanding human behavior than understanding technology Think about your average phishing scam This particular form of e mail spam appears to come from your bank investment company or another site where you do financial transactions See Figure 1 4 The e mail will claim some reason why they need to verify your account number or password or credit card Social Security Number and so on or all of the above The e mail looks official and it provides links for you to visit their site and verify your identity But the site is as fraudulent as t
6. 75 Use our instant mortgage rate adjuster to calculate how much you could be saving every month This offer won t last long interest rates are expected to rise quickly and these rates can t last We can only guarantee this exclusive rate for 3 more days Calculate Savings Click here to transfer your loan today no closing costs no hassles just a lower interest rate to save you money Or call BestHomeLending at 1 800 TOP LOAN between 9 00 am and 4 00 pm daily Notice This message was delivered to you as a service by BestHomeLending We are committed to providing our customers with the best services available BestHomeLending ensures your privacy and preferences To View our privacy policies click here If at any time you wish to stop receiving service notices from BestHomeLending please click here Please do not forward or reply to this message itis generated by our automated system Should you wish to reply to this email please contact our customer service representatives through email or call 555 1212 during regular banking hours BestHomeLending USA 1321 Bank St Carisbad New Mexico 62309 Copyright 2001 BestHomeLending All Rights Reserved Figure 1 4 Red flags ee Bestthome iendng com Date Friday August 11 2006 5PM To RodneyZ email com Subject New Financing Offert Act Now Before Rates Go Up 1 Company you haven t heard of 2 The e mail is not To you 3 and 6 Financial transac
7. Understand What s Going On Out There roro this book we point out again and again what a great tool the Internet is Why Because you hear a lot of hype about what a dangerous place the Internet is and that hype sometimes causes people to miss out on a wealth of information entertainment communication and opportunity Do Internet risks exist Yes just as risk exists every time you step out your front door climb behind the wheel or cross a street But you haven t stayed in your house your entire life you ve learned how to stay relatively safe while exploring the world all these years You can stay just as safe online First you need a basic understanding of how Internet risks occur so that you can place any Internet safety advice in context Once you know the nature of online risks you can then begin to acquire skills to stay safer This chapter explores the landscape of risk online in the process we show you which risks are real and which are largely myth look at the financial model that drives the Internet and the factors that allow abuses to occur and show you how your own behavior can some times put you in harm s way HP ter In this chapter w Congratulations You re the Most Sought After Generation Online w Roads Have Rules The Internet Doesn t 0 m Online Anonymity way It s Not Always about Technology It s Often about Behavior
8. ch engine and see if it brings back your information chances are that it will w If you donate to a charity without doing so anony mously the charity s Web site probably lists you as a donor as a way to thank you gt If you volunteer with an organization belong to a church group sports group action committee and so on chances are you are listed on its Web site Chapter 1 Understand What s Going On Out There Figure 1 6 w If your grandchild has a blog an online journal or has registered for her wedding or a new baby your name location and other information may appear there w If a relative enjoys genealogy you and your relatives names birth dates wedding dates death dates locations and more may be posted on a genealogy site The second myth is that if you haven t fallen for an Internet scam you won t be the victim of an Internet crime The truth is that you may never know what the Internet connection is or even if there was one in most crimes For example online public records may give a criminal the information and means to rob your home or steal your identity The third myth is that only people you know are going to look at the information you post online Everything on the Internet is copied and indexed constantly Even if you take your information off the Internet a copy of it may still be out there although you can reduce exposure by removing personally identifiable information
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10. eply to thes emad please contact our 10 Doesn t specify the time zone Customer service representatves rough emal or call 555 1212 during regular banking hours 2 ILN 800 b BestHomeL ending USA 1321 Bank St Carlsbad New Mexico 62309 Not an number z pn 13 An Internet mapping site shows there is no such address Figure 1 5 15 Part The Foundation of Using the Internet Safely Hit or Myth Online Information Exposure 16 Having your information exposed online is one of the greatest risks you face but seniors generally buy into a few myths about how their information is exposed online The first myth is that if you don t use a computer or go online you aren t exposed online False Just because you didn t put information online doesn t mean it isn t there virtually everyone has information online Here are a few examples w Publicly available government records show if you own a home vote have a criminal record or speed ing ticket and much more w Your location including photos in most cases is listed online through any Internet mapping service like the one shown in Figure 1 6 w Unless you ve been very careful to ensure your phone number isn t in any phone book or taken care to have never entered it in a sweepstakes or other con test it s online Even if you have been careful you should check to see Type your home phone number with area code and hyphens into any sear
11. from any thing you or family members post online 17 Part I The Foundation of Using the Internet Safely Keep Vour Information Private Sharing personal information with the wrong people is one of your biggest risks online Before you provide personal information be sure you re comfortable with how it will be handled Table 1 1 lists some common pieces of personal information along with the risk of expos ing this data online Table 1 1 Information Address and phone number Names of husband wife father and mother including mother s maiden name Information Exposure Risks Risks of Abuse Makes the user a target for home break ins junk mail and telemarketers and provides a stronger persona in identity theft cases Provides access to even more confidential information in public records this data is also offen used for passwords or secret question answers and it may expose additional family members to ID theft fraud or personal harm Information about your car including license plate numbers VIN vehicle identification number registration information insurance carrier loan information and driver s license number Can lead to car theft insurance fraud and access to more of your confidential information Information about work history and credit status Helps criminals take over your identity and gain more access to your financial records Social security numbers Enables ID the
12. ft fraud and access to additional information about you How Information Accumulates Every detail you share online about your life and the extended group of people you interact with is stored somewhere Understanding the way this information accumulates is critical 18 Chapter 1 Understand What s Going On Out There Many people are very casual about giving out personal information online because they fail to fully understand the ramifications of doing so Think of each piece of information as a drop of water Today each drop of information posted online is collected into personal virtual buckets The information rarely disappears rather it accumulates slowly building a comprehensive picture of your identity and life Small details about your appearance where you live and work where you went to school your financial status emotional vulner abilities and the lives of those close to you all add up in a smart predator s mind People post resumes that include hobbies past employers past addresses and professional associations People post highly personal and identifiable information in online journals called blogs On travel sites you may reveal your excitement about an upcoming trip Perhaps you are exposing friends and family s e mail addresses by forwarding e mails See Figure 1 7 Exposed e mail addresses ire n Brewster Keane and more Figure 1 7 The good news is that you can begin to control
13. he e mail and any information you provide is in the hands of financial predators These e mails may even display a promi nent safety and privacy message meant to help convince you that the site is legitimate However careful study of the message reveals several red flags once you know what to look for see Figure 1 5 Technology makes it possible for somebody to make a scam e mail look authentic right down to using the legitimate company s logo and send it to you But what s putting you at risk isn t technology it s the danger that you ll fall for the bait hook line and sinker If you re savvy you ll know that the link to the site might take you to a mocked up site that may look like your bank but it isn t Be suspicious of any e mail that wants your bank account number or other sensitive infor mation Don t click on links Instead look up your bank s phone num ber don t call the number provided in the e mail which could also be false call and report the scam Chapter 1 Understand What s Going On Out There From BestHomeLending Bestthome lending com Date Friday August 11 2006 5 PM To RodneyZ email com lt Subject New Financing Offer Act Now Before Rates Go Up Refinancing Offer BestHomeLending Is pleased to offer you this exclusive opportunity to refinance your mortgage and save hundreds of dollars a month by simply transferring your existing loans into a new low fixed rate of only 5
14. ical location and time where he can find that person post it It is your choice how much personal informa tion you post online in publicly viewable sites how much you share on private sites and what you choose not to share online at all Schools and compa nies can restrict access to parts of their sites to make information available to those who need it but not to anyone outside of your organization See Chapter 8 for more about social networking site settings f Consider who can see your information before you 20 Chapter 1 Understand What s Going On Out There Online Information Is Forever One of the reasons information exposed online puts you at such great risk is because once it s out there it stays out there Comments actions or images posted online may stay online long after you delete the material from your site or request that a friend delete your infor mation from his or her site You won t know who else has downloaded what you wrote or what search engine crawled automatically searched the Internet and stored a photo You can t know who else sees your comments and judges you by them nor will you have the opportunity in most cases to explain See Chapter 7 for more about sharing infor mation safely online Another aspect of information permanence is the difficulty it presents when you want to distance yourself from something in your past or go in new directions Perhaps you no longer want to be associa
15. may not know any more than others about online predatory behavior Carelessness Even when we know better we make mistakes Usually we make those mistakes when we re tired rushed or don t have a complete under standing of the risks involved This is especially true when we see no obvious cause and effect to help us correct our behavior When you post information and a month later criminals use that information to rob your home you aren t likely to recognize a con nection between the two events In fact the vast majority of victims of online crime never recognize that an action they or someone else took online made them vulnerable to a criminal act Unintentional exposure of or by others It may be a grandchild friend employer or volunteer organiza tion that provides publicly accessible information that exposes you Perhaps your own computer or mobile phone or other connected device has been compromised with spyware that enables criminals to collect your personal information Maybe when a friend s computer or other Internet enabled device was lost or stolen your information fell into the wrong hands 11 Part The Foundation of Using the Internet Safely w Technology flaws Online products and services can expose consumers either because the companies that offer them fail to secure their customers data and are hacked or because a company fails to build adequate safeguards and safety messaging into their
16. ors vulnerable u Lack of computer skills Although many seniors are very computer savvy many more aren t They may not understand technologies such as firewalls and anti spyware that they can use to protect their data w Lack of Internet skills Though many seniors are cutting edge users of Internet services most are beginners when it comes to interacting with others and doing business online You have a wealth of experience in judging the character of people you meet in person but you have probably developed fewer skills for assessing the character of the people and companies you meet online vulnerable Understanding how content you place online an activity called posting might be misused how criminals try to deceive you or how to deter mine the trustworthiness of a site for example actu ally has little to do with how well you can use a computer See the section It s Not Always about Technology It s Often about Behavior later in this chapter for more about this key concept f Lack of exposure to technology can make you more u More trusting Seniors are typically more trusting and respectful of official looking material than younger generations so seniors are more apt to fall for scams And you re more worried about notices that claim that there s a problem with your informa tion that might somehow sully your good name or threaten your life savings Part The Foundation of Using the Internet Safely
17. ted with an old relationship but the information remains online to haunt you and for anybody to come across Anyone with good intentions as well as those with intent to do harm can dip into your public virtual bucket and search for your information years from now It may be the new pastor at your church a potential employer a new friend or your grandchildren who discover something you d rather keep private Or it could be an identity thief any other kind of predator or anyone in your life who wants to lash out at you to cause harm What seems like a good idea at the time may come back to bite you in a variety of ways so think before you post It s far easier to think twice and refrain from posting than it is to try to take it back By doing so you can control your information exposure and privacy while staying safer online 21 Part The Foundation of Using the Internet Safely 22
18. the information you expose about yourself and even ask friends and family members to limit how they expose you Just keep in mind that you your friends and family aren t the only ones sharing information so remember to 19 Part The Foundation of Using the Internet Safely periodically search the Web for information and then if you find something you don t want shared ask the site owner to remove the information w Employers need to consider the level of informa tion they share about current and former employ ees Consider carefully what information is appropriate to include in an employee bio that is posted on your company Web site How much should be visible to other employees on your intranet your internal company Internet When you attend a conference is the attendee list shown in online conference documents Teach employees to be careful about the information they leave in out of office messages saying taking the grandkids to Disneyland also says our home will be empty and potentially makes them a target for burglary w gt Organizations should be cautious about exposing volunteer information on their Web sites if the general public can view those sites Posting photos and identifying volunteers or staff by last name can place people in harm s way Posting schedules of club activities along with information about what activi ties an individual participates in provides a criminal with the phys
19. tion under time pressure Refinancing Offer uy 4 The e mail doesn t acknowledge BestHomeLending is pleased to offer you this exclusive opportunity to refinance your mortgage and save hundreds of dollars a Ha who you are month by simply transferring your existing loans into a new low fixed rate of only 5 75 Use our Instant mortgage rate adjuster to calcutate how much you could be saving every month a 5 and 8 Encouraged to enter financial information This offer won last long interest rates are expected to rise quickly and these rates can t last We can only guarantee this exclusive rate for 3 more days a 7 Legitimate offers contain specific Calculate Savings dates Click here to transfer your loan today no closing costs no hassles just a lower interest rate to save you money 8 Doesn t go to a site called Or call BestHomeLending at 1 800 TOP LOAN between 9 00 am and 4 00 pm daily m besthomelending 5 9 and 12 More click here links that Ths message was delivered to you as service by BestHomeLending We are committed to providing our customers with the best services i avakable BestHomeL ending ensures your peracy and preferences To View our privacy polos cick here do not go to the purported site If at amy tiene you wish to stop receiving service notices from BestHomeLending please cick here m P Please do not forward or reply 10 thes message it rs generated by our automated system Should you wash to r
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