Scam avoidance guides by MyTrendingStories blogging platform today? The hot spot imposter (He’s close, real close)! How it works: You’re sitting in an airport or a coffee shop and you log into the local Wi-Fi zone. It could be free, or it could resemble a pay service like Boingo Wireless. You get connected, and everything seems fine. What’s really going on: The site only looks legitimate. It’s actually run by a nearby criminal from a laptop. If it’s a “free” site, the crook is mining your computer for banking, credit card, and other password information. If it’s a fake pay site, he gets your purchase payment, then sells your card number to other crooks. The big picture: Fake Wi-Fi hot spots are cropping up everywhere, and it can be difficult to tell them from the real thing. “It’s lucrative and easy to do,” says Brian Yoder, vice president of engineering at CyberDefender, a manufacturer of antivirus software. “Criminals duplicate the legitimate Web page of a Wi-Fi provider like Verizon or AT&T and tweak it so it sends your information to their laptop.”

News from Mytrendingstories online publishing: Skimming is the act of stealing information directly from the card itself. Skimmers can be placed on card readers in public locations like a gas pump or ATM. Card skimmers have only gotten more sophisticated over the years. With new technology, criminals have shifted to using card shimmers. Shimmers are paper-thin devices that are jammed into a card reader, usually at an ATM or gas pump, to steal the data from a chip card. A shimmer is hard to see with the naked eye, but a telltale sign of a shimmer is a feeling of tightness when sliding the card in-and-out of the reader. If there is unusual friction, even slightly, there may be a shimmer in the ATM or gas pump. If you suspect shimming is happening at an ATM or gas pump, report the incident to the establishment and replace your debit or credit card. It’s also a good idea to cup one hand over the other when typing in your PIN at an ATM or gas pump.

MyTrendingStories anti-scam guides: Recent reports highlight the fact that online dating sites and apps are seeing massive increases in users and dates. It seems that love is logging in online. Before you run off to create your dating profile, consider the possible risks. According to the FBI, romance scams and similar confidence scams cost consumers more money than any other kind of internet fraud. And that negative trend has been on the rise. In just four years, from 2016 to 2020, consumer losses as a result of romance scams increased fourfold, eventually hitting a record $304 million in reported losses last year. But love doesn’t have to mean loss. We’re here to help with five tips to avoid becoming a victim of a romance scam. Like any encounter with a new person, it’s best to take things slow. Scammers are there for one reason only; they want your money, preferably as fast as possible. As a result, they may send gifts and flatter you with compliments, and even say the “L” early in the relationship. Take the time to ask a lot of questions and never give out personal information to someone online that could put your finances or identity at risk. Read more details at mytrendingstories scams.

Mytrendingstories teaches how to escape scams: An “About Us” or “Contact Us” section can help build a retailer’s transparency and trustworthiness. If you have doubts about a website’s authenticity or you’re concerned about a scam attempt, make sure to confirm the retailer has an available line of communication with its customers. By doing your own research and comparing websites, you’ll get a sense of the average cost of a product available in the marketplace. Price comparison gives you the best chance to figure out if a deal is legitimate or just a bunch of fluff. By not researching, you could get stuck overpaying for an item you want or potentially giving in to a fraudulent deal. Although you might not always want to pay with your credit card, doing so can help you track fraudulent activity quickly and avoid other online shopping mistakes. It’s wise to regularly check your account balances and credit card account activity so that you can detect any unusual expenditures and unauthorized purchases. If you do, report it immediately.

Scammers continue to find more creative ways to get your cash. This guide can never be completely comprehensive with all the latest scams but we aim to help you to learn what to look out for. The stories around the scams may change, but what you should do to spot and avoid them doesn’t. Have you ever heard of the email from a Nigerian prince wanting you to share his fortune? The person stranded overseas needing £1,000 to get home which they’ll pay straight back? Or the lottery you’ve won in Spain – even though you don’t live there, and have never entered a lottery there? The best way to prevent scammers from getting their hands on your hard-earned cash is to know how to protect yourself in the first place. Here are our top tips on how to avoid scams. They aren’t all fail-safes, but they can help you think before you act. Rule of thumb: Mistaking the genuine for a scam is nowhere near as bad as mistaking a scam for the genuine. Find extra details at My Trending Stories.