• Have a number of email addresses, for e.g. one private one just for friends and family, and one that you can use when registering for new services on the Internet. Also use a mixture of letters and numbers in your email address, as these are harder for spammers to target

Junk Mail & Misleading Advertisements

Junk Mail & Misleading Advertisements

• Never respond to junk mail offering you some miraculous health product or telling you that you have won the lottery! Use the spam filters that are available in your email programme. There are also third party software tools and services that you can subscribe to which prevent spam. For more information, see: http://www.getnetwise.org

• Never click the ‘unsubscribe’ link in marketing emails from people or companies you do not know as many spammers use this method to gather email addresses

• Be wary if you see advertisements telling you have won the latest iPhone or iPad. Most of these are just advertising scams to get your personal details, or to ask you to enter some elaborate pyramid scheme!

www.wisekids.org.uk

There are people on the Internet who send out junk mail, which we call spam. They are often people who have a product or service to market. Some others, like e-criminals have more serious motives! They are the ones who send phishing emails or emails claiming you have won the lottery! Their aim is to get your personal information and money. You also need to be aware of misleading advertisements on some websites! To ensure that you don’t get taken in:

• There are many urban myths and hoaxes that get propagated by chain emails. Before you forward any of these, check if they have been listed on: http://www.vmyths.com and http://www.snopes.com

• Always recognise a phishing scam email i.e. an email which claims to be from PayPal, eBay, your bank or other ‘official’ organisation, and which asks you to update your account details by clicking on a link usually. Never respond to such messages. If you think you have been a victim of any fraud, or financially motivated Internet crime, report this to Action Fraud: http://www.actionfraud.police.uk

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