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Atlanta Buckhead Midtown - Friday Fraud Forecasts - BEWARE OF CLICKING

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Atlanta Homes ODAT Realty - Love our Great City - Love our Clients! Buckhead - Midtown - Westside

Atlanta Buckhead Midtown - Friday Fraud Forecasts -
BEWARE OF CLICKING

    

If you were walking on the street above when a person stood menacingly towering over you, the situation could feel a bit dangerous for you.

Because of malicious links, when you are comfortably sitting with a personal device, in your own home or office, reading email, texts or looking at various ads, you are at the same level of terrifying danger.

Beware of clicking whenever you are asked to click on an image or a document or to review a shipping order or to see an invoice or --- well, any item from an unknown source. Every one of those items could contain virus infections.

In addition, the criminals use KNOWN names to attempt to infect the unsuspecting person's computer or tablet or cell phone.

BTW - the illustrations here seem to have links but they do not.
First, I deleted part of each link and second, I took a screenshot
of the sanitized data. NO CLICKING POSSIBLE.

One ploy is offers of monetary gain. 

 

 

 

   You don't want to click on one of these.

 

 

 

 

Another ploy is stating that something is amiss with one of your accounts or a delivery - JUST CLICK for more information they say.

But check the quality of their written English.

Your Amazon account has been
used for Signin in to another device 
and We've suspended your payments.

From attempt login
[ 157.103.79.56 - Estonia ]
Device : Safari, Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 15_5 like Mac OS X)
 
OR ANOTHER ONE:

Our System has been locked your Amazon account
payment for you. We experienced
some problem checking your credit card payment.
 
To unlock your Amazon
account, please verify your identity this:
 
You need to verify your account before 23 July, 2022 or
yours Amazon account will be terminated
 
Sincerely,
Amazon 

Yet another way to try to infect other people's hardware is done through pictures. "Malware placed inside images of various formats is a result of steganography which is the technique of hiding data within a file to avoid detection.” 
From 'welivesecurity'.com

The bad-hats are out there waiting for you to let down your guard and allow them to begin their thievery. What can you do to prevent it? DON'T CLICK. And again: 

DO NOT CLICK UNLESS YOU KNOW WHO IT IS!!!!

More examples another time. NightCafe used to experiment for top AI image. 

Show All Comments Sort:
Michael Elliott
Fathom Realty - Burlington Township, NJ
Burlington, New Jersey Residential Sales

There are so many scams and viruses out there that I trust no one who I do not know.  Sad.  

Aug 02, 2024 01:55 AM
Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
Pasadena And Southern California 818.516.4393

Hello Lynn - clicking can cause chaos and confusion. Even when it is not done constantly, it can become a conundrum.   Everyone, be aware and stay safe.  

Aug 02, 2024 04:05 AM
Roy Kelley
Retired - Gaithersburg, MD

All of us need to be alert.

Have a great day and an outstanding weekend.

Aug 02, 2024 04:15 AM
Kat Palmiotti
eXp Commercial, Referral Divison - Kalispell, MT
Helping your Montana dreams take root

I don't even click links when I do know the sender - because what if it's not really them! My dentist sent me a confirmation text which I "C"onfirmed. Then they sent a link with forms I needed to fill out. I ignored them every time they sent them. Nope, I'll do it when I get to the office. Which is exactly what happened.

Aug 02, 2024 04:47 AM
Patricia Feager

Kat Palmiotti - I do the same thing (LOL). I will give them a C but that's all they get. I refuse to fill out forms on text or email. I'll do it in person to the live person in front of me. 

 

Aug 02, 2024 09:28 AM
Lynn B. Friedman CRS Atlanta, GA 404-617-6375

Kat Palmiotti 
Interesting how pervasive the hacking has been in health care settings. Enjoy your weekend. Lynn

Aug 02, 2024 01:57 PM
Wayne Martin
Wayne M Martin - Oswego, IL
Real Estate Broker - Retired

Good morning Lynn. When in doubt I hit the delete button, sometimes deleting good material by mistake. Better safe than sorry. Enjoy your day.

Aug 02, 2024 05:25 AM
Lynn B. Friedman CRS Atlanta, GA 404-617-6375

YES!  Better safe than sorry!!!

Aug 02, 2024 01:57 PM
Brian England
Ambrose Realty Management LLC - Gilbert, AZ
MBA, GRI, REALTOR® Real Estate in East Valley AZ

For the longest time, I have been scared to click any links, even from people that I trust, haha.  It's such a scary world we live in.

Aug 02, 2024 05:51 AM
Nina Hollander, Broker
Coldwell Banker Realty - Charlotte, NC
Your Greater Charlotte Real Estate Broker

Oh yes, Lynn. I can't tell you how many emails and texts I receive each day that are clearly spam. These days if I'm not expecting something even from someone I know, I call them first to verify they sent it.

Aug 02, 2024 06:23 AM
Ed Silva, 203-206-0754
Mapleridge Realty, CT 203-206-0754 - Waterbury, CT
Associate Real Estate Broker

The scammers are persistent but not always that clever.

I keep getting an email that my Neetflixx payment was denied.

At least they should learn the spelling, not to ignore that I don't have a Netflix account.

Aug 02, 2024 07:43 AM
Lynn B. Friedman CRS Atlanta, GA 404-617-6375

Ed Silva, 203-206-0754 
Yes, clearly my Neetflixx payment is not authentic. 
That's one of my go-to clues as well.
Spelling and grammar! 
Take care - Lynn

Aug 02, 2024 01:59 PM
Patricia Feager
Flower Mound, TX

Lynn B. Friedman CRS Atlanta, GA 404-617-6375 - Loved your post This is what AR is supposed to do - educate and inform others. So glad you're back!

Aug 02, 2024 09:29 AM
Lynn B. Friedman CRS Atlanta, GA 404-617-6375
Atlanta Homes ODAT Realty - Love our Great City - Love our Clients! Buckhead - Midtown - Westside - Atlanta, GA
Concierge Service for Our Atlanta Sellers & Buyers

Patricia Feager, ABR,CRS,GRI,MRP 
Always makes me happy when I make you happy! Hugs - Lynn

Aug 02, 2024 02:00 PM
Patricia Feager

Lynn B. Friedman CRS Atlanta, GA 404-617-6375 - Extra hugs for you today! 

When I watch the news about the other part of the world, I always think of you and your family. May peace be yours and safety for all. 

Aug 09, 2024 07:10 PM
George Souto
George Souto NMLS #65149 - Middletown, CT
Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert

Lynn B. Friedman CRS Atlanta, GA 404-617-6375 the ones I find particularly sneaky are the ones they make look it is someone you know sending it to you.

Aug 02, 2024 05:15 PM
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

hi Lynn- we can't be reminded of this too many times. Our local Sheriff's office sends out reminders not to click on links you know we all want to click on!  

Aug 03, 2024 05:53 PM
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

Aug 03, 2024 06:46 PM
Lynn B. Friedman CRS Atlanta, GA 404-617-6375

Thanks Kathy
I have about five more of these fraud posts in DRAFT!!! 
Take care - Lynn

Aug 04, 2024 10:28 PM
Rodney Mason, VP of Mtg Lending
Rate, Inc NMLS# 2611 - Atlanta, GA
AL,AR,AZ,CA,CO,FL,GA,IN,MI,MS,NC,NV,SC,TN,TX,VA,WA

The Peach Pass just issued an alert this week.  Someone is sending fraudulent text messages to pay toll fines which do not exist.  

Aug 03, 2024 08:11 PM
Lynn B. Friedman CRS Atlanta, GA 404-617-6375

Rodney Mason, VP of Mtg Lending 
Wonderful to see you here!
Thanks for the fine fraud update.
Lynn

Aug 04, 2024 10:26 PM
Carol Williams
Although I'm retired, I love sharing my knowledge and learning from other real estate industry professionals. - Wenatchee, WA
Retired Agent / Broker / Prop. Mgr, Wenatchee, WA

I am VERY careful about clicking links from unknown sources. Sometimes, even legitimate-looking sources are not (legitimate). I always check the email address, and that is the sure giveaway.

Aug 04, 2024 10:59 AM
Lynn B. Friedman CRS Atlanta, GA 404-617-6375

Carol Williams 
Yes, odd email addresses and spelling errors are often obvious clues.

Take care - Lynn

Aug 04, 2024 10:27 PM
John Henry, Florida Architect
John Henry Masterworks Design International, Inc. - Orlando, FL
Residential Architect, Luxury Custom Home Design

YES, this is going on all over the internet and with email, etc.  Thanks for pointing it out with this provocative title!

Aug 05, 2024 05:40 PM
Lynn B. Friedman CRS Atlanta, GA 404-617-6375

John Henry, Florida Architect 
Today I was approached by an old scam - have to feature it on another day in the Friday Fraud Forecast series. The old "Ma'am, I can see hail damage on your roof. May I give you and estimate for repair?"

I also have a series called Tuesday Techie Tips. Just haven't been posting consistently. Take care

Aug 05, 2024 06:44 PM