How scammers attack you even without social networks

How scammers attack you even without social networks

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“I don’t use Facebook. I don’t even have an email. How could scammers know something about me?”

That is the question that I hear from people over 60 years all the time. If you assume that, when staying out of social networks and avoid internet, it is invisible for scammers, think again.

The truth is that, even if you have never published a single thing online, scammers can still know their age, home address, names of relatives, property value and even when it has suffered the loss of a loved one. As? Because the daily details of your life outside the line are collected, digitized and sold in silence.

And the scammers are taking full advantage.

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Eliminate your data to protect your scam retirement

A woman holding a smartphone

Stofkers can still know a lot about you, even if you have never published anything online. (Fernando Gutiérrez-Juarez/Picture Alliance through Getty Images)

How scammers are addressed to older people without social networks

Here is the uncomfortable reality: it does not have to “get to light” so that your information appears online. A large part of this becomes an automatically public registry, thanks to the way our legal and governmental systems work.

Some of the largest sources include:

  • Obituaries: When a loved one dies, the obituaries often list family members, ages, locations and relationships. For scammers, it is a family tree of potential objectives.
  • Real estate records: Property purchases, sales and even the details of the mortgage are public. This can tell the scammers if it owns their home directly, what is worth and if it could be rich in cash.
  • SUCCESSION PRESENTATIONS: When the farms go through the succession, details about beneficiaries and active are recorded. Scammers can identify the heirs and attack them with a fraudulent “inheritance assistance.”
  • Property Tax Documents: These are often search for anyone. They reveal not only their address but also their financial position.
  • Judicial presentations: Divorce, bankruptcy and civil disputes often contain personal data, which are public by law.

On their own, these may not seem dangerous. But combined, they create a surprisingly detailed portrait of your life.

The Opto Collection Data Corridor of each retiree must take today

A man supported by a fence using a tablet

Public records can provide a portrait of your life. (Barbara Eddowes through Getty Images)

Duel scams and emotional tricks use scammers

One of the cruelest scams I’ve seen lately is what I call the Duel scam.

This is how it works:

A scammer rates local obituaries to see who has recently lost a spouse or a child. Then they communicate, by phone, email or even by mail, pretending to be a funeral, a duel advisor or a charity organization. Because they refer to real names, dates and relationships, their scope sounds painfully authentic.

  • Example: “We saw that she lost her husband on March 3. We would like to offer her a free duel support service …”
  • EITHER: “The final medical expenses of your loved one can qualify for reimbursement. We only need their bank details to confirm.”

When you are mourning, your guard is low. Scammers know this, and exploit pain to steal money and identities.

Other emotionally loaded scams follow the same play book

  • False calls of Medicare Reference your age and location.
  • False financial advisors Offering “help” with retirement reinvestments.
  • Romantic scams pointing to widows and widows living alone.
  • False agent scams deceive the victims to pay thousands of dollars through telephone threats

The unifying factor is that these criminals do not need Facebook to learn about you. They already have a file built from public and negotiated data.

What is even worse is that scammers can point to their loved ones even years after their death. They can call or send text messages to their nearby relatives who claim to offer free commemorative services, annuities or other common strategies when people are more vulnerable. Your exposed personal data feed such morbid scams.

9 online privacy risks that probably do not know

A man writing on a laptop

A man writing on his laptop (Kurt “Cyberguy” Knutsson)

The shocking sources of your personal data

Here is the part that most people do not realize: the scammers rarely dig through the courts of the court. They don’t have to do it. That work has already been done by Data runners. Data corridors are companies whose full business model is collecting and selling personal information. They collect:

  • Public records (like those obituaries and real estate presentations)
  • Consumer databases (Credit headers, magazine subscriptions, surveys)
  • “People search websites” (Spokeo, White Pages, Beerified and Dozen more).

The result is a search profile that can include:

  • Full name and aka
  • Current and past addresses
  • Telephone numbers and email addresses
  • Relatives and their contact information
  • Age, income range, domestic value
  • Legal or financial background

Once a corridor has its data, they sell them. And once it is sold, it extends. Even if you have never had a social media account, companies can build a ‘Shadow profile ‘ of you of filtered data, online purchases or details shared by others, leaving it ready to be abused.

How to protect from scammers and data corridors

The good news is that you are not helpless. While you cannot prevent public records from existing, it can make it much more difficult for scammers to access and arm your data. Here is like:

1) Reduce your fingerprint

  • Request the elimination of people search sites and data corridors.
  • This prevents your profile from selling scammers.
  • Doing this manually can take hours and should be repeated, but it works.

2) Stay alert to emotional manipulation

  • If someone contacts him after a loss, suppose caution.
  • Verify beneficial organizations and funeral services before participating.
  • Never share banking or personal data by phone or email.

3) Automate data elimination

  • Instead of manually contacting hundreds of data corridors, you can use a service like Incogni.
  • Send and track the elimination requests in more than 420 runners, and continues to repeat the process so that your data does not resurface.
  • With its unlimited plan, you can request the elimination of data from any other shaded website and disappear from the Internet.
  • For older people, this is often the safest and most practical solution.

While no service can guarantee the complete elimination of your Internet data, a data removal service is really an intelligent option. They are not cheap, and it is not your privacy either. These services do all the work by you by actively monitoring and systematically erasing your personal information from hundreds of websites. It is what gives me peace of mind and has proven to be the most effective way to erase your personal internet data. By limiting the available information, it reduces the risk of cross -references data of infractions with information they can find in the dark network, which makes it difficult to be pointed out.

See my best selections to obtain data removal services and get a free scan to find out if your personal information is now available on the web visiting Cyberguy.com.

Get a free scan to find out if your personal information is now available on the web: Cyberguy.com.

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Kurt’s Key Takeways

Not being on Facebook does not mean you are invisible. Scammers do not need to share their life online. His off -line life is already online without his consent. The obituary in the local newspaper, the writing of your home, the registration of successions of the heritage of your loved one, all become data points, are sold to the runners and resorted to those who want them. That is why protecting your personal data is not about avoiding the Internet. It’s about reducing what is already available. The less scammers can find data scammers, the more difficult it will be for them to deceive it with realistic and emotionally loaded attacks. And that is a big step to maintain your money, your identity and safe retirement.

Do you think it is time for the government and companies to intervene and protect their data privacy? Get us knowing in Cyberguy.com.

Register for my free Cyberguy report
Get my best technological tips, urgent security alerts and exclusive offers delivered directly to your inbox. In addition, you will get instant access to my definitive scam survival guide, free when it joins me Cyberguy.com Bulletin.

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Kurt “Cyberguy” Knutsson is a award -winning technological journalist who has a deep love for technology, equipment and devices that improve life with their contributions for News & News Business Startzing Mornings in “News & Friends”. Do you have a technological question? Get the free Kurt’s free newsletter, share your voice, an idea of ​​the story or comment on Cyberguy.com.

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