- [Narrator 1] While shopping online certainly offers convenience it also requires a degree of caution, especially when it comes to clicking on links and attachments where presented.

- Because of the pandemic a lot of online shopping is going on, so we're using e-commerce sites.

Amazon, just to pick an example they're not the only one of course, but they're one example.

And so you'll get an email that appears to be from Amazon saying something like, "You've bought a computer in Georgia and it's gonna be shipped there tomorrow.

If you think this is a mistake, please click on this link."

And when you click on the link you'll get a screen that looks very much like the Amazon login, but of course it's a scam.

And so you're actually logging into some other site that's masquerading as Amazon or whatever you're using and it'll then take your login credentials, your account name, your password, and then the actual criminals will go to your real account, perhaps at Amazon or elsewhere and then they'll go ahead and purchase a lot of material and goods or whatever you're going to be buying and then it'll be charged to your account and the items will be sent elsewhere, not to you.

There's all kinds of ways that people are exploited when you spend time online.

A good example is if you visit certain websites you click on certain attachments in emails that are sent to you by scammers, they will end up installing viruses or various kinds of malware on your computer.

And then what happens is you get a message that pops up and says, "You've got a problem with your computer.

Please call this number and we'll help you fix it."

And inevitably, when you call that number it's somebody who's not actually legitimate tech support who is getting you to give them your credit card information, and then they're using that in order to be able to "fix" your problem.

Of course, they caused the problem in the first place.

Perhaps there was no problem at all, but they were just trying to scare you into thinking there was a problem, and then you'd go ahead and call them, give them your credit card number, and then at least in theory, it's sort of a legitimate charge because you initiated that transaction.

Now, there are ways to get around that.

You can go to your credit card company and dispute the charge, but that takes a while and it's inconvenient.

So a lot of people just don't do it.

- [Narrator 1] If you receive an email with an urgent message from your bank, credit card company, utility company, a retailer, or social media platform, don't click on any links included.

If you have an online account with a company log into it manually through a browser or app to determine whether or not there's a legitimate issue.

If you do not have an account online find a customer service number on the company's website and call the number to check.

Do not call any numbers listed in the suspicious email itself.

These small extra steps can go a long way toward keeping your accounts safe.

- [Narrator 2] Made possible by a grant from the West End Home Foundation Senior Trust Digital Initiative.