Common
Internet Scams; What to watch out for and how to
protect yourself
Phishing
or Spoofing. You
may receive an official-looking email from a recognized
organization, like a national bank, or eBay, that
includes all of the verbiage, images and company
logos.
These kinds of fraudulent emails are designed to
trick you into giving up highly sensitive information,
such as userIDs and passwords , credit card or bank
account numbers, or even social security numbers.
This scam has unfortunately grown significantly
in the last two years. Just being aware of it is
the best way to protect yourself from having your
information stolen by these sham websites.
Phishing
emails typically have the same 3 or 4 features to
them, which make them easy to recognize as forgeries;
1)
Official company/organization logo, the look and
feel exactly copying the official site
2) A message declaring that your account has been
compromised/breached/cancelled/abused and that you
must immediately login to your account and "update
your account settings" to restore your account
within a limited period of time, or your accout
will be cancelled/suspended/deleted.
3) A hyperlink embedded directly in the body of
the email and strong language encouraging you to
click on the link in the email to access your account
login page.
4) The message is usually addressed to someone generic,
instead of your username, or real name (eg. "Dear
Bank Trust customer,...")
If
you receive an email like this from someone you
have done business with online, or your financial
institution, no matter how "official"
it might look DO NOT RESPOND. If you are unsure
whether you are actually being contacted by this
organization call them on the phone to report the
email to clarify if there is an issue with your
account.
GunMountain.com does not send out unsolicited emails
to our registered members asking them to "update
your account with us" by clicking on a link
embedded in an email. You are responsible for maintaining
current information in your account with us. If
we send you an official communication it will usually
include your registered name or username. ALWAYS
go directly to the site by entering www.gunmountain.com
in the address bar of your browser to go to the
official site. Click on "My Account" to
login to the site and access your account safely.
SPAMMing.
We have made it crystal clear in our Terms
& Conditions that sending SPAM, or the sending
of unsolicited commercial emails to any registered
users of GunMountain.com will not be tolerated.
It is a rude, flagrant abuse of the GunMountain.com
Messaging system. All users have a reasonable expectation
of privacy when creating an account. Seller contact
information that is displayed on a classified ad
detail page may only be used for contacting a seller
for matters relating directly to the ad. Anyone
found abusing the privilege of communicating freely
with other GunMountain.com members will have their
account deleted. GunMountain.com encourages members
to report any suspected abuse of the Messaging system,
or members's contact information to spam@gunmountain.com.
Protecting
yourself from fraud. Online fraud can take
many forms. In many cases, online fraud can be deterred
by following a few simple practices.
Just
as consumers should take obvious measures to protect
themselves in conventional stores - not leaving
a purse in an unguarded shopping cart, protecting
their PIN (personal identification number) at checkout,
not carrying large amounts of cash in their wallets
- online shoppers should consider sensible precautions
as well.
Safety
Tips
