From phishing to spoofing, local experts discuss technology scams and how to avoid them

Fishing is a hobby that many enjoy and do more of once they retire. But for scammers and con artists, phishing -- that's right, with a "ph" -- is work for them, and the goal is to fleece money out of people by prying credit card information from them.

Phishing can take several forms, but the most common one is for the crooks to send an email from what appears to be a trusted source that includes a link in it, one that they hope the unsuspecting recipient will click on, opening a conduit for scammers to gain access to a person's computer information and steal it.

Jeff Hay, an account manager for Broadtek, a company that deals exclusively with business-to-business work, has seen this many times.

"If the email looks like it's from your bank, don't open the embedded link," he warns. "Call the bank. Opening the link can give the people information."

Eric Bennett, president and co-owner of Velosity Electronics, which does provide service to individuals, agrees.

"We always recommend that you don't follow a link," he says. "Go straight to the source."

The fact is that banks and other important institutions usually don't contact customers via email. They call or send a letter.

Like many problems, the best cure is prevention.

"Use anti-virus and anti-malware," suggests Hay.

Those are programs that block incoming emails from suspicious sources and protect a computer from having malware, short for malicious software, that can installed by computer scammers.

Hay says a multilayer approach is best. Use both anti-virus and anti-malware software, sold by a reliable source. Hay says if initial attempts to get into a computer are thwarted, often the villains will just give up.

"Hackers are lazy. They are going for low-hanging fruit, something easy to get into," Hay says.

If malware is implanted on a computer that contains a virus that includes a crypto locker, it can encrypt -- convert into a code or cipher -- every file contained on the computer, rendering it irretrievable.

"The only protection from that is to back up your information," Bennett says.

He recommends using two different sources to do that.

"I never recommend relying on a single source," Bennett says. "If you have two backups, there's little chance you'll lose everything."

Another tactic scammers use is called "spoofing." Using this method, a message may pop up that a computer needs an update to Flash Player or an Adobe when a victim is trying to watch a video or access information.

Again, Bennett stresses the importance of going directly to the manufacturer, like visiting the software manufacturer's site, but even that can be tricky.

Sometimes when people enter the name of the program they wish to update into the browser, results can pop up of a listing that is actually an advertisement, attached to sites run by scammers. The listings can be written in extremely deceptive ways.

Once the user enters the fictitious site, the scammers who placed the ad have gained access to the computer and can infect it with a virus, or other malware that affect the computer's performance.

Then the person may receive a pop-up message advising them they'll have to call or contact the fictitious company to get the computer working properly again. A credit card number will then be requested, allegedly to pay for the service of getting the computer fixed.

Sometimes though, when a computer is infected that way, the scammers use the phone to initiate contact.

"It's a phone call from someone overseas who says that they need to look at your computer remotely," Bennett says.

They navigate the person to the "Event Views" section contained in the computer, which will show that the computer has been infected. It's really a scare tactic.

That's why it's often best to use a local company to get computer problems resolved. Velosity has been in business in Cape for nearly 15 years.

"If people think they have a problem, call in or come see us," Bennett says. "We're a real brick-and-mortar store."

Crooks also use social media to get information that can make it easy to burglarize people.

"Be careful what you put on Facebook," Hay warns. "Even if you are out of town, don't post pictures or let people know you're going on a trip."

While Facebook is great for some uses, care must be taken in distributing information that's widely available.

"It's a good tool to keep up with friends and family, but can also put a lot of personal information out there that can be used for bad," Hay says.