Sadly Senior Citizens in America Are Falling Prey to Identity Fraud and Other Such Online Threats

The saddest part of today's society is its elderly people. No longer are they cared for like they used to be and neither the family functions nor gatherings like them as it used to be in earlier times. It is no wonder that they have fallen prey to scammers, who steal sensitive personal and financial information and take away money from their accounts.

The American Journal of Public health states that about 5.4 percent of older persons experience some form of scam or another. The situation gets alarming when we see that they aren't just abused by cyber criminals but even by their family members and friends as well.

How Are The Elderly Scammed By Fraudsters Online Today?

In order to avoid scams, it is vital to know what types of scams are out there. One type of scam is wherein the imposter poses as someone from the IRS, telling the elderly person that they have many tax dues unpaid. The person informs the senor citizen to deposit money into an account to complete the payment.

Image Courtesy:Forbes

Another type is when a person poses as a grandchild saying that he or she is in jail and needs money to bail out or is in a predicament, such as their wallet has been stolen or something similar. As they do not want the parents to know, they are calling up the grandparents to get necessary money to get out of the problem.

Similarly a different situation is where a person catches a lonely and isolated elderly person online and makes friends with that person for a couple of months. As the senior citizen does not have anyone to trust and rely on, they tend to talk to the imposter who after a while asks them to send money, which is an activity that happens a couple of times, till he or he is caught or someone warns the elderly person that it is an imposter calling and asking for money. It is usually elderly with health problems and declining mental faculties who are usually targeted.

How can financial fraud against the elderly be stopped? It is essential for them to be educated about such situations through local awareness bodies, social workers and others who love to work for a social cause. It is important for relatives and institutions taking care of them to prevent them from talking to people who can take advantage of them by monitoring their social activities in and outside the home or institution.

They should be taught not to give away personal and confidential information to anyone over the phone or while surfing the net as this could lead to money being taken from their account by scrupulous people. They should be taught simple but effective ways to manage their finance such that they do not rely on others for such activities.

Payza Complaints Can Be Quickly Resolved By Various Channels

Nowadays cyber crime is common. More and more people are becoming victims of frauds and scams. This is because hackers are good at finding new ways to fool people. Sometime back, Google had warned about emails from scammers that looked very much like authentic emails even to experienced online users. This should be an indicator of the extent of the problem. There are different ways in which companies help their users deal with cyber crime. Payza is an online payment processing platforms that has been noted for its fraud prevention measures.

Stay Safe With Payza

Users can easily shop online with Payza. They can shop online and log on to the payment platform to make their payments. Payza recommends the following steps to make sure transactions run smoothly and users can avoid any Payza problems while shopping online.

1. Always buy from well-reputed sellers. To avoid any kind of online scams you should do your research and find out about the merchants before you make a purchase or share your information with them. If you have already purchased form an unreliable merchant and you do not get what you ask for you can file a report with Payza transaction dispute center. Payza on its part has a verification process to make sure that merchants using their platform are reliable.
2. Be careful with your account details. Do not share your user id and password with anyone. You should use strong passwords.
3. Keep payment information updated and contact customer support if you detect any suspicious activity on your account.

If you become a victim of Payza scam you can report it many ways. Payza takes customer feedback and reports very seriously as its aim is to adapt the payment processing platform to  the needs of its customers.

Payza complaints are resolved by a team of dedicated customer support staff. Keeping in mind that its customers are located across the globe and might need its assistance at any time, Payza has extended the customer support hours by hiring more staff and opening additional customer support offices. Dispute resolution is another area that Payza extensively focuses on. In order to ensure timely resolution of any issues Payza has created a Payza resolution centre to facilitate quick communication and resolution of any disputes that might occur between its merchants and their customers.

Multichannel Support

Customers can reach out to Payza through various channels. If you have Payza problems you can speak to a member of Payza support team through email, phone, live chat or post a comment at the online Payza community forum. In addition to this Payza has an active social media presence. You can always follow Payza on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, LinkedIn and Pinterest to be aware of the latest products and services from the platform.

By employing the above measures, Payza is always within the reach of its customers to solve any problems should they arise. The Payza community is a very active peer to peer forum where Payza users can share information with each other and also with the Payza support team. Here users can find solutions to their problems and learn about new features and service updates. This online community is supported by Payza experts.

Way To Ensure E-Commerce Security

A security breach occurs when an individual misuses a network, system or data access with the intention of causing harm. It can affect an organization’s data, systems or operations. There are ways to avoid security breaches. Here are some of the most effective measures that can be taken to ensure e-commerce security.

1. Change the default password

Devices and applications are protected by default username and password. You should change these default passwords. Using a good strong password is the best way to do this. Never use the same password for all your applications. Also change your passwords periodically.

2. You should disable user accounts when an employee leaves the company

Security breaches are the easiest to pull off when the attacker has inside information. Not many realize that security threats can come from both outside and inside the organization. Therefore you should disable accounts of employees who are no longer working for you. This simple practice can help prevent attacks.

3. Examine security logs

System logs should be reviewed on a daily basis. Security logs are the first line of defense. By reviewing the logs, an administrator can find any failed attempts. This could suggest an attacker trying to get access or a valid user has forgotten the password.

4. Do regular scans

You should regularly carry out network scans to determine if any rogue equipment has been installed in the network. You can do this by using inbuilt commands or use freeware programs.

5. Monitor outbound network traffic

It has become increasingly difficult to detect sophisticated malware. One way of doing it is by monitoring the outbound network traffic. You should check for the number of outbound connections or the amount of traffic that deviates from normal baseline operations. It may be the only indication of sensitive information being stolen. You can use firewall applications to monitor outbound traffic.

6. Update regularly

Keeping the operating system and application software updated with the latest security patches is the best way to foil a security breach. You can be safe from hacking attempts outside the perimeter of the network. If the operating system and the applications are not vulnerable the attack will most likely fail.

7. Implement a security plan

Having a security plan ready is a must. In the case of an attack, the security plan can offer a solid solution on how to handle the situation. This will help get the situation under control quickly and can help prevent excessive damage.

8. Raise user awareness about security

You should offer security training programs to your employees and focus on creating well-informed users who can function on the internet securely without compromising your organization’s security in any way.

9. Get top management buy-in on security policies

You should get top management to endorse and support security policies. This will help you to procure the required tools and technology and also enforce the policy on employees. Completely eliminating a security breach is an impossible task but it is possible to make it more difficult for security breaches to occur.

10. Focus on data security

If needed have a separate policy for data security. Use encryption for sensitive data. Also, make sure only authorized users to have access to data backups. Loss of customer data can cause great damage to an organization’s reputation hence this aspect of security must never be overlooked.

Stay Safe From Credit Card Fraud

As Online businesses have mushroomed there has also been an increase in the number of payments being processed online. Most sites offer a variety of options including bank transfers, credit and debit cards for making online payments. While online shopping is easy and convenient it also increase the risk of theft of identity and payment related information. Online businesses and customers both need to follow fraud protection practices. It has been found that credit card fraud is the biggest online fraud being committed today. More and more unsuspecting users have found that their credit card information has been compromised. As a customer, you can protect your credit card information from fraudsters by following a few simple guidelines given below.

Don’t Share Your Credit Card Number

Never ever give your credit card to someone else. While shopping never hand over your credit card to another person. If you do so, make sure the card is in your sight and you can see what it is being used for. Similarly, don’t share your credit card number online unless you are actually making a purchase. Only purchase at reputed sites and it is usually a good practice to avoid storing your credit card details at those sites. If someone sends you an email asking for credit card information, it is most likely a phishing scam. Remember banks and other financial institutions never ask for personal, bank account or credit card information over email or a phone call. Be very cautious when sharing such information.

Check Your Card Statements

Make it a habit to check your credit card statements. If you notice any transaction that you have not made, then bring it to the notice of the issuing bank immediately. If you suspect your card information has been compromised in any way, then you should immediately take steps to block your card to prevent it from being misused. Credit card details once stolen, are then traded in the dark web marketplace. This stolen data can be purchased and used for illegal activities as well. Hence, report any suspicious activities right away.

Look At Other Options

Nowadays there are safer options such as chip based cards and prepaid credit cards. Prepaid credit cards are loaded with a certain amount of money. This amount acts as the upper limit that gets compromised in case your card is stolen or lost. Prepaid cards can be used just like credit cards. You can always load the card again with funds. This is a great way to keep your risks at a minimum when using cards online.