Underwater Basket Weaving

Somehow, when I searched for Underwater Basket Weaving on Amazon.com, my Facebook feed started showing advertisements for swimming classes, wicker baskets, and SCUBA gear.  Pretty amazing how well marketers mine data on your online and social activity when you are searching or shopping.  Most of us have probably experienced this in the past, and if you don’t believe me, give it a try – search on Google or Amazon for a product… wait for it… shortly thereafter you will most likely see the same or similar products being shown to you when you are on Facebook and reading articles online.  Be careful what you search as you very well may end up seeing ads for the next week for something you really do not want to see – such as Underwater Basket Weaving. 

Scammers are REALLY Good!

The problem is that the same data that enables companies to make it more convenient to market products to you, is also available to scammers.  Marketing is to help drive revenue for companies, so it should not surprise us that scammers use the same ‘marketing’ tactics and data to try and drive revenue for their ‘enterprise’.  Scammers are REALLY good at this. 

What if you ordered a product from Amazon, or wrote to someone on Facebook Market that you would pay them via PayPal?  Would it surprise you to receive a shipping notification from ‘Amazon’ or a PayPal email notification or text?  Probably not, that happens every time you order from Amazon or use PayPal – scammers KNOW you are expecting these notifications, and are sending targeted malicious emails. They are counting on you not paying attention to the details, especially during the hustle and bustle of, for example, the holiday season.  

ALWAYS be suspicious

Be wary of links in emails, and text messages, and if you have ANY doubt, type the website of the company into your browser, instead of using the link.  Here are some other tips from one of our partners KnowBe4 who have put together a Safe Holiday Shopping Reminder Video that really should be top of mind all year round.

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