What to Do if You’re the Victim of Hacking

More and more victims are falling prey to hacking nowadays due to the sophisticated level of online scams — plaguing both computer and smartphone users. Hackers have developed ways of sending emails that look legit leading you to believe they are coming from your employer, a friend, or your bank. A good way to protect your smartphone is with dfndr security, a highly rated antivirus app that offers a slew of cybersecurity features such as a full virus scan and advanced anti-hacking.

Read More: Hackers Are Taking Over Your SIM Card and Personal Phone Number

Being the victim of an online attack is shocking, not to mention embarrassing, but with knowledge and resources to turn to, you can gain some closure and move forward.

Types of Scams
There are 3 main ways that hackers try to trick you. One is to offer a reward such as a free vacation or gift card. The second comes in the form of a threat, demanding payment due to unpaid taxes or missed jury duty. The last method is a generic email that could appear to be from your employer, but it’s really not.

All of these fake emails are designed to extort payment or have you unknowingly click on a link filled with malicious code, which can then be used to steal your personal or financial information.

How to Avoid Getting Hacked
If an email seems suspicious, call the company the email appears to be from to ensure it’s not a scam, or type the real URL directly in your browser. If you weren’t expecting an email from a particular sender yet receive one full of links, don’t click on any of them — they could be malware designed to take over your phone. Same goes for generic emails, they are usually a bigger sign of potential danger.

Never share personal information like your full name, banking details, credit card number, or anything else to the sender of an unsolicited email.

What to Do if You’re Targeted
To address the feeling of helplessness that comes with being victimized, consider reaching out to any of these resources:

• The BBB’s Scam Tracker allows you to enter details of a scam you were the victim of. Your entry is added to a large database of known scams. This can help others in similar situations.
• Report a scam on the Department of Justice’s website in the case of an intellectual property crime (they do happen).
• If your social profile is hacked, use the Facebook Help Community to report the incident. The compromised account will be shut down as they investigate the matter.
• The FBI’s IC3 is another avenue to file a complaint of a serious hack or other online crime.
• Along with federal sources, always utilize the local authorities at the same time to help gain your device or information back.