Would you leave your house without locking the door? Would you hand over your life savings to a random man on the street who said he could make you rich?
The Online Learning world is an amazing but murky one. There are so many opportunities, but to go about your business, you have to be aware of the online threat that is always lurking beneath the service.
There are many types of threats but which ones should you look out for. Here’s everything you need to know.
1. Site Asks for Bank Details
If a website that you’ve never heard of before suddenly asks for your bank details, you should close it down and consider contacting the FBI to report it. Most websites have an option to pay with your bank card or credit card and would never ask you for your full bank details.
If you use a good bank, you will also be redirected away from the site and to your bank’s official app on your cell phone or to an email to confirm the bank account. This can prevent a lot of online crime.
Report any site that asks for your bank details straight away to the police and shout about it on social media to prevent others from making the same mistakes.
The theft of bank details is of the most common types of fraud that people experience online.
2. It’s not HTTPS
HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the standard markup language that most websites use to present information to you on a web browser. But in recent years a new standard has emerged. HTTPS where the S stands for Secure and acts as a type of threat detection against malware.
This means the website has been verified as secure and it’s ok to use it. It’s a symbol of trust and reassurance. And it’s usually displayed in one of the two ways.
Firstly, through a small padlock beside the name of the website. The second way you can tell if a website is HTTPS is by clicking on the full website address and checking that the extra S is included.
3. Death Threats on Social Media
In recent years social media has become a toxic place for anyone with a controversial or non-orthodox view. Rather than using it to make new friends and create lifelong connections, some people want to use it to spread hate and violence.
Many political arguments and disagreements take place online, and this is normal. But it crosses a line when someone threatens to kill someone else as climate scientists have faced recently. You should always report this to Twitter to ensure the users’ accounts are censored temporarily or removed completely.
Dealing with an Online Threat Is Not Easy
Dealing with an online threat is, unfortunately, a fact of life when using the internet nowadays. The anonymity granted to users on websites such as Twitter greatly amplifies the voice of those committing an online crime.
You should always take precautions such as never giving out your bank details online and keeping your personal information private.
If you are interested in learning more about how to deal with an online threat, be sure to check out the rest of our site.
