FORM JACKERS
FORM JACKING

Here is yet another incredibly dangerous scam that you may have no protection against. How scary is that? I learned about this from watching my local news in Chicago on W LS, the ABC affiliate.

So this is how this scam works. A hacker, using his evil expertise, can sometimes add malware, which is software that among other things can steal information, to almost any website that requires a buyer or an applicant to complete a form. You don’t know it’s there. It’s sort of like when you use your ATM card and you learn later that a skimmer was placed in the slot. As you are filling out the form, unbeknownst to you, that information is being transmitted to the hacker so the hacker can subsequently either use it or sell it to rip you off. Individuals have little protection because they would never know whether a site had been infected with this form jacking malware. It is quite possible that the web host itself does not know that there is malware lurking on its site. So how do you protect yourself? Well, it depends on the information that you are required to provide.

I have set up alerts on most of my credit cards so that, if a charge is made without the card being present, I will be notified by the credit card issuer. I use it with my American Express card and I use it with my Discover card as well. I tried to make sure that those are the only two cards I use when buying something online, so I feel fairly well protected. These alerts have helped me on at least three occasions when my credit card number had been hijacked. As soon as the charge showed up on my alert, I contacted the credit card company. They stopped the charge and issued me a new card with a new number. One person tried to buy over $1000 worth of merchandise in Atlanta. Another one bought a couple hundred dollars worth of shoes at Nike town in Chicago. Of course that was a slightly different situation because my number was skimmed when I used my credit card at a restaurant.

 Your Social Security number is another issue, though. I generally do not provide my Social Security number to anybody online if I can possibly avoid it. I won’t even send it in an email. The only way I will send my Social Security number to someone who I know to be reputable, is either by fax or by verbal telephone contact.

The report I watched claims that using a phone app such as Google pay or Apple pay is much more secure. Frankly, I don’t buy it. Someone is going to figure out a way to hack that as well, and we know that it seems a lot easier to hack your cell phone than it does your home computer. Any time you connect to a free public Wi-Fi service you are susceptible to having your phone hacked.

So, BEWARE! It really is a shame that we must look over our shoulders, under the table, and everywhere else because scammers are lurking. But, if you know they are out there, you know to be carefu
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