I was recently presenting at a workshop and a lady asked how to get off the Facebook list. I wasn’t sure what she meant, so she told me she had received an email from Facebook that said her husband added pictures. She was asked to login through a link in an email. I knew right away it was a scam and told her to login to Facebook and change her password.

We have also had a few people come into Web Tech (our computer repair store) that said a popup window on their computer said their anti-virus license had expired. The pop-up window asked for a credit card and the customer gave it to them – three times!

There are also fake screens the take total control of your computer saying they are from the FBI or local government and that people need to pay right away.

Then, I read in the paper of someone who said their grandson called and he sent him money. It wasn’t his grandson but someone pretending to be and it worked.

There are so many ways that people can get tricked into giving out personal information, passwords or even money. It’s not just the elderly; my daughter was tricked by text message saying she won a gift card.

I thought I would put together a few tips on ways to dodge some of these scams.

1. Know what scammers are after: credit card information, social security number, date of birth, mother’s maiden name. Don’t give out this information to anyone.

2. Ask questions. If someone calls you, ask your “grandson” what his mother’s middle name is.

3. Pop-up windows or fake screens that show up on your computer may ask for your credit card to renew something but if you are not sure, call for help. Chris at Web Tech Services in East Peoria will answer quick questions for free at 309-699-9327.

4. Use common sense. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

5. Email with links should not be clicked. Go to your internet browser and go directly to the website and login.

6. Email stating that you have a package coming soon from any of the shipping companies are often fake and ridden with email links that attempt to install malware on your computer.

If your email or social network has been compromised, first login and change your password. Make it something difficult. Adding symbols, capital letters and numbers make your password more difficult to obtain. Pick a word or name and add these codes to it.

For example: Difficult can be D!fF1culT – you can remember this word. And using exclamation points and numbers in place of letters they look like will help you remember. Zeros for O’s, number one for L’s and @ for A’s are just a few. Get creative because your security may depend on it.

I am working on a free workshop for Money Smart Week or a community group to show samples of some of these scams and how to help you become more aware. I will keep you posted. For now, be careful out there! As always use common sense, if it sounds shady, it probably is!