16 internet dangers to watch out for when using the web

Fake news, software, messages, popup warnings and websites are just some of things you must avoid when using the web. Whether you use a computer or phone, here are the internet dangers.

There are many internet dangers and no end of people trying to scam you out of money or feed you false information. However, we don’t want to scare you. Most of the internet is a safe place to chat with friends, get the latest news, follow your sports team, play games and shop for goods. Be aware of the dangers, but don’t be frightened by them. Carry on using the internet, but just bear in mind the advice here.

1. Hang up with tech support scams

This type of scam is increasing and this is probably because it works. It all starts with a telephone call and someone telling you that a problem has been detected with your computer. They might claim it has malware or a virus or other security problem. They may claim to be calling from a well-known company like Microsoft, Apple, your internet provider and so on.

Computer, hacker, code. An infected laptop computer
Don’t let scammers take over your computer

Non-technical people are the most vulnerable and any geek will immediately spot that it is a scam because no-one will call you on the phone if there’s a problem with your computer. NO-ONE! Do not talk to these people. Just hang up.

These people tell you to enter special commands at your computer to download and run programs. Their aim is to remotely take over your computer via the internet and then they can either access all your personal files, encrypt them so you cannot access them, install malware, and so on.

Once they control your computer over the internet, they will then demand payment to fix it. Of course, there was nothing wrong with it in the first place. After they’ve finished mucking it up it certainly will need fixing, but not by them, and your bank balance will be considerably lower.

2. Spot phishing attempts

Emails that try to trick you into doing something are phishing scams. They have been around for many years and there is little sign of them going away. The emails usually claim to be from a well-known company such as Apple, PayPal, Amazon, your bank, or tax service.

They are usually easy to spot if you know what to look for but some are quite clever. The limitations of mobile phones makes them harder to spot than on desktop computers.

Phishing email example about Apple
Learn to spot phishing emails and fake messages

There are two very obvious clues that an email is phishing:

  1. They don’t know your name and either don’t address you or begin with ‘Dear customer’
  2. Poor English/American with misspelt or missing words

Any company you deal with like Apple, Microsoft, PayPal, your bank, Amazon and others, all know your name and greet you with ‘Dear Thomas’ or whatever your name is. If they don’t know your name, the email is most likely fake.

Emails between you and me might not be perfect and typos are common, but they almost never occur in emails from companies. The text of emails is checked, rechecked, approved and so on before being sent, so mistakes tend not to occur in official messages from large corporations.

Some phishing emails tell you to click a link to log in, verify your account, or perform some other action. Some emails tell you to open an attached file. It probably contains a virus, so ignore the attachment and trash the email.

3. Close virus pop-ups

Sometimes when browsing the web, mostly on Windows PCs but it can occur on the Apple Mac as well, you might see a pop-up message or even a whole web page telling you that your computer is infected with a virus.

Websites cannot scan your computer for viruses and they can’t tell anything, about the security status of your computer. Without installing software on your computer, they can only tell whether you have a PC or Mac, the browser you are using, screen resolution, and a few other things that are relevant to displaying web pages.

If you see a message saying your computer has a virus, close the browser window. If you can’t, on a PC press Ctrl+Alt+Del and open Task Manager then right click the browser and end the task. On a Mac click the Apple Logo , select Force Quit (or press Option+Command+Escape) and select the browser.

4. Good vs bad security software

There are some excellent security suites for Windows PCs and a few apps for the Apple Mac. Android has a lot of security apps too. However, there are also dodgy apps that aim to cash in on your security fears by either scaring you into buying the software or by pretending their barely adequate software is the ultimate in security.

Avoid bad security software, which sometimes is little more than a scam, and stick with well-known software from established companies in security. Do not be tempted by pop-up messages when visiting websites that say there are security vulnerabilities in your computer and don’t install the software they offer. At least not without thoroughly researching it. AV-Comparatives and AV-Test are to excellent sources of anti-virus software information.

5. Your computer needs cleaning

Another pop-up message that might appear on the computer is that it contains a lot of junk files that are slowing it down and that you need to clean it up. Naturally, they have just the program you need to do the cleanup. Once again, don’t trust pop-ups on websites with messages like this.

Your computer has errors, a message may say, then offer a program to fix them. Problems need to be fixed of course, but if you don’t have a problem, don’t fix it.

You could examine the cleanest best looked after computer and still find junk and errors. Don’t worry. It does not cause a problem and usually you don’t need to clean it or fix it.

6. Avoid bad websites

Web browsers are getting better at detecting bad websites with adware, malware, spyware and other undesirable content, and they prevent you from going there by displaying a warning. There are links to click to continue anyway, but usually it is not a good idea.

Bad website warning in Chrome
Don’t ignore web browser warnings about bad sites

New bad sites crop up every day and the browser might not have every bad site in its database, so beware of dodgy sites. Sites with illegal content, such as pirate software, music, movies and so on, are not bothered by malware and are often unsafe. Avoid them.

7. Take care with mistyped URLs

It is very easy to mistype the URL of a website in a browser and some scammers take advantage of this by creating websites with just one or two letters different to well-known ones.

Mistype a URL and you don't know where you will end up
Mistype a URL and you could end up anywhere

You think you are going to your bank’s website or logging in to some other site, but it could be a fake one if you made an error typing the URL. Always check URLs are correct before pressing enter after typing them in.

Better still, save a bookmark in your browser and click that instead of typing. You cannot then make a mistake.

8. Adware in free software

If a program is free, is the author simply being generous or are they bundling adware with it? Free software downloaded from the internet sometimes contains extra items that may or may not be useful. Watch out for these internet dangers and opt out of bundled extras if you don’t want it.

Extra items may be bundled with software that you don't want
Beware of free downloads

In the worst cases free software downloads contain adware or they are PUPs (potentially unwanted programs) and they can be a major irritation. For example, they could change the home page of your browser to point to a site from which they earn money from adverts or by redirecting people.

Adware is not malicious, but pop-up ads and changing the home page is certainly undesirable.

9. Be skeptical of fake social shares

Sometimes false information is shared on social network sites like Facebook and it can become viral, getting thousands of shares. There are all sorts of stories passed around that a few minutes research will tell you are not true. People don’t check thoroughly and they just reshare the fake item without even thinking it might not be true.

Fake messages and stories like this are often shared on Facebook and other social media
Fale, false, misleading social shares are a problem

Don’t believe everything you see shared on Facebook and other social sites.

10. Public Wi-Fi hotspots not always safe

Beware of Wi-Fi in public places because it is possible to set up a fake hotspot with very little. You can do it with a mobile phone and when a cafe’s Wi-Fi is down, I often turn on my phone’s built-in hotspot so I can continue working.

This same feature could be used to set up a fake hotspot and people around could connect to it to get internet access. It would then be possible for the person to spy on internet activities and perhaps even gain access to passwords.

NordVPN is a popular VPN service that protects and secures internet connections
There are internet dangers associated with free public Wi-Fi. Use a VPN

A VPN protects you when using public Wi-Fi and they are available for Windows PC, Apple Mac, Android and iOS phones. There are dozens to choose from and it is difficult deciding which is best. If you want a personal recommendation, I have used NordVPN, Ivacy VPN, ProtonVPN and others.

Save $$$ on a VPN with our Offers and Recommendations page.

11. Surveys reveal too much

You may be asked to fill in a survey at a website, by email or when using social sites like Facebook and others. Filling in surveys could reveal more about you than you would normally want to share, so don’t share anything that is not public knowledge.

Cat vs dog survey

What will your information be used for? It is possible for your details to be passed on or even sold to third parties, so don’t get personal and only share public information you don’t mind people knowing.

12. Bad text messages and scams

Phone numbers generally are not private and lots of people know them. Apps you install on your phone may read your number and share it online too.

This can lead to text messaging scams and bad internet links sent via text messages can be used to install malware on your phone if they redirect you to malicious or phishing websites and so on.

Beware of text messages from unknown numbers. If you don’t know who a message is from, Google the number or sender. This often reveals if it is linked to a scam or cold calling sales. Never tap a web link in a text message on your phone unless you are absolutely sure it is safe.

13. Beware of incognito/private browsing

Web browsers on Mac and PC offer an incognito or private browsing mode and it can help you to avoid some internet dangers. It is important to realize that this does not mean that you are anonymous on the internet. You are not. It is like a fresh install of a browser where there is no browsing history or cookies.

Edge browser menu showing private browsing mode
All browsers have a private browsing mode

You appear to be a first time visitor to websites and online services, and when you close the browser, your history and any cookies created are deleted. This makes it useful, but what you do on the web can be tracked, your location can be discovered, and hardware and software information can be revealed.

Private browsing offers only partial anonymity and it is more like no-history browsing.

14. Don’t over share on social media

ID theft, or identity theft, is where someone steals personal information like your name, address, photos of you, your home, your pets, your family, your bank, credit card, age, online accounts and so on.

All this information can be used by the thief to persuade a company to allow them to gain access to your user accounts, money, goods, services and so on.

A lot of information can be collected about you from social media and you need to think carefully what you share in social posts. Next time you are about to post a social update, think! Is it personal information? Could it be used against you? Share as little personal information as you can and if the social network lets you limit who can see your posts, then do so.

15. People may not be real

People you see and interact with on the internet may not be who they claim to be.

Take care who you talk to and what information you give out. The person or company could be fake and are trying to get you to reveal personal information, login details for online services like banking and shopping, and so on.

A warning flag is if they make contact on one social site or service and soon ask to switch to another because it is more private, like Whatsapp, Signal, Telegram and so on. Yes they are, but it is a means for scammers to avoid being publicly seen. When messaging is encrypted, they can get away with a lot more and learn more personal information about you. Don’t do it!

16. False YMYL information

Your Money or Your Life, ymyl, are two things that you need to be extra careful about when using the internet. Anyone can give money and health advice on the web, but are they qualified to do so? If they are not, then the information could be poor, wrong, or even dangerous to your health or finances.

Search engines like Google and others try to filter out the bad ymtl websites from search results, but you can still find bad sites on the web, such as by social shares. It is easy to post false information on a website, a social network, or video sharing site, and make it look true or genuine. Take everything you read online, especially ymyl content, with a pinch of salt. What is claimed to be true, might not be.

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