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A recent report by Javelin Strategy and Research found that identity theft cost Americans $56 billion in 2020, with imposter scams accounting for 20% of online fraud. While most internet platforms have stringent data security measures in place to curb cyber fraud, they aren’t always fool-proof. 

Your user information is available online as a result of your digital footprint — the traces of all your online activity. No matter how minimal you think your online presence is, some of your data is inevitably collected by various platforms. Many activities require you to give your personal information — your name, email, phone number, age, and gender — which tech companies then collect and use to tailor your online experience.  

Additionally, there are numerous obscure data brokers online that collect your user information, package it, and supply it to tech companies for targeted advertising. Large-scale number crunching and analysis help advertisers target their desired demographics in a comprehensive way.   

Thankfully, there are ways you can mitigate the adverse impacts of a lack of online privacy and minimize the amount of your personal information that brokers have access to.  

The dangers of personal info being exposed online

A common type of online fraud is theft from your bank account using your credit card or account information. This is made worse by the fact that people feel more comfortable sharing their private information with certain industries — healthcare and financial services in particular — who might not always have the best data security measures in place.  

Phishing, man-in-the-middle attacks, and backdoor entries are ways in which malicious parties try to access user data stored on individual and big-tech servers. Simply put, the more information there is about you on the internet, the more it takes a toll on your overall cyber security. 

How does personal info typically get on the internet?

Data brokers typically collect any legal data they can that is publicly available. Your public records might include your social media profiles, name, number, email accounts, Social Security number (SSN), home address, and criminal and marriage records. This personal data is important to other companies that use it to enhance their UI, run targeted ads, and give their advertisers the option to conduct extensive market research right on the platform.  

Apart from this, social media is an online representation of your real life, and most social media accounts include names, addresses, employment history, photos, and videos. Such a detailed insight into your life makes it easier for these platforms to figure out your interests and consumer behavior better and even predict it to run targeted ads at the right time.  

Have you ever wondered why you automatically start seeing advertisements for various hotels in your travel destination when you search for flight tickets? This is because your browsing history is recorded and tracked by the platform you are using. They find patterns and correlations in your search history, and the algorithm starts suggesting things accordingly. While this can be helpful to easily find what you’re looking for, it also means that your data is available online.  

How to remove your personal information from the internet

Let’s review some popular ways for you to remove your personal information from the internet. 

Limit Google Data Collection

As of April 2022, Google held just over 92% of search engine market shares worldwide. Aside from being a search engine, Google also has various other applications, such as Gmail and Google Maps. While Google is a great tool, it is also a gateway to some of your personal information.  

To combat this issue, you can remove your name from Google search results by submitting a removal request. This will disable anyone online from getting any results if they search your name. Moreover, Google collects all your browsing data continuously. You have the option to turn on “Auto Delete” in your privacy settings to ensure that the data is deleted regularly and help limit the amount of time your sensitive data stays vulnerable. 

You can also occasionally delete your cookies or use your browser in incognito mode to prevent websites from being tracked back to you. Go to your Google Chrome settings to clear your browser and cookie history. 

Request to remove data from data broker sites

The data broking industry is popular to the extent that there are sub-industries within them. Some data brokers specialize in location data, while others focus on health or financial data.  

Companies also invest in building search engines that can look up individuals. Some of these people search sites like Whois, PeopleFinders, Intelius, and BeenVerified are extensively used by companies for background checks of individuals. While this might seem unethical to many, data brokerage is considered legal in many parts of the world, including almost all states in the U.S.  

McAfee helps you with personal data cleanup. It can identify which websites collect and sell your personal data and remove it for you. Doing this process individually for different data brokers can be a time-consuming process. 

Revise social media accounts

As discussed above, while you cannot eliminate your digital footprint, you can minimize your presence on social media to the bare minimum. Start by taking some time to make a list of all your online accounts and subscriptions. While this may seem like an easy task, we tend to subscribe to so many websites, blogs, and services online that we might not even recollect them. Think about how many times you must have given your name, age, email, and even address for different services and websites. 

After making a list, prioritize your social media accounts. If there are old accounts that you no longer visit or websites that have gone out of fashion, like Myspace or Tumblr, you may want to deactivate them or consider deleting them entirely.  

Even on social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter that you continue using regularly, consider adjusting your privacy settings to ensure that your personal information on these social media platforms is the bare minimum. For example, on Facebook you can lock your profile, while on Instagram you can stay private. 

Remove personal info from other websites/blogs

If you ever published articles, wrote blogs, or created any content online, it might be a good time to consider taking it down if it is no longer serving a purpose. Depending on your writing, you may have shared personal details about your life.  

Additionally, you might be mentioned by other people in various social media posts, articles, or blogs. It is worth reaching out to these people to request them to take down posts with sensitive information. If your friends or third-party websites do not comply with taking down your information, you can visit Google support and send a legal request to Google to have it removed.  

Social media and online articles that host your personal information are often used when businesses or hackers are doing “internet scrapes” to find better ways to use your targeted information. Asking your friends or third-party sites to remove that information can help protect your privacy. 

Delete unused phone apps

Similar to reducing your digital footprint online, you should delete all unnecessary apps on your iPhone or Android that you no longer need or use. Even when apps are not open or in use, they tend to continuously track personal information such as your real-time location and even your payment details if you have a paid subscription to the app.  

Some apps even sell this data as it can be extremely advantageous to other companies. For example, fitness apps have crucial health-related data for thousands of individuals. This data is valuable for companies targeting a certain consumer segment to make sales. Try to share as little information with apps as possible if you’re looking to minimize your online footprint, and provide them access to your photos, contacts, and location only on a need-to-know basis. 

Discover how Mcafee keeps your personal information secure online

McAfee is a worldwide leader in online protection. We seek to empower you to be a confident and well-informed user of the internet while also enabling you to enjoy the many benefits of technology. McAfee offers various mechanisms to protect your privacy online and minimize the risk of cybercrimes.  

We help with identity theft protection by keeping your personal information safe and alerting you quickly if sensitive information is found on the dark web.  

McAfee’s protection score checks the health of your online protection and provides insights to improve your security. By assessing your current privacy status, we can provide contextual advice to improve your online security. We can also use our Personal Data Cleanup feature to help identify and assist in removing your information found online.  

Accessing public Wi-Fi can be a huge source of a data breach, so we also offer an unlimited VPN that automatically turns on when you need it. Using a VPN substantially improves your chances against cybercriminals, making your information much harder to track. 

The post 5 Steps to Removing Your Personal Information From the Internet appeared first on McAfee Blog.

Private tech companies gather tremendous amounts of user data. These companies can afford to let you use social media platforms free of charge because it’s paid for by your data, attention, and time.  

Big tech derives most of its profits by selling your attention to advertisers — a well-known business model. Various documentaries (like Netflix’s “The Social Dilemma”) have attempted to get to the bottom of the complex algorithms that big tech companies employ to mine and analyze user data for the benefit of third-party advertisers.  

This article will help you better understand what information is being collected by tech companies, how it’s being used, and how you can protect your privacy online.   

What information can companies collect?

Tech companies benefit from personal information by being able to provide personalized ads. When you click “yes” at the end of a terms and conditions agreement found on some web pages, you may be allowing the companies to collect the following data:  

• Personal data. This includes identity-related information like your name, gender, Social Security number, and device-related information like IP address, web browser cookies, and device IDs. Personal data is usually collected to classify users into different demographics based on relevant parameters. This helps advertisers analyze what sections of the audience interact with their ads and what they can do to cater to their target audience.  
• Usage data. Your interactions with a business’s website, text messages, emails, paid ads, and other online activities are recorded to build an accurate consumer profile. This consumer profile is used to determine and predict what kind of content (including ads) you are more likely to interact with and for how long.  
• Behavioral data. Purchase histories, repeated actions, time spent, movement and navigation on the platform, and other types of qualitative data are covered under behavioral data. This helps platforms determine your “favorite” purchases or interactions so they can suggest other similar content/products.  
• Attitudinal data. Companies measure brand and customer experiences using data on consumer satisfaction, product desirability, and purchase decisions. Marketing agencies use this data for direct consumer research and creative analysis.  

For someone unfamiliar with privacy issues, it is important to understand the extent of big tech’s tracking and data collection. Once these companies collect data, all this information can be supplied to third-party businesses or used to improve user experience.  

The problem with this is that big tech has blurred the line between collecting customer data and violating user privacy in some cases. While tracking what content you interact with can be justified under the garb of personalizing the content you see, big tech platforms have been known to go too far. Prominent social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn have faced past legal trouble for accessing personal user data like private messages and saved photos. 

How do companies use the information you provide

The information you provide helps build an accurate character profile and turns it into knowledge that gives actionable insights to businesses. Private data usage can be classified into three cases: selling it to data brokers, using it to improve marketing, or enhancing customer experience.  

To sell your info to data brokers

Along with big data, another industry has seen rapid growth: data brokers. Data brokers buy, analyze, and package your data. Companies that collect large amounts of data on their users stand to profit from this service. Selling data to brokers is an important revenue stream for big tech companies.  

Advertisers and businesses benefit from increased information on their consumers, creating a high demand for your information. The problem here is that companies like Facebook and Alphabet (Google’s parent company) have been known to mine massive amounts of user data for the sake of their advertisers.  

To personalize marketing efforts

Marketing can be highly personalized thanks to the availability of large amounts of consumer data. Tracking your response to marketing campaigns can help businesses alter or improve certain aspects of their campaign to drive better results.  

The problem is that most AI-based algorithms are incapable of assessing when they should stop collecting or using your information. After a point, users run the risk of being constantly subjected to intrusive ads and other unconsented marketing campaigns that pop up frequently.  

To cater to the customer experience

Analyzing consumer behavior through reviews, feedback, and recommendations can help improve customer experience. Businesses have access to various facets of data that can be analyzed to show them how to meet consumer demands. This could help improve any part of a consumer’s interaction with the company, from designing special offers and discounts to improving customer relationships.  

For most social media platforms, the goal is to curate a personalized feed that appeals to the users and allows them to spend more time on the app. When left unmonitored, the powerful algorithms behind these social media platforms can repeatedly subject you to the same kind of content from different creators.  

Which companies track the most information?

Here are the big tech companies that collect and mine the most user data.  

• Google. Google is the most avid big tech data miner currently on the internet because the search engine deals almost exclusively with user data. Google tracks and analyzes everything from your Gmail and calling history (for VoLTE calls) to your Chrome browsing preferences through third-party cookies.  
• Facebook. Meta’s Facebook collects phone numbers, personal messages, public comments, and metadata from all of your photos and videos. Facebook primarily uses this data to fuel its demographic-based targeted ad mechanisms.  
• Amazon. Amazon has recently admitted to storing many user data points, including phone numbers, credit card information, usernames, passwords, and even Social Security numbers. Amazon also stores information about your search terms and previously bought products.  
• Twitter. Platforms like Twitter employ a “family of apps” technique to gather sensitive user data. While these platforms openly collect and mine user data themselves, they also collect information from app networks (like Twitter’s MoPub or Google’s AdMob) that include several other third-party apps. These apps choose to partner with tech giants for better profits.  
• Apple. While much better than its competitors, Apple still mines a considerable amount of user data. While Apple’s systems allow users to control their privacy settings, Apple gives all of its users’ information to Apple’s iOS-based advertisement channels. The iPhone App Store is another place where user data is exclusively used to create customized user experiences. 
• Microsoft. Microsoft primarily collects device-related data like system configurations, system capabilities, IP addresses, and port numbers. It also harvests your regular search and query data to customize your search options and make for a better user experience.  

Discover how McAfee can help protect your identity online 

Users need a comprehensive data privacy solution to tackle the rampant, large-scale data mining carried out by big tech platforms. While targeted advertisements and easily found items are beneficial, many of these companies collect and mine user data through several channels simultaneously, exploiting them in many different ways.  

It’s important to make sure your personal information is protected. Protection solutions like McAfee’s Personal Data Cleanup feature can help. With this feature, our teams scour the web for traces of your personal information and assist in getting it removed to enhance your online privacy.  

McAfee’s Total Protection provides antivirus software for all of your digital devices and a secure VPN connection to avoid exposure to malicious third parties while browsing the internet. Our identity monitoring and personal data removal solutions further remove gaps in your devices’ security systems.  

With our airtight data protection and custom guidance (complete with a protection score for each platform and tips to keep you safer), you can be sure that your internet identity is protected.  

The post What Personal Data Do Companies Track? appeared first on McAfee Blog.

Your digital footprint grows with every internet account you make. While your old Tumblr account may be fun for reminiscing, dormant accounts are actually one of the most significant sources of user data on the internet. These accounts can be used by data brokers or third parties to access your personal information.  

To improve your data security, it’s good practice to remove public-facing information by deleting unused accounts. Simply put, having less personal data stored on the internet reduces the risk of theft and/or non-consensual data usage.  

Deleting, canceling, unsubscribing, or removing your account can be a long process, depending on the service. This article will walk you through the simplest ways to delete unwanted accounts from various social media platforms.  

Why you should delete old accounts

Deleting unwanted accounts protects your information and prevents the monetization of your data. Your internet accounts often hold personal information like your name, age, email, or home address. What’s more alarming is that some platforms may even have credit card details, phone numbers, and bank account information. 

When left unattended, internet accounts become vulnerable to being suspended or taken over by the platform. This means that if your accounts are left inactive for too long, you might be handing some or all of your data over to the tech platform.  

For example, even if you believe an old Google account doesn’t have any sensitive information stored, it may be linked to other platforms you use (like Amazon or Google services like Gmail and Google Play). This exposes all of these accounts to several data privacy vulnerabilities.  

Moreover, a recent survey found that 70% of surveyed adults admitted using the same password for more than one service. People who don’t use password managers or reuse passwords are at a greater security risk than others, as multiple accounts can become compromised at once. Whether the platform is now out of service or you are cutting down on your app usage, deleting dormant accounts will minimize security threats and safeguard your data.  

How to permanently delete old accounts, by platform

Every platform has a different process for deleting accounts: Some take only a few clicks to complete and others are a little longer. Companies usually don’t want a user to stop using their services, so account deletion pages are often hidden in a complex web of tabs that you have to navigate.  

In addition, some subscription services might require that you send an email to customer support to close your account. You can go to justdelete.me, an online directory that lets you access direct links to account deletion pages of various web services. 

Remember to download your personal information and data before pulling the plug on your account. Most platforms let you download your data before initiating a deletion request, which saves you from losing important details and files. It is also important to check whether your Google account is used for your YouTube channel or connected to other online accounts. 

To help you get rid of accounts you no longer use, we’ve broken down deleting accounts from some of the most popular social networks. The steps described below are for a desktop browser and may not apply to Android or iOS devices (unless specified).  

How to delete Facebook accounts

Facebook’s user privacy policy enables it to store a large amount of user information, including personal messages, posts, search history, name, age, birthdate, and even metadata from posted photos and videos.  

Follow these simple steps to delete your Facebook account:  

• After logging in from your desktop, click the arrow in the top-right corner  
• Go to Settings 
• Click on “Your Facebook Information” tab 
• Click on “Deactivation and Deletion” 
• Choose “Delete Account” from menu 
• Enter password to confirm 
• Click “Delete Account” 

How to delete LinkedIn accounts

LinkedIn collects information on users and uses it for targeted advertising. As a result, it amasses quite a lot of your data, from professional details to personal preferences and even your online behavior trail.  

Follow these simple steps from your desktop to delete your account:  

• Click on your profile avatar in the top-right corner 
• Click on “Account Preferences” 
• Scroll to Account Management and click on “Close Account” 
• Select a reason for deleting your account 
• Type password to confirm 

How to delete Twitter accounts

It’s simple to delete your Twitter account, but you’ll have to wait 30 days for your data and tweets to clear. To delete your account, you first need to deactivate it.  

Once you’ve decided to delete your account from the micro-blogging site, follow these steps from your desktop:  

• From the navigation menu on the left, click on “Settings and Privacy” 
• Go to “Your Account” tab 
• Click on “Deactivate your account”  
• If you don’t choose to reactivate within 30 days, your account will automatically be deleted  

Remember to revoke third-party access to your Twitter account to avoid having your account reactivated in the 30 days following deactivation. 

How to delete Instagram accounts

Since Facebook and Instagram are both owned by Meta, they share a lot of data for targeted advertising. You can adjust the privacy settings of your Instagram account from the mobile app, but you will need to log in from a web browser like Chrome to delete your account.  

To delete your Instagram account:  

• Go to the “Delete your account” page 
• Choose a reason you’re deleting your account  
• Enter your password 
• Click on “Permanently delete your account”  

Your information and data will be permanently deleted after 30 days and you won’t be able to retrieve it. However, completing a deletion process may take up to 90 days.  

How to delete Tumblr accounts

Tumblr has a fairly simple process to delete your account:  

• Log in to Tumblr from your desktop 
• Click on the profile icon in the top-right corner  
• Choose “Settings” 
• Click on “Delete account”  
• Enter your email address and password to confirm  
• Delete account 

How to delete Pinterest accounts

Follow these steps to delete your account from the popular picture-sharing platform:  

• Select the drop-down menu in the right corner  
• Click on “Account Management” from the navigation menu  
• Select “Delete Account” 
• Confirm when asked to receive an email with the final step  
• In the confirmation email, click on “Yes, close account”  

Pinterest servers continue to store your data after deletion, but your information won’t be visible to other users.  

How to delete email accounts

There are different steps to deleting your email account depending on which email service you use. Backing up email data usually takes more time because of the sheer volume of data a mail account can hold.  

How to delete a Gmail account

Complete the following steps to delete your Google account:  

• Open this URL in your web browser: myaccount.google.com 
• Select “Data and Privacy” from the menu on the left  
• Scroll to “Download or delete your data”  
• Click on “Delete a Google Service”  
• Click “Delete a service”  
• Enter your password  
• Click the trash bin icon next to Gmail  

How to delete a Yahoo account

Here’s what you need to do to delete your Yahoo email account: 

• Open this URL in your web browser: edit.yahoo.com/config/delete_user  
• Login with your login credentials  
• Click on “Continue to delete my account” on the confirmation page  

Deleting your Yahoo account also deletes the linked information from Yahoo’s other services.  

How to delete an Outlook email account

Follow these steps to delete your Microsoft account on Outlook 2010, 2013, or 2016:  

• Open Outlook on your desktop and select “File” from the upper-left corner  
• Click on “Account Settings” and choose “Settings” again 
• Select the account you want to remove and click “Remove” 
• Confirm by clicking “Yes” 

Keep your identity secure online with McAfee

Leaving old information scattered across the internet makes you susceptible to identity theft. There are multiple ways to keep your identity and data secure online, including McAfee’s Total Protection plan.  

Total Protection lets you choose from multiple affordable subscription models that provide comprehensive security against identity theft and potential data breaches and offers web protection and several related benefits. In addition, having access to 24/7 online security experts and a 30-day money-back guarantee make the Total Protection plan an easy, reliable, and safe choice. You can also have peace of mind with McAfee’s Personal Data Cleanup feature where our teams will work to find your personal information online and assist in removing it.  

The post How to Delete Old Accounts Containing Personal Information appeared first on McAfee Blog.

Whether using the internet for play or work, you want to spend your time online enjoying the peace of mind that comes with having a secure network. 

You don’t want to contend with someone taking your personal data — whether it’s credit card information, passwords, or bank account details — via malware or a data breach on your Android, Windows, or Apple iOS device. 

Fortunately, with some sensible precautions and simple steps, you can use your connected devices productively without worrying about cybercriminals and malicious software. This article explains how to stop hackers from getting access to your sensitive data.  

8 ways to protect your identity from hackers

You can take steps to protect your different computing and mobile devices and operating systems. These steps can be divided into technological solutions and the right awareness and information to provide a comforting measure of self-protection. 

It’s like learning karate for self-defense, giving you confidence as you negotiate the wider world (and hoping that you never have to use it). 

Use identity protection software

When it comes to identity protection software, McAfee provides a proven solution with our identity protection and privacy services. The protection includes alerts if your sensitive information is found on the dark web (up to 10 months sooner than other providers), personal data cleanup from sites gathering and selling your information, and an unlimited virtual public network (VPN) service that protects your privacy as you use public Wi-Fi networks. 

You’ll also get up to $1 million in identity theft coverage and hands-on restoration support to help you reclaim your identity.  

Use complex passwords

Simple, obvious passwords and passcodes (like your street address, your birthday, your kids’ or pets’ names, or “1234” or “abcd”) are easy for cybercriminals to crack, giving them unwanted access to your private data. 

The stronger your password, the better your protection. Some best password practices include: 

• Use a different password for all your online accounts, including your email accounts, social media platforms, and bank accounts. 
• Create a password that’s at least eight characters long, combining lowercase and uppercase letters, numbers, and symbols. 
• Don’t use consecutive keystrokes, such as “qwerty.” 
• Don’t share your passwords with anyone. 
• Avoid entering your password on unsecured public Wi-Fi, such as at an airport or in a coffee shop. 

Regularly update passwords

It’s important not to be a standing target. Just as you should use different passwords for everything, you should regularly change your passwords. You should do this a few times a year (although some cyber experts say this might not be necessary if you have a long and very complicated password). 

If you have a number of passwords that you update often, it might be worth getting a password manager like McAfee True Key to keep track of them. Not only will you not be faced with remembering all your different passwords or writing them down (also a no-no), but it can also help you create and store unique passwords.  

The software uses the strongest encryption algorithms available to protect your passwords, scrambling them so no one else can access them. It’ll also suggest new passwords and automatically log you into your online accounts with just one master password. 

Use multi-factor authentication

Another important line of defense is multi-factor authentication (sometimes known as two-factor authentication). This system uses a password and a second piece of verification — often an SMS message sent to your Android device or iPhone — to authenticate your identity. 

This provides hard-to-beat protection even if a hacker has your password. Besides receiving SMS codes, there are also code-generating apps and physical security keys. 

Learn to spot potential scams

Thinking before you click on an email or text is a very important defense against phishing scams. Your bank won’t send you an email or text notifying you that there’s been suspicious activity on your account.  

Does getting a large refund from your phone company sound too good to be true? It is. Similarly, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) won’t text to tell you that you owe them money, and princes aren’t going to give you a fortune out of the blue. 

Internet users beware: If you’re not absolutely certain that the text message you received is from a legitimate and trusted source, delete it. You can always contact the business or person directly to confirm that the message is legit. 

Keep device software up to date

Any operating system or app you use is open to malicious cyberattacks. This is why you should keep all your software up to date with the latest versions. Software developers are continually fixing holes in their products and offering cybersecurity patches to make them as safe and hacker-proof as possible. 

Make sure your software, firmware, and security settings are up to date on your home’s Wi-Fi router, as well. You can often change your settings to allow for automatic updates. 

Be cautious when using public Wi-Fi

Sure, who doesn’t like to go to a cafe, library, or hotel lobby to use the free Wi-Fi? But security is often weak in these public networks. If you open your online banking account or access personal information, you may unwittingly be giving a personal invitation to eavesdropping cybercriminals.  

This is where the bank-grade level of protection of McAfee Secure VPN comes in, which automatically turns on when you need it and keeps you safe on public Wi-Fi networks. 

Use encryption

Even if your device does get hacked, you can protect vital information on your Windows or macOS system with an encryption program like BitLocker or FileVault. You can protect any hard drive you use, including portable ones and USB keys. 

It’s also a good idea to only shop at encrypted websites marked with the prefix “HTTPS” in their URLs. 

Discover how McAfee keeps you secure online

One of the best ways to surf the web in comfort while keeping hackers at bay is with the comprehensive solutions provided by McAfee Total Protection. 

Your protection includes proactive measures (meaning we’ll guide you to the best choices for prevention), early detection, and expert identity theft support.  

This means you’ll get identity monitoring, up to $1 million in identity theft coverage, lost wallet protection, premium antivirus software, a secure VPN, and personal data removal. In particular, our Personal Data Cleanup service will help find and remove your personal information from data broker websites and people search sites.  

With McAfee, you don’t have to be afraid of hackers. Let us deal with them.  

The post How to Stay One Step Ahead of Hackers appeared first on McAfee Blog.

Authored by Oliver Devane

Technical Support Scams have been targeting computer users for many years. Their goal is to make victims believe they have issues needing to be fixed, and then charge exorbitant fees, which unfortunately some victims pay. This blog post covers a number of example actions, that scammers will go through when they are performing their scams. Our goal is to educate consumers on the signs to look out for, and what to do if they believe they are being scammed.

Advertising – The Lure

For a tech support scammer to reach their victims, they need to first find them (or be found by them). One technique we see includes scammers creating Twitter or other social media accounts that post messages claiming to be from the official technical support site. For example, a Twitter account will post a tweet with the hashtags #McAfee and #McAfeeLogin to drive traffic to the tweet and make victims believe the links are legitimate and safe to click.

Scammers behind tech support scams can create very convincing websites which mimic the official ones.

Some fraudulent websites use the McAfee logo or other company logos to try trick individuals. They often invite clicking on a ‘LOGIN’ or ‘ACTIVATE’ link with a similar color scheme to official sites to appear legitimate.

These sites may then ask the victim to enter their real username, password, and phone number. Upon entering these details, websites will usually show an error message to make the victim believe there is an issue with their account.

 

The error message will usually contain a link that upon clicking will load a chat box where the scammers will initiate a conversation with the victim. At this point, the scammers will have the phone number and email address associated with the victim. They will use this to contact them and make them believe they are an official technical support employee.

Gaining Access

The scammer’s next objective is often to gain access to the victim’s computer. They do this so that they can trick the victim into believing there is an issue with their computer and that they need their support services to fix it.

The scammers will do this by either asking the victim to enter a URL that will result in the download of a remote access tool or by providing them with a link in the chat window if they are still speaking to them on the fake support website.

A remote access tool will enable the scammer to take complete control of the victim’s machine. With this, they will be able to remove or install software, access personal data such as documents and cryptocurrency wallets as well as dump passwords from the web browsers so they can then access all the victim’s accounts.

It is vital to not provide remote access to your computer to unknown and unverified individuals, as there could be a big risk to your personal data. Some examples of remote access tools that have legitimate uses but are often used to perpetrate fraud are:

• TeamViewer
• LogMeIn
• AnyDesk
• Aweray (Awesun)

Activity once the connection is established

If the scammers are given access to the victim’s machine, they will often make use of the command filename cmd.exe to perform some visual activity on the computer screen which is done to attempt to trick the individual into believing that some malicious activity is occurring on their computer or network. Most people will be unaware of the filename cmd.exe and the actions being used,and thus will be none the wiser to the scammer’s actions.

Here are some examples we have seen scammers use:

Title

Changing the title of cmd.exe to ‘network scanner’ or ‘file scanner’ to make the victim believe they are running a security tool on their machine.

Directory enumeration

Scammers will make use of standard functions within the cmd.exe file, to make their victims believe they are performing lots of activity. One of these functions is ‘dir’ which will  display  all the files for a specific directory. For example, if you have a folder called ‘school work’ and have 2 word documents in there, a ‘dir’ query of that folder will appear like this:

What the scammers will do is make use of ‘dir’ and the title function to make you believe they are scanning your machine. Here is an example of running ‘dir’ on the all the files on a machine with the cmd.exe title set to ‘File Scanner’:

Tree

A similar function to ‘dir’ called ‘tree’ may also be used. The ‘tree’ function will display directory paths and will generate lots of events on the screen:

Tech Support Phone Number

Some scammers will also add their phone number to the taskbar of the victim’s machine. They do this by creating a new folder with the phone number as the name and adding it as a toolbar. This is shown in the image below

Software Installation

Scammers may install other software on the victim’s machine or make them believe that they have installed additional software which they will then be charged for.

For example, some scammers may add programs to the desktop of victims which have no purpose, but the scammers insist they are legitimate security tools such as firewalls or network scanners.

Some example filenames are:

• Firewall security.exe
• Network firewall.exe
• Network security.exe
• Email security.exe
• Banking security.exe

Payment

The scammers will usually perform some activity on your machine before asking for payment. This is done to build confidence in their work and make you believe they have done some activity and therefore deserve some sort of payment. Do not be fooled by scammers who have not performed any useful activity.  As detailed in the previous sections, be careful not to fall victim to fake social media accounts or websites.

Signs to look out for

This section contains a few signs to look out for which may indicate that you are interacting with a scammer.

Rude/Short

Some scammers will become rude and very short with you if you start questioning what they are doing. They may say that you are not technical and do not understand what is occurring. This would not be the behavior of a legitimate technical support operative.

Leave the computer on

Scammers will encourage you to leave the machine and remote connection on even if you need to go out and leave it unattended. Do not under any circumstances do this as they would then be free to do any activity they wish on your machine and network.

Created files being detected

Some files added to your machine by the scammer may be detected by the AV security software. They may act like this is an error and the file is innocent. If you have initiated a remote connection and the controller creates a file on your machine which is detected by the security software, we recommend ceasing the interaction as detailed below.

What to do

The following steps should be performed if you believe you are being scammed as part of a tech support scam.

Disconnect the machine from the internet

If the machine is connected via a network cable, the easiest way is to unplug it. If the machine is connected via Wi-Fi, there may be a physical switch that can be used to disconnect it. If there is no physical switch, turn off Wi-Fi through the settings or the computer. It  can be powered down by pressing the power button.

Hang up

Hang up the phone (or end the chat) and do not answer any more calls from that number. The scammer will try to make you believe that the call is legitimate and ask you to reconnect the remote-control software.

Remove the remote-control software

If the scammer was controlling your machine, the remote-control software will need to be removed. If the computer was powered down, it can be powered back up, but if a popup is shown asking for permission to allow remote access, do not grant it.

The remote software can usually be removed by using the control panel and add/remove programs. To do this, press the Windows key and then perform a search for ‘remove’ and click on ‘Add or remove programs’.

Sort the programs by install date as shown below and then remove the remote software by clicking on the ‘Uninstall’ button.  Keep in mind that the software installed on your computer may appear by a different name, but if you look at what was installed on the same day as the scammer initiated the remote control session, you should be able to identify it.

Check the Antivirus Software for any exclusions

Some scammers may add exclusions for the files they create on your computer so that they are not detected by the security software. We recommend checking the exclusions and if any are present which were not added by yourself to remove them.

A guide for McAfee customers is available here

Update Antivirus Software and perform a full scan

After removing any software which was installed, we recommend updating your security software and performing a full scan. This will identify any malicious files created by the scammer such as password stealers and keyloggers.

Change passwords

After performing a full scan, we recommend changing all of your passwords as the scammer may have gathered your credentials while they had access to your computer. It is recommended to do this after performing a full scan as the scammers may have placed a password stealer on the computer and any new passwords you enter may also be stolen.

Conclusion

This blog post contains a number of examples that scammers may use to trick consumers into believing that they may have issues with their devices. If you are experiencing issues with your computer and want to speak to official McAfee support, please reach out via the official channel which is https://service.mcafee.com/.

The McAfee support pages can also be accessed directly via the McAfee Total Protection screen as shown below:

McAfee customers utilizing web protection (including McAfee Web Advisor) are protected from known malicious sites.

The post Technical Support Scams – What to look out for appeared first on McAfee Blog.

Our personal and professional lives are becoming increasingly intertwined with the online world. Regular internet usage has made us all prone to cyber-security risks. You leave a digital footprint every time you use the internet, which is a trace of all your online activities.  

When you create new accounts or subscribe to different websites, you give them explicit (or implicit, through their family of apps or subsidiary websites) access to your personal and credit card information. In other cases, websites might track basic information without your knowledge, such as your location and search history. 

There is an industry of data brokers specifically dedicated to keeping track of user data, packaging it, and supplying it to tech companies who use it to run targeted ads and enhance on-platform user experience. Given the widespread use of the internet and exponential improvements in technology, data has become a valuable commodity — creating a need for the sale and purchase of user data.  

This article discusses how data brokers sell your personal information and how you can minimize risk. 

What are data brokers?

Data brokers are companies that aggregate user information from various sources on the internet. They collect, collate, package, and sometimes even analyze this data to create a holistic and coherent version of you online. This data is then supplied to tech companies to fuel their third-party advertising-centered business models.  

Companies interested in buying data include but are not limited to: 

 

• Tech platforms 
• Banks 
• Insurance companies 
• Political consultancies 
• Marketing firms 
• Retailers 
• Crime-fighting bureaus 
• Investigation bureaus 
• Video streaming service providers 
• Any other businesses involved in sales  

These companies and social media platforms use your data to better understand target demographics and the content with which they interact. While the practice isn’t unethical in and of itself (personalizing user experiences and creating more convenient UIs are usually cited as the primary reasons for it), it does make your data vulnerable to malicious attacks targeted toward big-tech servers. 

How do data brokers get your information?

Most of your online activities are related. Devices like your phone, laptop, tablets, and even fitness watches are linked to each other. Moreover, you might use one email ID for various accounts and subscriptions. This online interconnectedness makes it easier for data brokers to create a cohesive user profile.  

Mobile phone apps are the most common way for data brokerage firms to collect your data. You might have countless apps for various purposes, such as financial transactions, health and fitness, or social media.  

A number of these apps usually fall under the umbrella of the same or subsidiary family of apps, all of which work toward collecting and supplying data to big tech platforms. Programs like Google’s AdSense make it easier for developers to monetize their apps in exchange for the user information they collect.  

Data brokers also collect data points like your home address, full name, Social Security number, phone number, and date of birth. They have automated scraping tools to quickly collect relevant information from public profiles.[Text Wrapping Break] 

Lastly, data brokers can gather data from other third parties that track your cookies or even place trackers or cookies on your browsers. Cookies are small data files that track your online activities when visiting different websites. They track your IP address and browsing history, which third parties can exploit. Cookies are also the reason you see personalized ads and products. 

How data brokers sell your identity 

Data brokers collate your private information into one package and sell it to “people search” websites like Spokeo or TruePeopleSearch. You or a tech business can use these websites to search for people and get extensive consumer data. People search sites also contain public records like voter registration information, marriage records, and birth certificates. This data is used for consumer research and large-scale data analysis.  

Next, marketing and sales firms are some of data brokers’ biggest clients. These companies purchase massive data sets from data brokers to research your data profile. They have advanced algorithms to segregate users into various consumer groups and target you specifically. Their predictive algorithms can suggest personalized ads and products to generate higher lead generation and conversation percentages for their clients.  

Are data brokers legal?

We tend to accept the terms and conditions that various apps ask us to accept without thinking twice or reading the fine print. You probably cannot proceed without letting the app track certain data or giving your personal information. To a certain extent, we trade some of our privacy for convenience. This becomes public information, and apps and data brokers collect, track, and use our data however they please while still complying with the law.  

There is no comprehensive privacy law in the U.S. on a federal level. This allows data brokers to collect personal information and condense it into marketing insights. While not all methods of gathering private data are legal, it is difficult to track the activities of data brokers online (especially on the dark web). As technology advances, there are also easier ways to harvest and exploit data.  

Vermont and California have already enacted laws to regulate the data brokerage industry. In 2018, Vermont passed the country’s first data broker legislation. This requires data brokers to register annually with the Secretary of State and provide information about their data collection activities, opt-out policies, purchaser credentialing practices, and data breaches.  

California has passed similar laws to make data brokering a more transparent industry. For risk mitigation of data brokerage, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has published reports and provided recommendations to Congress to reduce the engagement of data broker firms. Giving individuals the right to opt-out of the sale of their personal data is a step toward a more rigorous law regarding data privacy.  

Can you remove yourself from data broker websites?

Some data brokers let you remove your information from their websites. There are also extensive guides available online that list the method by which you can opt-out of some of the biggest data brokering firms. For example, a guide by Griffin Boyce, the systems administrator at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, provides detailed information on how to opt-out of a long list of data broker companies. 

Acxiom, LLC is one of the largest data brokering firms and has collected data for approximately 68% of people who have an online presence. You can opt-out of their data collection either through their website or by calling them directly. 

Epsilon Data Management is another big player in the data broker industry that operates as a marketing service and marketing analytics company. You can opt-out of their website through various methods such as by email, phone, and mail. Credit rating agencies like Experian and Equifax are also notorious for collecting your data. Similarly, you can opt-out through their websites or by calling them. 

Keep your personal information secure online with McAfee Total Protection

McAfee is a pioneer in providing online and offline data protection to its customers. We offer numerous cybersecurity services for keeping your information private and secure.  

With regard to data brokers, we enable users to do a personal data clean-up. Cleaning up your personal data online may be a difficult task, as it requires you to reach out to multiple data brokers and opt out. Instead, sign up for McAfee’s Personal Data Cleanup feature to do a convenient and thorough personal data clean-up. We will search for traces of your personal data and assist in getting it removed.  

The post How Data Brokers Sell Your Identity appeared first on McAfee Blog.

The Bluetooth vulnerability has been patched on Android 10, 11, 12 and 12L