RTL Today - Protect yourself: How to stay alert when faced with phishing, cyber scams, and more

Cases of scams are on the rise: frauds can take on many forms and everyone can be affected by them.

In a special broadcast of RTL’s “De Magazin Special,” our colleagues tried to find ways to see through cyber criminals’ ruses and show you how to best protect yourself, especially during the holiday season.

While shopping in the comfort of one’s own home is extremely practical, it may involve some hidden dangers. Anyone can quickly become a victim of fraud which is exactly what happened to Nadine: she was planning to buy a Christmas tree she saw on an advertisement on social media. The tree was out of stock, but Nadine signed up to get a notification for when the tree was back in stock. Suspiciously quickly, the tree was available and Nadine decided to go through with her order.

Everything seemed professional at first, but it quickly turned into a horrible experience. The site was nowhere to be found, and her money was lost - not even the bank could reverse the transaction. Payment methods such as "Shopify" provide instantaneous bank transfers, which in this case meant that her money was in the hands of the criminals in the blink of an eye.

Nadine is not alone, and scammers continue to find crafty ways to deceive people.

The director of ECC, the European Consumer Centre, Thomas Segrétain, shares some advice to keep in mind whilst shopping on the internet. The consumer should be aware of grammatical errors, products priced below the expected average, and the limitation of only one payment method. These factors should raise suspicion.

Moving away from digital scams onto peddling: even though it is legal, it is not uncommon to be deceived by a worker who comes by under the pretense of, for example, fixing someone's roof. An expert from the ministry of consumer protection elaborates on what the juridical situation is like and how consumers can protect themselves.

When peddlers go from house to house, they need to give their clients two weeks' time to decide on their purchase. It is crucial to be wary of salesmen who put pressure on their clients: the expert further emphasises that it is absolutely acceptable to say no and shut the door on a manipulative and pressuring salesperson.

Clients can even make themselves liable to prosecution by buying items imitating a real brand. Every suspicious peddler without authorisation should be reported to the authorities.

Next is one of the most common forms of digital fraud: Phishing. Something as simple as a log-in message from a supposed platform, such as Netflix, shows how quickly hackers can gain access to personal data. A sign-in renewal page that asks for bank and Luxtrust details is a sophisticated ruse to get into the victim's bank account. It is extremely important never to reveal any Luxtrust details, because once the client has done so, the bank cannot reimburse them since they willingly gave the criminals access to her certificate.

This situation has been greatly criticised, since people are encouraged to use online banking, yet when something occurs they are left to their own devices.

Specialists also mention a type of scam which has gained popularity this year: the “presidential scam”, also known as "CEO fraud." The idea is simple: a cyber criminal assumes the identity of the manager or CEO of a business, and they manipulate their employees to transfer a considerable amount of money to the fake CEO's account. Last year, a total of 11 cases of this scam were reported in the Grand Duchy.

You can watch RTL's “De Magazin Special” (in Luxembourgish) to learn more about scams and fraud, and how to stay safe.