PSA: Don't click/follow links in chat

[Dzian]

Like I said. They're growing up in an age where the internet is largely safe for them. Or, at least, not as "dangerous" as it once was. When you don't grow up with that danger, you can't really learn to spot it. Preying on their trusting nature as they take everything at face value. Scams may seem obvious to most, but there's always someone willing to give the benefit of the doubt.

it's mostly common sense though.. a fake website address is pretty easy to spot. www.ffxiv-forum.com-sqare.biz/whatever DO NOT CLICK (cant remember how to plain text urls)

Most young people should easily recognise as fake because they're tought about domains and things at school so they should instantly recognise that address as pointing to a ffxiv-forum sub domain on a com-square.biz domain which should immediately throw out alarm bells as any official page would be on the square-enix domain...

if people are unsure then they should make use of 2FA on there accounts. either via the security token or the otp app. then even if they do fall for such a scam they should be safe. as typically an otp will only work for ~10 minutes.

There's a 3 step rule to whether something is genuine or not. which many companies are now conforming to.

1: does it come from a recognisable source..
2: does it refer to you specifically by name
3: does it contain any specifically identifiable information.

using these fakes are easy to spot.. if you get an email from megabank for example the 3 steps above will always tell you if its genuine..

1: do yourecognie the company?
do you even have an account with megabank? if yes go to 2. if no delete email.

2: does it mention you specifically by name.?
Dear James Smith... for example? if yes go to 3. if no (i.e dear customer) delete email.

3: Does it conatian any specificly identifiable and verifiable information?
suspicious activity detected on your megabank gold account XXXX4321? if yes and that information is accurate (i.e your account ends in 4321) you can treat it as genuine email. if no then delete the email.

it's basic common sense.

most companies these days make sure to conform to these 3 rules in any correspondance they send.