If you ever find yourself in a position where you feel like you are being followed or approached when you are alone, you should do the following things to maximize your safety. First, try to get to a busy place, whether this is a busier street, a car park with other cars, a shopping center, or a police station. Next, call the police. Once you have help on the way, call a friend or family member to chat until you are safe. Be assertive but not aggressive, and finally, do not try to reason with an irrational person. Let’s look at each of these points in more detail.
This should deter the aggressors from making a move to harm you and will allow you to seek help from a stranger or by using your phone. When in doubt, make lots of noise. This too will act as a deterrent, as the aggressors do not want to draw attention to themselves.
Do not go home if there is nobody there to help you. While it might seem like the most appealing and safe place to be, if you are being followed and live alone, it could be the least safe place to go. The moment you open your door you might find that the aggressors push in after you.
Call The Police
Once you are able to use your phone, call the police. It does not matter if nothing has happened yet. If you get the feeling someone intends to do you harm, has followed you, or is intimidating you, call the police before anything more can happen.
Many police authorities these days are using a very high-tech form of data collection for evidence that harm was committed or that there was intent to harm. This software, developed by NICE Public Safety & Justice, can collect information about the suspects and their movements. This could amount to them being charged and prevent them from harming anyone in the future. This should be reason enough to call the police. Protect yourself and others from harm.
It is also a good idea to be fairly loud about your call, as this will ensure that anyone in the vicinity will be aware that you are calling for help and that the police are on their way.
Call A Friend or Family Member
Another great deterrent for potential muggings or other attacks is to call a friend or family member. Tell them where you are and what is going on, and stay on the phone with them until you are somewhere safe.
This tactic hits two birds with one stone. On the one hand, the aggressor will see that you are talking to someone and that person will know something is wrong if your conversation is interrupted. On top of this, calling a friend or family member allows you to reach out for help. Maybe they can come and pick you up, direct you to a safe place, or simply know where you are and that they will need to raise the alarm if something happens.
This will serve to calm your nerves and keep you grounded as well as force the potential aggressor to rethink their intentions.
In fact, this idea is so widespread these days that some local areas now have a helpline you can call if you are walking alone. These lines provide someone to talk to you while you walk so that you feel safer and aggressors are less likely to approach you.
Be Assertive, Not Aggressive
If you are forced into face-to-face communication with your aggressor, remember to be assertive but not aggressive. Do not contradict the aggressor, as this could inflame the situation and cause them to act out in anger. Do not get sarcastic, argumentative, or defensive. Any attitude that causes the aggressor to feel more wound up will put you in more danger.
Be strong, breathe, focus on keeping yourself safe, and calmly try to defuse the situation. This could be by agreeing to give the aggressor your purse, or else simply by saying nothing at all. You do not want to give the aggressor any reason to turn violent if they do not intend to.
Do Not Try To Reason With An Irrational Person
If you find yourself in a position where an irrational, angry or unstable person is threatening you, stay calm and quiet. There is no point in trying to explain something to someone who is not being rational. Remember that all hate crimes such as racism, homophobia, or xenophobia are not rational and so cannot be defused with a well-reasoned argument.
Talk to people around you for support, call for help, and try to stay in an area with witnesses, but do not engage with a person who is irrationally hateful or aggressive. This will only put you in danger as their irrational hate will be more focused on you.
Summing Up…
To sum up, when you feel you are being followed or threatened, try to get to a populated place. If you are driving, head to a busy car park, if you are on foot, head to a shop, police station, or busy street. While you head to a safer place, call the police. Their clever evidence-gathering technology and quick response times can not only save you from harm but prevent more people from being hurt by the same aggressor.
You can also call a friend or family member to talk to while you find a safe place and wait for help. This will deter the aggressor and calm your mind. If you are forced to engage with the aggressor, be assertive but not aggressive and do not try to reason with, explain anything to, or calm down an irrational person. Stay safe out there!
Online Threat Alerts Security Tips
Pay the safest way
Credit cards are the safest way to pay for online purchases because you can dispute the charges if you never get the goods or services or if the offer was misrepresented. Federal law limits your liability to $50 if someone makes unauthorized charges to your account, and most credit card issuers will remove them completely if you report the problem promptly.
Guard your personal information
In any transaction you conduct, make sure to check with your state or local consumer protection agency and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to see if the seller, charity, company, or organization is credible. Be especially wary if the entity is unfamiliar to you. Always call the number found on a website’s contact information to make sure the number legitimately belongs to the entity you are dealing with.
Be careful of the information you share
Never give out your codes, passwords or personal information, unless you are sure of who you're dealing with
Know who you’re dealing with
Crooks pretending to be from companies you do business with may call or send an email, claiming they need to verify your personal information. Don’t provide your credit card or bank account number unless you are actually paying for something and know who you are sending payment to. Your social security number should not be necessary unless you are applying for credit. Be especially suspicious if someone claiming to be from a company with whom you have an account asks for information that the business already has.
Check your accounts
Regularly check your account transactions and report any suspicious or unauthorised transactions.
Don’t believe promises of easy money
If someone claims that you can earn money with little or no work, get a loan or credit card even if you have bad credit, or make money on an investment with little or no risk, it’s probably a scam. Oftentimes, offers that seem too good to be true, actually are too good to be true.
Do not open email from people you don’t know
If you are unsure whether an email you received is legitimate, try contacting the sender directly via other means. Do not click on any links in an email unless you are sure it is safe.
Think before you click
If an email or text message looks suspicious, don’t open any attachments or click on the links.
Verify urgent requests or unsolicited emails, messages or phone calls before you respond
If you receive a message or a phone call asking for immediate action and don't know the sender, it could be a phishing message.
Be careful with links and new website addresses
Malicious website addresses may appear almost identical to legitimate sites. Scammers often use a slight variation in spelling or logo to lure you. Malicious links can also come from friends whose email has unknowingly been compromised, so be careful.
Secure your personal information
Before providing any personal information, such as your date of birth, Social Security number, account numbers, and passwords, be sure the website is secure.
Stay informed on the latest cyber threats
Keep yourself up to date on current scams by visiting this website daily.
Use Strong Passwords
Strong passwords are critical to online security.
Keep your software up to date and maintain preventative software programs
Keep all of your software applications up to date on your computers and mobile devices. Install software that provides antivirus, firewall, and email filter services.
Update the operating systems on your electronic devices
Make sure your operating systems (OSs) and applications are up to date on all of your electronic devices. Older and unpatched versions of OSs and software are the target of many hacks. Read the CISA security tip on Understanding Patches and Software Updates for more information.
What if You Got Scammed?
Stop Contact With The Scammer
Hang up the phone. Do not reply to emails, messages, or letters that the scammer sends. Do not make any more payments to the scammer. Beware of additional scammers who may contact you claiming they can help you get your lost money back.
Secure Your Finances
- Report potentially compromised bank account, credit or debit card information to your financial institution(s) immediately. They may be able to cancel or reverse fraudulent transactions.
- Notify the three major credit bureaus. They can add a fraud alert to warn potential credit grantors that you may be a victim of identity theft. You may also want to consider placing a free security freeze on your credit report. Doing so prevents lenders and others from accessing your credit report entirely, which will prevent them from extending credit:
- Equifax
- Experian
- TransUnion
Check Your Computer
If your computer was accessed or otherwise affected by a scam, check to make sure that your anti-virus is up-to-date and running and that your system is free of malware and keylogging software. You may also need to seek the help of a computer repair company. Consider utilizing the Better Business Bureau’s website to find a reputable company.
Change Your Account Passwords
Update your bank, credit card, social media, and email account passwords to try to limit further unauthorized access. Make sure to choose strong passwords when changing account passwords.
Report The Scam
Reporting helps protect others. While agencies can’t always track down perpetrators of crimes against scammers, they can utilize the information gathered to record patterns of abuse which may lead to action being taken against a company or industry.
Report your issue to the following agencies based on the nature of the scam:
- Local Law Enforcement: Consumers are encouraged to report scams to their local police department or sheriff’s office, especially if you lost money or property or had your identity compromised.
- Federal Trade Commission: Contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357) or use the Online Complaint Assistant to report various types of fraud, including counterfeit checks, lottery or sweepstakes scams, and more.
- Identitytheft.gov: If someone is using your personal information, like your Social Security, credit card, or bank account number, to open new accounts, make purchases, or get a tax refund, report it at www.identitytheft.gov. This federal government site will also help you create your Identity Theft Report and a personal recovery plan based on your situation. Questions can be directed to 877-ID THEFT.
How To Recognize a Phishing Scam
Scammers use email or text messages to try to steal your passwords, account numbers, or Social Security numbers. If they get that information, they could get access to your email, bank, or other accounts. Or they could sell your information to other scammers. Scammers launch thousands of phishing attacks like these every day — and they’re often successful.
Scammers often update their tactics to keep up with the latest news or trends, but here are some common tactics used in phishing emails or text messages:
Phishing emails and text messages often tell a story to trick you into clicking on a link or opening an attachment. You might get an unexpected email or text message that looks like it’s from a company you know or trust, like a bank or a credit card or utility company. Or maybe it’s from an online payment website or app. The message could be from a scammer, who might
- say they’ve noticed some suspicious activity or log-in attempts — they haven’t
- claim there’s a problem with your account or your payment information — there isn’t
- say you need to confirm some personal or financial information — you don’t
- include an invoice you don’t recognize — it’s fake
- want you to click on a link to make a payment — but the link has malware
- say you’re eligible to register for a government refund — it’s a scam
- offer a coupon for free stuff — it’s not real
About Online Threat Alerts (OTA)
Online Threat Alerts or OTA is an anti-cybercrime community that started in 2012. OTA alerts the public to cyber crimes and other web threats.
By alerting the public, we have prevented a lot of online users from getting scammed or becoming victims of cybercrimes.
With the ever-increasing number of people going online, it important to have a community like OTA that continuously alerts or protects those same people from cyber-criminals, scammers and hackers, who are every day finding new ways of carrying out their malicious activities.
Online users can help by reporting suspicious or malicious messages or websites to OTA. And, if they want to determine if a message or website is a threat or scam, they can use OTA's search engine to search for the website or parts of the message for information.
Help maintain Online Threat Alerts (OTA).