From the first time I start blogging using any blogging platforms, issues of scams, spam, or phishing have been around. They appear almost anywhere – blogs, websites – anytime. I am fully aware of these issues, but never thought too much about it. I just try to be more aware and control not to recklessly go to suspicious sites or links provided.
This wordpress site has Akismet – comment Spam prevention system for the blog. They say, “Akismet filters out your comment and track-back Spam for you, so you can focus on more important things.” It helps us to focus more on developing contents of the blog rather than being busy deleting unwanted notifications. It proves quite useful for me, but sometimes, those people can still manage to breach into the protection. Like today, I got this comment on one of my blog posts. I still need to moderate this comment and the comment is shown as it is below:
“We really need writers desperately. After looking over this website, We must get you on our team. We pay $35 TO $50 per hour. Our best people are pulling in over $90 THOUSAND per year, composing part time. Please swing by and see what we have to offer. http://write.ncsall.org.”
At first, even though I was impressed with the offer, it seems too ‘obvious’. Looking at the link, it looks a formal institution. But as I said, I didn’t open the link directly since it looks suspicious to me. I searched information relating to this website. I found something quite interesting. There is a site www.ncsall.net which seems to be a valid organization. Using Google, I found a brief description of their site:
“NCSALL is NCSALL’s efforts are dedicated to an important purpose: improving practice in educational programs that serve adults with limited literacy and …”
As my main area is also in education, I tried to open the site to get more information; however, its server seemed down (but it worked at another attempt :)). I tried to search the one in .org domain, but found no ‘formal’ website. I then came across to this blog post “If it looks like a duck… It is.” It tells me more than enough! That comment will be deleted permanently for sure! Thank you for the information. This is similar to another experience I had where I was directed to buy an anti virus which proves to be phishing.
So, next time, besides being more aware and open, try to utilize your information inquiry skills to search as much as information before you decide to open and do an action intended, also, especially when dealing with money. Though all the information obtained should also be carefully evaluated whether they are valid and reliable.
I hope this post is useful for everyone :))