San Antonio Express-News David Hendricks column

SAN ANTONIO -- If you value your bank account's contents, you had better stay away from any of those celebrity "private" photos recently leaked.

The regional Better Business Bureau is warning that online scammers are using the news of the pilfered photos to circulate links or teasers that will steer Internet users to fraudulent websites.

"Clicking on these links or attempting to download the photos can instead install malware on your computer or smartphone," the bureau's San Antonio office said in a news release.

"Some sites may ask for personal information that can lead to identity theft or be used for additional spamming," the statement continued.

The practice is called "click bait." Links may even appear on social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, some even being "liked" by friends of social media users. The "friends" likely will be fake, too, their accounts having been hacked through a tactic known as "clickjacking."

Unsolicited emails and social media messages should be deleted, the bureau advises.

Another widespread online fraud tactic are pop-up browser windows simulating virus-scanning software meant to fool victims into downloading a fake program. The resulting virus could steal personal and financial information.

The news of the photos came as the Better Business Bureau concentrated on scams, online and elsewhere, aimed at fleecing senior citizens.

Because seniors may not be as technologically savvy as others, they often are more vulnerable to Internet fraud, said Cesar Alvarado, regional director of the San Antonio Better Business Bureau office.

The bureau wants people to know about non-Internet fraud, too, such as the "grandparent scam." Scammers posing as grandchildren will call seniors claiming to be trapped in a foreign country, needing money to be wired to them.

The reverse actually happened recently, where someone posing as a grandparent stuck overseas scammed a grandchild, Alvarado said. "Every day, it's a little different," he said.

With the Affordable Care Act, scammers are abusing the new system, demanding personal and financial information from seniors.

Older tricks are still around. They include door-to-door salesmen offering to perform house repairs, telemarketers offering prizes but seeking payments to qualify for the trips or cash and investment schemes that steal retirement savings. A new wrinkle is phony door-to-door salesmen pitching a federal program paying for rooftop lightning rods with a partial payment from the homeowner, Alvarado said. They will take the money and never do the work.

According to the 2013 Consumer Sentinel Report, more than 160,000 complaints of fraud and identity theft were made nationally from people 60 or older.

It's important for family members to remind seniors that they may be targets.

"They should be told not to trust everyone so easily... not to be trustworthy with their personal information," Alvarado said.

If an unsolicited telephone call is not recognized on caller ID, it's better not to answer, he said.

Seniors can help each other, even when they manage to avoid being a victim of a scam attempt. Alvarado said they can contact the Better Business Bureau, the Texas attorney general's office and the FBI.

"We urge everyone to call if they see things going on," Alvarado said.

dhendricks@express-news.net

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