Think Before You Click

By Karen Blumenthal, The Wall Street Journal

The boom in smartphones and social networks is giving new life to old scams and computer tricks.

Consider "grandparent scams," in which con artists call senior citizens, often late at night. One of them poses as the victim's grandchild, often sounding like they are sobbing or extremely upset and say they are in jail or in trouble and need cash right away.

That cruel—and effective—scam has been around awhile. Now, there is a new twist: Thanks to Facebook and other social-networking platforms, the operators might know the gender, names and ages of the grandkids, making the ruse more convincing.

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