Top 6 Online Scams: How to Avoid Being a Victim

Job offers scams

You receive an unsolicited email offering a job opportunity, usually unrelated to your area of ​​expertise, and often to a mystery shopper or similar position. When you agree, you will be paid by check or money order more money than your Employer offered you. You are then asked to send back the difference, as you discover that the original check or money order is fake, and that the money you sent to your fake employer has been taken from you.

With the rise of professional networking sites like LinkedIn, unsolicited job offers are becoming more and more common, which means a job-hungry person must be aware of separating legitimate offers from scams. If you decide to accept the business, never cash suspicious checks without making sure they are original. To be sure, ask the bank to "hold" the funds until the check or money order is verified. When asked to resubmit the Teams, this is an indication that you have been scammed.

Lottery scams

You receive an email claiming that you have won an unpopular lottery, usually in another country and the prize is always huge. You may also be asked to pay a small amount of money in order to "free up" the amount you have won. You are asked to submit personal details for verification, and suddenly you become a victim of identity fraud and lose the money you sent.

Lottery scams have tags to indicate

The email is coming from a person, not a company.

You are not the only recipient of the message.

You've never heard of the lottery before.

If you receive an email like this, do a Google search to see if it's real. (And it wouldn't be real at all.) We all want easy windfalls, but if you haven't bought a ticket, chances are you haven't won the lottery. Don't email your personal information to anyone you don't know and don't trust anyone trying to give you money for nothing.

 Scam messages to users

You get an email from someone looking to move some money fast. Sometimes these emails come from people claiming to be from a royal family, you may have heard about the scam in the name of the Nigerian prince, but more often than not it is from a "businessman" who claims to have millions that he wants to move out of the country and wants to help you in exchange for a portion of the profits. The sender attaches enough details to make the offer appear legitimate. But the money is always late, and then you fall prey to sending small amounts to facilitate the transfer of funds. Falling prey to this scam is easy if you're reckless, but you should look for some signs that it's not what it seems. Poor style, spelling errors in the original email message, and a reply address that doesn't match the return address. All of this, especially if on the Internet, proves that anything that seems too good to be true is always false.

 Online dating scams

You meet someone on a dating website or chat room, and you start getting to know each other, and it can feel very real. However, you can never trust the person on the other end of your screen. If you find yourself in an online relationship with someone who starts asking for money, looks at intimate photos, or asks you to forward items they send you, the person you met is a scammer. "Trolls", as they are sometimes called, use a real person's identity to make it appear true and provide real details, but send fake photos and contact information to cover their tracks. Online dating scams have several key elements:

Avoiding these scams means scrutinizing any online relationship that develops too quickly. Do not give money to someone unless you are in a relationship with them outside the confines of the Internet. And if you're dating this person outside of the online world, let the people close to you know where you are just to be safe.

Charity scams

After large-scale natural disasters or other high-profile unfortunate public events, you have a burning desire to help in any way, and scammers know and exploit it. They create fake fundraising websites and accounts and then craft an email with an emotional tone to get money that never reaches the victims. These scams work because they play on pity, so always make sure you do your research. Validate any fundraising sites and make sure they actually relate to the issues they claim to represent. Do not donate on any websites that appear suspicious. A true charitable organization will have a powerful website containing the foundation's mission statement and tax-exempt documents.

 Scams related to repair

In real-world scams, you get a phone call from someone claiming to work for Microsoft or another major software company that they can fix PC issues like slow internet speeds and download times. It appears to be helping, so when the email arrives in your inbox, you download remote access software, which allows scammers to take control of your computer and install malware. Not all consumers are as tech-savvy, many of them do not know how their personal computers work and it is easy for scammers to scare them away. Once the malware is installed, they can access your files, data, and personal information.

Never accept unsolicited repair advice, and don't buy any repair services unless you're absolutely sure who you're talking to. Do not allow anyone to remotely access your computer. If someone calls, ask for identifying information. It is likely that when you ask enough questions, the scam sender realizes that you cannot be deceived.

Now that you know what to expect from scammers, make sure to watch out for these worms to avoid getting phishing. And as scam senders become more skilled, it's important to stay alert to keep your computer and information safe.

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