How to Avoid Online Scams?
In Order to Avoid a Scam, it's Essential to Know How to Recognize The One
As much as the Internet has given us incredible opportunities, it has quite a dark side. Some people have learned to take advantage of those that aren’t particularly tech-savvy. As a result, there are more online scams than ever before.
In 2017, the amount of money lost to online scams is a staggering $905 million. Hopefully, you’re among the lucky ones that didn’t fall under this statistic. If this is the case, you want to make sure to stay that way.
And if you have been scammed before, you definitely want to make sure it doesn’t happen again. To do this, you should learn about the most common scams and what you can do to avoid them. Here are some of the most popular ones:
Beneficiary Scams
By now, the Nigerian prince scam is famous across the globe. It’s the perfect example of beneficiary scams. What happens is that some ‘royalty’ or ‘millionaire’ asks you to help them move a huge amount of money out of the country. In return, they’ll reward you with an amount of money that most people can’t say ‘no’ to.
The reason why people fall for this is that these scammers offer the right amount of information for the whole thing to seem legit. Unless you’re a skeptic, they might convince you rather easily.
They’ll usually ask for your bank account and credit card information, possibly also for your address. Guess what happens if you give it to them? They disappear into thin air along with your personal data and, sometimes, with your some of your money too.
Thankfully, you can recognize these scammers before they do any harm. The first rule to remember is a very well-known one: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. This is especially the case with the Internet, where people can disguise themselves easily.
Also, look for typos and grammar mistakes in the email and pay close attention to the reply email address. If you notice any inconsistencies, ignoring the email is definitely a good idea.
Imposter Scams
Imposter scams cost people the largest sum of money in 2017. Out of the $905 million total, $328 million fell victim to these scams alone.
What happens here is that you get contacted by a relative in trouble, tech support, government official, or pretty much anyone else that can persuade you to give them money. Depending on the persona the scammer uses, they might have different strategies for taking your money.
Figuring this one out isn’t that hard. If you receive an email that you’re doubtful about, contact the actual person the scammer is pretending to be. This will solve the problem in a majority of cases. The only important thing is that you don’t rush into making any decisions before you’ve triple-checked the person’s credibility.
Charity Fraud Scams
After a major tragedy or a disaster, scammers often find a way of making money out of it. What they would do is set up a fake donation bank account or website and manipulate people into donating.
This kind of emotional manipulation works better than you might think. Many people fall for the pitch and end up losing their money as a result.
If you’re a charitable person, make sure to do your homework if you receive any offers of this kind. All credible foundations have informative websites that you can use to confirm its legitimacy. Moreover, there should be legal documentation available on each of them, so always look for it before you decide to donate.
Pop-Up Scams
By now, pretty much everyone has encountered these at some point. You get a pop-up window saying that your device is infected and you need to download the software that the scammer offers. The sense of urgency is created by blinking vibrant colors, as well as loud noises in some cases.
If this happens to you, never download the software you’re offered. It’s a malicious program that will infect your device and either destroy it or steal your personal information.
Even if you do see that your device is infected with viruses, there are plenty of legit programs you can find in your OS’ official store or website. Instead of reacting impulsively out of fear, close your browser and look for a verified solution.
Lottery Scams
Who doesn’t love free money? Well, if someone on the Internet offers it to you, you might want to decline the generous offer.
These scams come in a form of an email letting you know that you’ve won a huge sum of money, and the only thing you have to do is enter your personal information to verify your identity. Another thing you might have to do is pay some kind of a fee to withdraw your alleged winnings.
Of course, once you enter your details, instead of becoming rich, you become a victim to identity theft. This can have some serious consequences you definitely don’t want to expose yourself to.
If you don’t remember participating in the lottery, you obviously didn’t win any money. This should be the first sign that the whole thing is a scam. As much as it would be very generous of someone to give you a large sum of money out of nothing but the goodness of their heart, that’s very unlikely to happen.
The Takeaway
Online scams come in many different forms, and these are only some of the most common ones. Since you stand to lose a large sum of money if you fall for them, it pays to educate yourself on the matter.
The best way to avoid any scam is to be skeptical towards any offer that you receive out of the blue. If you receive an email from a person you don’t know, never open any attachments until you can confirm their identity.
It goes without saying that you should have some kind of anti-malware software installed on your devices. It will protect you from attacks that involve installation of malicious software, and it can very well save your device and data.