While people may chuckle and joke about receiving e-mails from the Prince of Nigeria who needs you to send him money to secure an inheritance, internet scams are happening all over the world, everyday. And for those who are victim to them, they are nothing to laugh about.
A few prominent Internet scams are the following:
Advance Fee Fraud – The scam mentioned above would fall into this category, where the scammer promises some sort of large sum of money if fees, usually for legal costs, are paid. Once the person pays the fees, more fees suddenly pop up and the scammer requests more money before the phony reward is delivered. This continues until the person realizes they are being scammed or until they run out of money to send.
Romance Scam – This scam happens when scammers portray love interests online, usually through dating or social sites. Victims invest a lot into a relationship they think is real, both emotionally and financially.
Charity Scam – This scam occurs when scammers pose as a charity online in order to receive money from people who genuinely believe they are helping those less fortunate than themselves. These type of scams usually pop up after a natural disaster such as a hurricane or a tsunami, or after tragedies such as 9/11. The scammers prey on people’s generous natures of wanting to help others.
These are just a few of the many Internet scams that are currently circulating and there are criminals online working on new scams right now. It is important to be able to spot the scams and not get caught in a situation where you will be taken advantage of.
From phishing to identity theft, scammers are using the Internet everyday to take advantage of unsuspecting users. While you may feel confident that you can spot a scam, do you think your Dad could? Or your Grandma? Or your Daughter? Do you, yourself, know of the latest trends of this type of fraud? It is important to educate ourselves on the latest scams and make sure our family members and friends are up-to-date as well. That is why websites like http://www.antiscamnews.com are so important. We can find the information we need to recognize the signs and protect ourselves and our loved ones. We can also learn about volunteer groups working together online to try to combat this fraud, and what part we can do to help.
For example, did you know that you should not report a scammer’s email address for closure? Reporting a scammer’s email address usually leads to a closed email account. However, a scammer can create a new account within minutes and continue with his scamming. Instead, you should report the email address to an anti-scam site, such as http://www.scamwarners.com. That way, when the next person receives a suspicious email, they might do a search for that email address and will be led to http://www.scamwarners.com where they realize that this person is trying to scam them.
Antiscamnews.com will provide us with information like this. With a little information, we may all be able to better protect ourselves from the Internet scammers.
