We have all heard of Internet scams and are often surprised by just how gullible some people appear to be. However, some scamming techniques are more sophisticated than others, and you should not assume that you are completely immune to them. With this in mind, here are some of the most common scams that you might fall for if you are not careful enough.
1. Fake shopping sites
When something looks too good to be true, it often is. The Internet is full of counterfeit websites that sometimes even come with URLs that look almost identical to the brands they aim to impersonate. Adidaz[.]com is a good example. If you are unlucky enough to make a purchase on such a website, you will either receive a bad item or nothing at all. The worst thing that can probably happen on such a site is to have your card data stolen.
Fortunately, nowadays most web browsers display a padlock icon next to the website address that informs you whether a connection is secure or not. SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer and is a security protocol that encrypts the connection between a browser and a website server, which ensures that the data transfer between the two is private. As such, never shop on a website that is not secure, as the likelihood of having your personal data stolen there is much higher.
2. Fake jobs
If you are searching for job opportunities online, this is one online scam you need to be particularly careful about. Job scams work like this: you receive an unexpected email offering you employment, related or unrelated to your field of expertise, and the offer is so good (e.g., in terms of compensation or schedule) that you are tempted to accept it.
Once you accept the job offer, you usually receive a check or money order exceeding your initial offer. The motivation behind this is to make you return the excess amount only to later discover that the original payment was counterfeit.
To avoid being a victim of job scams, you need to develop the ability to differentiate between genuine opportunities and fraudulent schemes, and you can do so by noticing that these types of scams, like others, tend to follow certain patterns.
3. Blockchain romance scams
Online romance scams have been here since the dawn of the Internet. A new version of them can be referred to as the blockchain romance scam. This scam works by convincing victims to download an app and send money to specific crypto accounts. The scammers often appear to invest in these fake accounts alongside their victims to make themselves look genuine.
4. Phishing scams
Phishing emails are so common that it would be overly exhausting to report each of them. This type of email might appear to be from a recognized entity like your bank or a university. In most cases, the purpose of the message is to capture your financial data by asking you to validate your personal details such as login credentials and passwords. If everything is successful, scammers then take your valuable information, and it becomes open to further intrusions.
Phishing schemes are among the prevalent attacks on consumers. As per the FBI’s data, in 2022, a staggering 300,497 individuals were ensnared by phishing scams. The average loss per person is about $173, but some people have lost thousands of dollars or more as a result of phishing scams.
5. Social media scams
Last but probably not least, one cannot ignore social media scams. Very few people do not use social media at all, and platforms such as X, Instagram, Facebook, and even Linkedin are hot spots for scams.
Social media scams can take many forms, and it would be hard to make an exhaustive list of all of them. One common scam is to receive a friend request from someone you don’t know only to find yourself in the possession of an unsolicited link that is meant to redirect you to a malicious website that will try to steal your personal data.
Another common social media scamming strategy is to send people quizzes that are supposed to tell you valuable information about your personality or other things that some people might find interesting, such as who is the celebrity that is the most similar to them in terms of looks. These quizzes are typically meant to take information from you, including your IP address, and might even lead to identity theft.
Finally, it has become increasingly common to receive friendship requests from people who, the second they message you, will start talking about how good their lives have become since they have invested in a crypto project and will try to lure you into doing the same. In some cases, the accounts will imitate well-known brands or celebrities to promote contests that pledge to multiply your funds by transferring Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies to a specific wallet address. Of course, what will actually happen is that once you send your crypto, you will never get it back.
Being careful is not always enough
Most Internet scams are unlikely to harm you as long as you are aware of their common signs and, as such, can easily recognize them. That being said, as the technologies on which they rely evolve, so do scams.
When you are unsure of whether someone is trying to scam you or not, it’s best practice to do some preliminary research before engaging in any transaction. For example, at Nuwber, you can find useful information such as a person’s full name, professional licenses, business details, and more. Such information can help you determine whether the person who is reaching out to you online should be trusted or not.
Protecting yourself against online scams does not stop with finding useful information about those who contact you. Being well-versed in the common scams and being able to recognize the techniques fraudsters implement require you to be not only diligent but also up to date with the newest ways in which people use the Internet to steal people’s money and data.
