The Ultimate Guide To Scam Terminology

The quickest way to get up to speed on the most common scams is to learn the basic terminology floating around. The following terms will give you a good idea of what to look out for to protect yourself and those you love.

419 Scam

Scams that fall into this category involve victims sending money to Nigeria in belief they will receive large sums of money in return. Almost everyone has received an email or two claiming they have won the Nigerian lottery, and those are prime examples of what falls within this category. 419 is actually a section of Nigerian law that deals with this type of crime.

809 and 890 Scams

A phone number that starts with one of these numbers is a big sign that a scammer is in your midst. These numbers will lead to scammers in the Dominican Republic and the victims will unknowingly be charged large amounts of money for every minute they are on the phone with these scammers. The scammers will do whatever it takes to keep a victim on the line for as long as possible and the next phone bill they receive will reflect the enormous charges.

Advance Fee Scams

This is a broad term that covers many different types of scams. If it involves the victim sending money to the scammers upfront, it is an advance fee scam. The typical method of sending this money is through Western Union.

Affinity Scams

If you are led into the scam through someone that you know in real life, it falls within this category. Often, these scams are passed from one innocent victim to another, with those closely related figuring out they have been scammed at about the same time.

Bait and Switch Scams

This category is the reason everyone must remember the old adage “if it’s too good to be true, it is!” When a victim is offered a really good deal on a specific product or service of high value, they will often jump on it quickly. If it turns out to be a bait and switch scammer on the other end of the deal, they will be told that the product is no longer available or for some reason the service agreement has changed. They will then receive a substitution worth much less than they money they actually paid.

Black Money Scams

This is one of the more creative scams, which many people have never heard of. A scammer will deliver a highly convincing demo to unsuspecting victims, leading them to believe that real money has been dyed black and smuggled into the country. The victim purchases some of this money and a solution that supposedly will take off the dye, but all they will find after cleaning their black money is plain paper.

Charity Scams

This type of scam involves bogus phone calls or emails that claim to be raising money for some type of charity. Often, the scammers will choose organizations that benefit children or the needy and pretend they are calling on their behalf. They may also create fake charity names that sound extremely similar to a real organization. Scams that claim they are benefiting the armed forces or other forces that carry badges are referred to as “badge charity scams.  How do charity scams work?

Cramming and Slamming Scams

Service providers are the scammers when it comes to cramming and slamming. The victim purchases one service and is simply charged for other things that they are not receiving. Often, the services that are crammed into the bill are not even offered by the given service provider. When a provider slams a victim, they offer a really great price to get them to switch their service from another provider, but quickly raise rates to unreasonably amounts.

Flim Flam Scams

This is an older, less technological savvy scam that still occurs on a regular basis. Scammers go into a store with large amounts of money and simply confuse the cashier by handing money back and forth with different stories of how they need their change or adding and subtracting merchandise from the transaction. The cashier ends up confused and the scammers sometimes walk away with more money than they went in with.

Key Logger or Spyware Scams

A key logger program is a computer program which monitors every keystroke someone makes on a personal computer and sends the information back to someone else. This is a very lucrative scam that allows criminals to steal the identity of many unsuspecting victims. The loophole is that victims have to download the program onto their computer voluntarily, though they usually think it is something else. Spyware is any type of program that gets downloaded onto a computer and sends information back to the criminals.

Money Mule

This term is not technically a type of scam, though it describes what many innocent scam victims become unknowingly. A mule is simply someone who launders money that was obtained through criminal networks.

Mystery Shopping Scams

There are some legitimate mystery shopping opportunities out there, but most of them are complete scams. The victim is given a check and is asked to cash it to cover their purchases in the store they are designated to shop. Part of the money is to be transferred back to someone else and when the victim discovers the check was a fake they are on the hook for all of the money plus bank charges. The scammer gets away with the money that was transferred to them.

Overpayment and Forward Payment Scams

There are an endless variety of scams that fall under this category. Anything that requires a victim to take a check and cash it, then send part of the money via money transfer to someone else is a forward payment scam. The checks will be fake and the victim will have the same repercussions as with the mystery shopping scam. With the overpayment variety, the check could be for payment of goods purchased but the scammer makes the check out for much more than the purchase price.   How do overpayment scam work?

Pigeon Drop Scams

There can be a variety of set-ups for this type of scam, but basically a victim is convinced to pay large amounts of money for a product that is basically worthless. The most common version would be a scammer who sells fake products, claiming they are top dollar brand names. Electronic products are the most targeted market for this type of scam.

Phishing Scams

This is the most devastating of all scams because it allows scammers to assume or sell the identity of innocent victims. Victims receive emails that appear to be from legitimate businesses that they deal with online. When they click a link from the email they are led to a website set up to look just like the real site. They input their information and give the scammers access to their bank accounts and other personal information.  How Phishing Scams Work?

Ponzi Scams

A Ponzi scheme involves financial investments, where the money is not really being invested in anything but the scammer’s pocket. Investments from one victim are delivered to other victims to keep everyone happy, but no real investments are ever made with the money.

Ransomeware Scams

This is another type of computer software, but unlike the keylogging programs victims do not realize they have downloaded it. The program will mix up all of the data on the victim’s computer, requiring them to pay a fee to the scammers in order to have the problem fixed. They are essentially holding computer data ransom.

Scareware Scams

Have you ever seen a pop-up that claimed you had downloaded a serious virus and needed a specific program to have it removed? If so, you have experienced this scam firsthand.

Skimming Scams

This is not an Internet scam, but one that is carried out at your bank ATM or stores that you frequent. Criminals can insert a skimming device inside the slot where you slide your debit or credit card to either withdraw money or pay for a purchase. All of the information from the card is saved on the skimming device for criminal use.

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