The Top 8 Online Scams
Posted on August 12, 2009 by Online Scams in Articles
The Top 8 Online Scams
by Garen Arnold 8/12/09
1. Social Networking Scams are the next big thing, with the emergence of Facebook, Myspace, and Hi5. They are one of the most active sites visited online. Millions of people use them daily. It is a great way to keep in touch with long lost friends and family members. However, scammers are exploiting people by coning them out of money, personal information, etc. These can be anything from sending spam to a number of complex scams. Never give any of your personal information out through social networking sites.
2. Work-At-Home Scams promise to make you a millionaire overnight. Let’s face it our economy (in the United States) is in the pits. You can work out of the comfort of your own home, but make millions, heard it before? Commonly, they will require you to pay a setup fee, monthly fee, ect. People catch on after a couple months into the scam, and move on. The problem is these sites are victimizing hundreds and thousands of people each and everyday. The losses add up very quickly, and make the scammers thousands, and even millions, in there short existence. >>more information
3. Phishing is a means of sending “spoof” email from a real company in order to obtain your personal information. This has been a problem since the dawn of the Internet. The most common phishing scams use Paypal, eBay, and popular banks. They will require that you give out your password, username, account number, social security number, etc. Never give out your personal information via email. They will then drain your banking account of steal your identity.
Also, these phishing emails can require you to click on links that will infect your computer with viruses, keyloggers, and other forms of malware. >>more information
4. Online Auction Scams basically promise you a product at a great rate, but fail to deliver, or send you an item that is wrong or fake. These auction frauds are getting very complex, and there have been reports of people getting phony packing slips that appear to make it look like the package was sent out to the wrong person. One of the signs of an auction fraud is that the scammer will require you to pay Western Union, T/T, or Money Gram.
5. B2B Scams are a huge problem at Alibaba.com and many other b2b networks. They purchase “Trusted Passes” which means nothing, and make customers feel safe. Scammers will contact you on b2b networks, and even through email. They typically will give you a list of goods that you are already interested in, and then only accept Western Union, Money Gram, or T/T.
The scammer will then send the wrong product with a wrong packing list in it, or nothing at all. 90% of these scammers operate their entire scam using a 3G mobile phone. They purchase about 300- 1000 domain names and jump around from site to site, scamming everyone they possibly can.
6. Economy related Scams target those who are in financial trouble. They simply offer debt consolidation, mortgage foreclosures, credit repair, etc. One way in which they target victims is by sending out spam. They will generally require a processing fee, or an application fee. You will be denied and out more money. They can take advantage of thousands of people before people start to catch on.
7. Inheritance/ 419 Scams come in a variety of ways. The basic principle behind them is that you are awarded a big sum of money. The scammer needs you to help moving the money. Generally, these scams award you over 10.5 million or some outrageous amount of money. They are operated from third world countries, and have no intention of paying you a dime. A classic example of these types of scams is the dead Nigerian king scam. >>More Information
8. Romance Scams trick individuals that are lonely with a convincing sob story. These operate in three different ways. First, check frauds are where the scammer sends a check to their romance partner, and then requires that they cash it, because they are unable to. The victim then send money back to them, in which two weeks later the bank notifies them that the check was fake and they are liable for all the money.
Reshipping is a way in which a victim uses someone else’s credit card unknowingly, and then has items shipped to their fake lover. The con artist is just the “middleman” that uses their charm to get an unsuspecting victim to do their dirty work. They are putting you in the way of them getting caught by acting as the middleman, and will be long gone by the time authority catches on.
Identity theft, instead of the traditional way of getting money, or merchandise out of you is another common form. They will steal your identity and drain your bank accounts. Often they have been know to set up fraudulent credit cards under your name and destroy your credit.
These are just eight of the most popular online scams. There are a lot more types of scams to add to the list, but these are what are most frequently seen online.
You can protect yourself online by taking advantage of one of these companies that will help insure your online safety:
Equifax Review Interested in monitoring your credit report. With Equifax you can stay on top of your credit. See what is inside of Equifax.
LifeLock Review Interested in protecting your identity? Lifelock can ensure that identity theft does not happen to you.
TrustedID Review Considering TrustedID for your identity theft protection needs? Here is a inclusive review of the company, and what you will receive with TrustedID.
There are many more types of online scams that are not listed in this article. Please view our list of “Online Scam Articles.”
