The internet offers endless
possibilities for users to connect, do business, and make purchases. The online
world has become a world of its own with some unique problems and some problems
as old as humanity. One of the latter problems are scams on the internet. Con artists
just moved from scamming people in person to doing it over the internet. Avoid
becoming a victim of one of the many scams on the internet by staying up to
date on potential threats.
5 Modern Scams on
the Internet
1. “Work-at-Home”
Do you think being
able to do simple work from home and make thousands of dollars a month is too
good to be true? You are probably right. “Work-at-home”scams on the internet entail a criminal emailing or posting a false ad on a
social media network offering an opportunity to start your own business or
perform easy assembly work and earn money fast. You purchase the business plan
to get started or the products to assemble, but the scammer never provides the
materials or denies payment for the completed items.
2. Nonexistent
Vacation
Planning a vacation
can suddenly turn from a dream into a nightmare if you accidentally purchase a
holiday, or parts of one, that do not exist. These scams on the internet
involve a criminal posting an advert or sending emails marketing nonexistent
vacations at very cheap prices. Victims pay by wire transfer or with cash,
making it hard to prove any payment at all and guarantees you never see your
money again.
3. Online Pharming
Online pharming
scams on the internet require that a criminal has basic knowledge of coding and
other more complicated technical skills. A hacker creates a fraudulent website
based off a real company’s site, so it looks extremely similar to the
legitimate site. They confuse the mapping from the domain name to the IP address
of your computer. This causes your computer to connect to the fake website when
you think you accessed the real one. When the website asks for important
information such as PINs, bank accounts, passwords, and credit card numbers you
willingly provide them since you believe it is a secure site. Your browser
should indicate if you connected to a fraudulent web page through the Secure
Sockets Layer.
4. Fraud Recovery
Scheme
Believe it or not, some scams on the internet target
previous victims of cyber fraud. Scammers pose as fraud recovery agencies and
claim to locate the person who robbed you and return your stolen money. They
require the victim to pay various fees throughout the process and state the
money cannot be returned until the fees are settled. Sometimes they even ask
for your bank account information to supposedly deposit your money, but then
they empty your account, take the fees, and never recover the stolen money.
5. Lottery Fraud
Lottery Fraud,
sometimes known as Prize Fraud, occurs when a criminal contacts you through an
email or when you click on a popup that claims you won a huge sum of money or
an expensive prize from a drawing or international lottery. These scams on the
internet ask you to follow up with someone at the company to begin processing
your payment. They ask you to pay a variety of fees and provide a form of
identification, such as a copy of your passport, and then steal them. Sometimes
they ask for your bank information to deposit your winnings, but merely clear
your account and leave you with nothing.
