There are many different
types of online scams and other Web crimes. The most common objectives of these
schemes are to steal your money and/or your personal information, to use your
computer and network bandwidth resources, and to try and reach your contacts.
Each online scam necessitates a particular type of fraud action that you should
take.
Learning about the current
variety of online scams can help you identify suitable fraud action options to
take. Here are the most common Web crimes this year as indicated by the over
8000 monthly online scam reports filed by American users during the first half
of this year:
Most Common Types of Online Scams This Year
1. Phishing
scams are mainly used by criminal syndicates to trick users into giving away
their account credentials. These credentials are mostly for their financial
accounts such as their online banking usernames and passwords. The main purpose
of these scammers is to steal money from these accounts and to purchase
prohibited products like illegal porn, firearms and drugs in the Deep Web under
the victim's name.
What's the best fraud action to take against these criminals? Well, you should immediately report these
scammers to your bank. By doing this, you'll will usually be able to recover
your lost money. Your bank will assist you in filing a chargeback for these
fraudulent transactions. They'll also contact your local authorities to
investigate and try to catch these crooks or prevent them from victimizing
others at the very least.
Some fraudsters try to steal
credentials for Web mail accounts and social network accounts. They use these
accounts to send out more phishing messages using the user's stolen Web mail or
social network accounts. These deceptive messages are usually sent to the
user's contacts. This significantly improves the chances of these scammers in
successfully stealing the information that they want.
What's the most suitable
fraud action against these criminals? You should contact the administrators of
your Web mail platform or social network. Inform them about your situation.
They'll gladly help you change your account credentials. They'll also look
closer at the incident to try and gather as much information about these
scammers. They can also decide to report these to the authorities so as to
catch these fraudsters.
2. Online
dating scams are the most widespread extortion schemes on the Web today. The
FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) recently started to send out reminders
and alerts about these online dating schemes to American users. The main
objective of scammers for this type of cyber fraud is to extort money from
unsuspecting users of popular dating sites and apps.
What's the best fraud action
to take against these scammers? If you already sent money to these fraudsters,
then you should contact your financial account provider. If you used your
credit card, debit card, bank account or e-wallet account to send money to
these criminals, then chances are, you'd be able to recover your money by
filing chargebacks and disputes.
You should then report these
fraudsters to the administrators of the online dating platform where you
encountered them. They'll be able to block the accounts of these criminals, ban
them and warn other users about them. They'll also cooperate with their local
authorities to try and catch these scammers. Their local authorities can then
file legal fraud action against these criminals if possible.
These are your options when
it comes to taking fraud action against criminal syndicates that perpetuate
these most common online scams this year. It's best if you can share this with
your family and friends to also warn them against these widespread Web crimes.
They'll also be able to learn about the most effective fraud action to take
against these criminals.
