Many criminal syndicates and
solo scammers are now using Instagram and other popular social networks to
commit money fraud. Criminals are exploiting the popularity of social networks
to reach more users and victimize as many of them as possible for the cheapest
price. This is one of the reasons behind the 30% growth in monthly online scam
cases that were filed by American users from last year to this year.
In 2015, there were more
than 600 monthly online scam incidents on average that were reported in the
USA. There are now over 800 monthly Web crime cases that were filed by users in
the USA during the first half of this year. Many of these cases involved money
fraud and other extortion schemes on the Web.
Many cyber security experts
and agents at online crime reporting centers claim that these numbers will
continue to grow at an alarming rate worldwide. One reason behind this is the
rapidly rising popularity and penetration of mobile devices in many countries.
They predict that by 2018, more than 50% of the world's entire mobile user population will have been victimized by money fraud, malicious applications and
online scams.
- Money Fraud Today in Instagram & Other Social Networks
The newest variants of money
fraud were reported in Instagram and other popular social networks like
Facebook, Twitter and the like. These scams involved fake money flipping
opportunities. Posts with convincing photos are being distributed across social
networks, and users continue to fall for these scams.
How this money fraud works
is that scammers trick unsuspecting users into purchasing prepaid debit cards,
gift cards and money packs like the Green Dot MoneyPak. This is for the false
promise of earning unbelievable profits from doing this. The fraudsters claim
that they have contacts at the upper echelons of large banking institutions,
credit card companies and other credible financial establishments.
The criminal syndicates that
operate this type of money fraud try to lure users into their traps by telling
them that their contacts at financial institutions can easily add one zero to
the value of their prepaid cards and money packs. For example, if they buy a
$100 prepaid card or money pack, then they claim that these users can quickly
get $1,000. To make their pitch more believable in the eyes of their target
victims, the scammers say they'll be taking a significant cut from this.
When these users agree to
participate in this fake money-making opportunity, these fraudsters ask them
for the details of their prepaid cards and money packs. They tell their victims
that this is required by their contacts to start the money flipping process. Of
course, as soon as these unsuspecting users give away these details, these
scammers just take their money and disappear. That's how this money fraud
works, and victims don't have any option to recover their money since these
prepaid cards and money packs are non-refundable.
- How to Avoid Money Flipping Scams
The best thing you can do to
avoid this money fraud is to report these posts when you see them in your
favorite social networks. You should also report users who send you private
messages about these fake opportunities. Just ignore these posts and private
messages after you report them to the administrators of your social networks,
or to the proper authorities.
You can also post complaints
in sites like BigScammers.Com against these scams. This will alert the
authorities in your country and other cyber security groups, which can in turn
expedite the process of tracking down these scammers and putting a stop to their
fraudulent schemes on the Web. Other users will be notified about these money
flipping scams, which can help them avoid these schemes.
Also inform your family and
friends that BigScammers.Com offers real time money fraud alerts. All they need
to do is go to BigScammers.Com and sign up to receive real time email
notifications about the latest online scams and fraudulent money schemes.
They'll receive these instant notifications via email when a user posts a
complaint in BigScammers.Com against the fraudsters. This can help them quickly
spot and safely avoid these Web crimes.
