Online scams are growing as technology advances. People are
becoming more alert about how the virtual world presents as much a threat, if
not more so than in the real world. But this is a new reality of phishing,
vishing, scamming and cheats. You need to be on your guard when it comes to
online scams. Here's a rundown of the greatest online scams and offline examples
that have made millions off unsuspecting people victims.
#1 Work at
Home Scams
There are so many work from home scams nowadays. “Be part of the
fastest growing industries,” “Be your own boss, earn thousands of dollars per
month from home,”– these are just some of the scams that abound when you surf
the web or even read the papers or a message board. Ads like this about what
are actually online scams abound. The jobs are different, but the message is
the same. The scammers promise that you can earn a great living working from
home! Many of these offer refunds if the “career” does not work out. Rather
than getting lured by such false promises, it is important to be on your guard.
These are scams where women and men may attempt to con you by
getting you to pay for starter kits or certifications that are worthless, They
could even get your credit card details and make money off it. One of the most
well known work from home scams promises people paying a fee like USD99 to earn
money stuffing envelopes at home. All you get for your cash is a letter luring
your friends and relatives into the net.
#2 Pay Now,
Lose Weight in Days
This is a group of scams run online (and in the real world) where
you are promises that in return for a small fee, you will lose weight
miraculously in days. False weight loss products will then be sold to you such
as a patch or a sugar pill. The only thing you will end up losing with these online scams is your money!
#3 The
Nigerian Scam
This is one of the most well known scams in recent times. The
scammer, in exchange for a fee, promises to transfer millions of dollars into
your account posing as a rep from the Nigerian government. Official looking
documents are give in support of this and scammer asks for documents such as a
blank bank letterhead, bank account numbers and cash for “attorney fees.” This
is a phishing scam where not only do you not get a single cent of the promised
millions, but you lose all the money you ever had.
#3 Investing
in a Gold Mine
This is one of the oldest scams in the list, but old is gold too.
The mine owners would put a few gold nuggets in worthless mines, and buyers
would be impressed enough to pay up for worthless mines in return for the
“gold.”
#4 1-900
Phone Number Scam
This is a telephone call or email informing you that you have won
the “lottery.” The only person winning the lottery is the scammer when you call
a number 1-900 to claim your prize and rack up a fortune in phone bills for a
prize that never existed in the first place.
A version of this was the Trojan malware virus smartphones running
Google's Android OS. Once it is installed on the phone, the Trojan
automatically sends messages to premium rate numbers, taking your hard earned
cash and sending it to the scamsters.
#5 Money
Order Overpayment
This is a scam when con artists or scammers pick an online
classified ad or an auction listing, and say they will pay for it with a money
order. Reasons for sending the money order more than the purchase amount are
made. The seller than wires back the difference. But here's the catch– the
first money order was a fake! The seller is held accountable for the entire sum
to the bank and he/she ends up losing the item as well.
#6 Bernie
Madoff's Inspiration: The Ponzi Scheme
This is one of the biggest scams in US history. This is a scam
perpetrated by Charles Ponzi. He tricked people using a pyramid scheme, whereby
residents in the 1920s were asked to invest in postage scam speculation. Annual
interest rate for bank accounts was very low. Ponzi promised a 50 percent
return and that too in 45 days. A 100 percent profit was also promised in 90
days. What the scamster actually did was to use money from later investors to
pay off earlier investors, though initially he did purchase international mail
coupons to support his scheme. Closer to our time, Wall Street investor Bernie
Madoff used this scheme to defraud people of millions.
