1. Phishing Scam:
This is one of the most commonly used
scam to steal bank logins and other types of passwords on the Internet.
Phishing is fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive
information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by
masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.
Phishing is typically carried out by e-mail or instant messaging.
Example:You may receive
an email which claims to have come from your bank/financial
institution/online service provider that asks you to click a link and
update your account information. When you click on such a link, it may
take you to a fake page which exactly resembles the original one. Here,
you’ll be asked to enter your personal details such as username and
password. Once you enter your personal details on this page, they will
be stolen away.
Such an email is more than likely to be
the type of Internet scam known as “phishing”. Phishing is said to be
highly effective and has proved to have more success rate. This is
because, most Internet users are unaware of this type of attack and
hence fail to identify the scam.
Most legitimate companies never request
for any kind of personal/sensitive information via email. So, it is
highly recommended that you DO NOT respond to such fraudulent emails. For more information on phishing visit my detailed post on How to identify and avoid phishing scams?
2. Nigerian Scams:
This type of scam involves sending
emails (spam) to people in bulk seeking their help to access a large
amount of money that is held up in a foreign bank account. This email
claims that, in return for the help you’ll be rewarded a percentage of
the fund that involves in the transaction. Never respond to these emails
since it’s none other than a scam.
In case if you respond to these emails
you will be asked to deposit a small amount of money (say 1-2% of the
whole fund) as an insurance or as an advance payment for the
initialization of the deal. However, once you deposit the amount to the
scammer’s account you’ll not get any further response from them and you
lose your money. In fact, “The large amount of money” never exists and
the whole story is a trap for innocent people who are likely to become
victims. The scammers use a variety of stories to explain why they need
your help to access the funds. The following are some of the examples of
them:
Examples:
- They may claim that political climate or legal issues preclude them from accessing funds in a foreign bank account.
- They may claim that the person is a minor and hence needs your help to access the funds.
- They may claim that your last name is the same as that of the deceased person who owned the account and suggest that you act as the Next of Kin of this person in order to gain access to the funds.
3. Lottery Scams:
This type of scam is similar to the one
discussed above. In this type, you may receive an email saying that you
have won a large sum of money in an online lottery scheme (ex. UK
Lottery) even though you have not participated in any such schemes. The
message claims that your email ID was selected randomly from a lagre
pool of IDs.
When you respond to such emails they
initially ask for your complete name and address so that they can mail
the cheque accross to you. After getting those details they may also
send you an image of the cheque drawn in your name and address so as to
confirm the deal. But in order to mail this cheque they demand a small
amount of money as insurance/shipping charge/tax in return.
However, if you send the money in a hope
to receive the cheque, all you get is nothing. You’re just trapped in a
wonderful scam scheme. That’s it.
4. Other General Scams and Frauds
The following are some of the other types of scams that you should be aware of:
In general, be aware of unsolicited emails that:
- Promise you money, jobs or prizes.
- Ask you to provide sensitive personal information.
- Ask you to follow a link to a website and log on to an account.
- Propose lucrative business deals.
It may seem to be a difficult task for
the novice Internet user to identify such online scams. So, here are
some of the common signs of such scam emails. By knowing them it may
help you to stay away:
- All these scam emails never address you by your name. In turn they commonly address you something like “Dear User” or “Dear Customer” etc. This is a clear indication that the email is a fraudulent one.
- When you observe the email header you may notice in the “TO:” Field that, the same email is forwarded to a large group of people or the “TO:” field appears blank. So, this confirms that the email was not intended particularly for you. It was forwarded for a large group of people and you are one among them.
I hope this post helps. Express your opinions through comments.
