Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2016 10:34:10 GMT
I believe that it would be beneficial to have a dedicated thread on forums to name and shame the scammers that prey on vulnerable people and to share information within so I am starting one here. Having a thread where members can post in one thread will help keep all the information in one place.
Scams as we know can come in a variety of disguises but from experience if it is by email then the wtwo things I have learned are:
1. NEVER click on any link that you are not sure of. These will commonly be phishing (more about that below).
2. To find a fake, simply send a quick reply - it will come back as unreachable by the postmaster, almost always.
So let's look at different types of internet scams; any scam is bad and so these are in no particular order of merit. There are several good advice sources out there, I've copied this from MoneyCrashers.com
Foreign Lottery Scam
The foreign lottery scam is one of the most common types of email scams, in which you receive what looks like an official email from a foreign lottery corporation. The subject line offers a congratulatory announcement, and may include the supposed amount of money you’ve “won.”
Here are the sure signs your winnings are false:
The best way to avoid the common email scam is to realize this one simple rule: If you did not enter the lottery, you will not win the lottery. And even if you do enter the lottery, you probably will not win.
Survey Scam
This common email scam looks innocent enough. You’ve expressed interest in social issues, such as global warming or the war in the Middle East, and you’ve been sent a survey that requests your input. Why not participate? Unless you’ve specifically requested to be on a survey mailing list, what you’re getting is nothing but spam.
When you click on the link to take the survey, malicious spyware or malware is installed on your computer. Once this occurs, cybercriminals can spy on every move you make on your computer, collecting passwords, bank account information, and more. Suddenly, you may see thousands of dollars worth of charges on your credit card bill for purchases you never made. This is result of identity theft, and it can ruin your life.
PayPal or Online Credit Card/Banking Scam
This one got me several years ago, and it was incredibly irritating. At first, you may really believe there’s something wrong with your PayPal account, as you will receive an email that appears to be from PayPal with a warning message such as, “Act now, or your account will be deactivated,” or “Security breach on your account.” This can cause you to panic, open the email, click the link, and log in to your account.
The problem is that you’re not really on PayPal’s website, but rather a false website designed to look identical to PayPal. You’ve just given your email address and password to your actual PayPal account to a cybercriminal, who can now use that information to change your password and clean you out. They may even use this information to scam your friends and business associates.
Here are some surefire ways to tell if an email supposedly from PayPal is nothing but a scam:
Remember, no legitimate company will ever threaten to close your account if you ignore an email.
Shopper Scam
The secret shopper (or mystery shopper) scam has several different variations, but all are designed to steal your money, your information, or both. This common work-from-home scam attempts to suck you in with an email featuring a subject line promising you a large income, simply by working as a mystery shopper. You need no experience or education, and you can make up to $200 to $300 a day doing just what you love: shopping! Sounds too good to be true, right?
It is indeed. Instead of being paid to shop, here are the two ways in which you can be swindled:
You Have to Pay Upfront. The money looks good, but in order to get your “training materials,” you must send the company money via PayPal or with a personal check. You send the money and wait for a package that never arrives.
You Receive a Fraudulent Check. This one is even worse. You provide the false company your address, and are sent a fraudulent check in the mail as your first payment. However, you are requested to send some of the money back to cover your study materials. You cash the check, wire the requested amount of money, and then discover that the check you deposited has bounced. You’re responsible for $1,000 or more worth of fraudulent check charges, plus overdraft fees.
If you didn’t apply for a job, you won’t be offered a job. They don’t just fall out of the sky. Furthermore, if you’re ever asked to spend money upfront for materials, you are likely being scammed.
Nigerian Check Scam
Another one of the more common email scams is the Nigerian check scam. If you are subject to this scam, you receive an email from an a royal-sounding person with the name of “Sir Arthur Von-Monsoon,” or “Barrister Frank N. Stein” with a request to help recover large sums of money from an overseas bank. As a reward, you’ll receive a handsome cut of the cash. Nice, huh?
Unfortunately, there’s always a catch. It seems like a win-win situation, so you respond with your willingness to help. You are told the money will be transferred to your bank account; therefore, you must provide your bank account information. Also, there are transfer fees involved, and you have to pay those as well. Once you pay a couple hundred dollars, waiting for your huge windfall, you receive another email stating there has been some type of holdup, and you must send a bit more cash.
This continues until you, the unsuspecting victim, realize that money is only going one way: out of your bank account.
Always think twice before pulling out your credit card.
Hijacked Profile Scam
Recently, a girl I’d gone to high school with suddenly sent me a message on Facebook that said, “Hey girl, if you get some time, will you give me a call?”
I was immediately suspicious. We’re nothing more than mere acquaintances, and we’ve never once spoken on the phone. Though I figured her Facebook account had been hacked, I messaged her back and told her I couldn’t make long-distance phone calls. She responded by saying she had this wonderful business opportunity for me to get in on, and sent me a couple of links.
At this point, I knew it was a scam. Her profile had obviously been hacked, but the scammer was attempting to be clever by using personal details in our conversation, such as where we went to school. I ended up deleting her from my friend’s list because I couldn’t get a hold of her to tell her she’d been hacked.
You should also be wary of requests for money from friends – especially because these hoaxes can seem very real. Say you have a friend who travels often and posts pictures and updates about his various exploits. Suddenly, he sends you an urgent message claiming to be stuck somewhere overseas and needs some money to get home. Before you send any, try to contact him another way. He could be the victim of a hacked account.
Sick Baby Scam
This one is sick alright. The sick baby scam works like this: A “friend” posts a photograph of an ill baby or young child with a caption beneath it that reads, “Little Jimmy has cancer. Click this link to donate $1 to help him and his family. Every little bit counts!”
Your heart goes out to this helpless little baby, and you click on the link, whip out your bank card, and donate some money. What you don’t realize is that the money isn’t going to help some dying child – it’s going straight to the bank account of a con artist.
Also, remember that shares don’t equal donations. Often, instead of sending money to help the “sick baby,” you’re asked to share the photo with everyone you know because each share supposedly earns $0.05. However, Facebook, nor any social networking website, will donate money based on how many times something is shared. This is almost always an attempt to phish for personal information.
HOW TO AVOID COMMON SCAMS ONLINE
Whether it’s an email scam or a social networking scam, there are some dead giveaways when it comes to recognizing them before they get you. Here are five ways to avoid common scams:
It would be great to think, wouldn't it that we are preaching to the converted, that everybody knows what this is and how to avoid that but there are many who do not and it is my belief that everyone should know and I hope that it will be of value having a scam awareness thread - I'll be making this a sticky for sure.
This next is the latest email scam I have had. I learned that my Tesco Bank account had been locked due to suspicious activity by an unrecognised device.
So yes I have been an employee twice but I have been with the same bank for as long as I can remember and have never banked with Tesco.
Something like this should ring an immediate alarm bell, you've never banked with them, you are not a customer, so it's fake. But you also get scammers pretending to be someone like apple for instance, now a lot of people do have an apple account so look out for, well, just be on your guard!
One more thing to say that I have noticed that isn't in the advice columns IS that many of the email scams if you look closely or in some cases not so closely the grammar is completely amateur. And where a lot of these people are foreign they often write as they speak so, bad English comes out as just that.
Overall the internet has made me fairly cynical or more cynical. If I get an email from my real bank, however professional-looking it is, I will not reply and certainly won't be clicking on anything and that's sad but with the right security measures in place on accounts and remembering to do updates, a continual stream of information gathered together in one thread I think is a good way to go.
Scams as we know can come in a variety of disguises but from experience if it is by email then the wtwo things I have learned are:
1. NEVER click on any link that you are not sure of. These will commonly be phishing (more about that below).
2. To find a fake, simply send a quick reply - it will come back as unreachable by the postmaster, almost always.
So let's look at different types of internet scams; any scam is bad and so these are in no particular order of merit. There are several good advice sources out there, I've copied this from MoneyCrashers.com
Foreign Lottery Scam
The foreign lottery scam is one of the most common types of email scams, in which you receive what looks like an official email from a foreign lottery corporation. The subject line offers a congratulatory announcement, and may include the supposed amount of money you’ve “won.”
Here are the sure signs your winnings are false:
The Sender Is a Person. If the sender is an individual – or is, at least, obviously not an official lottery email – then you know you’ve got a scam on your hands. For example, mikesmith1453@earthlink.com certainly is not going to be the guy to tell you that you’ve won several million dollars.
Your Name Is Not in the “To” Field. If your name is not in the “To” section of the email, then this phishing email has likely been sent to thousands of people, all in the hopes of snagging a few bites.
The Lottery Doesn’t Exist. Do a simple Google search. Does the lottery even exist? You may find that not only is the lottery fake, but that it’s a well-documented scam.
Request for Information. Scammer emails routinely request your full name, date of birth, street address, and telephone number. This is known as a phishing scam, which is designed to get you to reveal sensitive personal information. Once you respond with this information, you’ve been hooked, and may ultimately end up with a stolen identity or, even worse, a drained bank account.
Your Name Is Not in the “To” Field. If your name is not in the “To” section of the email, then this phishing email has likely been sent to thousands of people, all in the hopes of snagging a few bites.
The Lottery Doesn’t Exist. Do a simple Google search. Does the lottery even exist? You may find that not only is the lottery fake, but that it’s a well-documented scam.
Request for Information. Scammer emails routinely request your full name, date of birth, street address, and telephone number. This is known as a phishing scam, which is designed to get you to reveal sensitive personal information. Once you respond with this information, you’ve been hooked, and may ultimately end up with a stolen identity or, even worse, a drained bank account.
Survey Scam
This common email scam looks innocent enough. You’ve expressed interest in social issues, such as global warming or the war in the Middle East, and you’ve been sent a survey that requests your input. Why not participate? Unless you’ve specifically requested to be on a survey mailing list, what you’re getting is nothing but spam.
When you click on the link to take the survey, malicious spyware or malware is installed on your computer. Once this occurs, cybercriminals can spy on every move you make on your computer, collecting passwords, bank account information, and more. Suddenly, you may see thousands of dollars worth of charges on your credit card bill for purchases you never made. This is result of identity theft, and it can ruin your life.
PayPal or Online Credit Card/Banking Scam
This one got me several years ago, and it was incredibly irritating. At first, you may really believe there’s something wrong with your PayPal account, as you will receive an email that appears to be from PayPal with a warning message such as, “Act now, or your account will be deactivated,” or “Security breach on your account.” This can cause you to panic, open the email, click the link, and log in to your account.
The problem is that you’re not really on PayPal’s website, but rather a false website designed to look identical to PayPal. You’ve just given your email address and password to your actual PayPal account to a cybercriminal, who can now use that information to change your password and clean you out. They may even use this information to scam your friends and business associates.
Here are some surefire ways to tell if an email supposedly from PayPal is nothing but a scam:
The Sender’s Email Address Is Suspicious. Just because the sender’s name is “PayPal Security Center” does not make it legitimate. An address such as “security-paypal-center@int.paypal.uk.org” is a dead giveaway that you’re being taken for a ride. PayPal only sends emails from addresses that end in “@paypal.com.”
They Don’t Know Who You Are. Whether it’s PayPal or your credit card company, if you do business with them, they know your name and will use every opportunity to use it. Any correspondence beginning with “Dear valued customer” is a scam.
The Linked URL Is Not Legitimate. Hover your mouse over the “click here” or “take action now” link, and if you see a strange URL that does not take you to PayPal.com, don’t click.
The Email Includes a Threat. This is how they got me. I was told that there was a security breach on my account, and if I didn’t take the actions recommended in the email, my account would be temporarily suspended. I clicked on the link and input my email address, password, and account information. Thankfully, shortly thereafter, I was tipped off and was able to call and cancel my account.
They Don’t Know Who You Are. Whether it’s PayPal or your credit card company, if you do business with them, they know your name and will use every opportunity to use it. Any correspondence beginning with “Dear valued customer” is a scam.
The Linked URL Is Not Legitimate. Hover your mouse over the “click here” or “take action now” link, and if you see a strange URL that does not take you to PayPal.com, don’t click.
The Email Includes a Threat. This is how they got me. I was told that there was a security breach on my account, and if I didn’t take the actions recommended in the email, my account would be temporarily suspended. I clicked on the link and input my email address, password, and account information. Thankfully, shortly thereafter, I was tipped off and was able to call and cancel my account.
Remember, no legitimate company will ever threaten to close your account if you ignore an email.
Shopper Scam
The secret shopper (or mystery shopper) scam has several different variations, but all are designed to steal your money, your information, or both. This common work-from-home scam attempts to suck you in with an email featuring a subject line promising you a large income, simply by working as a mystery shopper. You need no experience or education, and you can make up to $200 to $300 a day doing just what you love: shopping! Sounds too good to be true, right?
It is indeed. Instead of being paid to shop, here are the two ways in which you can be swindled:
You Have to Pay Upfront. The money looks good, but in order to get your “training materials,” you must send the company money via PayPal or with a personal check. You send the money and wait for a package that never arrives.
You Receive a Fraudulent Check. This one is even worse. You provide the false company your address, and are sent a fraudulent check in the mail as your first payment. However, you are requested to send some of the money back to cover your study materials. You cash the check, wire the requested amount of money, and then discover that the check you deposited has bounced. You’re responsible for $1,000 or more worth of fraudulent check charges, plus overdraft fees.
If you didn’t apply for a job, you won’t be offered a job. They don’t just fall out of the sky. Furthermore, if you’re ever asked to spend money upfront for materials, you are likely being scammed.
Nigerian Check Scam
Another one of the more common email scams is the Nigerian check scam. If you are subject to this scam, you receive an email from an a royal-sounding person with the name of “Sir Arthur Von-Monsoon,” or “Barrister Frank N. Stein” with a request to help recover large sums of money from an overseas bank. As a reward, you’ll receive a handsome cut of the cash. Nice, huh?
Unfortunately, there’s always a catch. It seems like a win-win situation, so you respond with your willingness to help. You are told the money will be transferred to your bank account; therefore, you must provide your bank account information. Also, there are transfer fees involved, and you have to pay those as well. Once you pay a couple hundred dollars, waiting for your huge windfall, you receive another email stating there has been some type of holdup, and you must send a bit more cash.
This continues until you, the unsuspecting victim, realize that money is only going one way: out of your bank account.
Always think twice before pulling out your credit card.
Hijacked Profile Scam
Recently, a girl I’d gone to high school with suddenly sent me a message on Facebook that said, “Hey girl, if you get some time, will you give me a call?”
I was immediately suspicious. We’re nothing more than mere acquaintances, and we’ve never once spoken on the phone. Though I figured her Facebook account had been hacked, I messaged her back and told her I couldn’t make long-distance phone calls. She responded by saying she had this wonderful business opportunity for me to get in on, and sent me a couple of links.
At this point, I knew it was a scam. Her profile had obviously been hacked, but the scammer was attempting to be clever by using personal details in our conversation, such as where we went to school. I ended up deleting her from my friend’s list because I couldn’t get a hold of her to tell her she’d been hacked.
You should also be wary of requests for money from friends – especially because these hoaxes can seem very real. Say you have a friend who travels often and posts pictures and updates about his various exploits. Suddenly, he sends you an urgent message claiming to be stuck somewhere overseas and needs some money to get home. Before you send any, try to contact him another way. He could be the victim of a hacked account.
Sick Baby Scam
This one is sick alright. The sick baby scam works like this: A “friend” posts a photograph of an ill baby or young child with a caption beneath it that reads, “Little Jimmy has cancer. Click this link to donate $1 to help him and his family. Every little bit counts!”
Your heart goes out to this helpless little baby, and you click on the link, whip out your bank card, and donate some money. What you don’t realize is that the money isn’t going to help some dying child – it’s going straight to the bank account of a con artist.
Also, remember that shares don’t equal donations. Often, instead of sending money to help the “sick baby,” you’re asked to share the photo with everyone you know because each share supposedly earns $0.05. However, Facebook, nor any social networking website, will donate money based on how many times something is shared. This is almost always an attempt to phish for personal information.
HOW TO AVOID COMMON SCAMS ONLINE
Whether it’s an email scam or a social networking scam, there are some dead giveaways when it comes to recognizing them before they get you. Here are five ways to avoid common scams:
Delete Unsolicited Emails. One of the best ways to avoid email scams is to delete unsolicited emails. Legitimate companies will never send you pertinent information by email.
Don’t Believe Promises of Money or Prizes. Any email or social networking link that promises free money or prizes should be dismissed, as these are almost always scams.
Question Requests for Donations. Whenever there’s a national disaster, con artists have a field day sending bogus requests for donations. Instead of donating through email to an unknown charity, give to legitimate charities, such as the Red Cross.
Never Disclose Sensitive Personal Information. Any person who sends you an email asking for sensitive information, such as your bank account number or Social Security number, is up to no good. No matter what they promise you, mark the email as spam and move on.
Hover Before You Click. Whenever you receive an unsolicited email asking you to “click here,” beware – even if it sounds like a legitimate company. The same goes for social networking links that take you to what appear to be login pages. These may be, in fact, sites designed to steal your information.
Don’t Believe Promises of Money or Prizes. Any email or social networking link that promises free money or prizes should be dismissed, as these are almost always scams.
Question Requests for Donations. Whenever there’s a national disaster, con artists have a field day sending bogus requests for donations. Instead of donating through email to an unknown charity, give to legitimate charities, such as the Red Cross.
Never Disclose Sensitive Personal Information. Any person who sends you an email asking for sensitive information, such as your bank account number or Social Security number, is up to no good. No matter what they promise you, mark the email as spam and move on.
Hover Before You Click. Whenever you receive an unsolicited email asking you to “click here,” beware – even if it sounds like a legitimate company. The same goes for social networking links that take you to what appear to be login pages. These may be, in fact, sites designed to steal your information.
It would be great to think, wouldn't it that we are preaching to the converted, that everybody knows what this is and how to avoid that but there are many who do not and it is my belief that everyone should know and I hope that it will be of value having a scam awareness thread - I'll be making this a sticky for sure.
This next is the latest email scam I have had. I learned that my Tesco Bank account had been locked due to suspicious activity by an unrecognised device.
So yes I have been an employee twice but I have been with the same bank for as long as I can remember and have never banked with Tesco.
Something like this should ring an immediate alarm bell, you've never banked with them, you are not a customer, so it's fake. But you also get scammers pretending to be someone like apple for instance, now a lot of people do have an apple account so look out for, well, just be on your guard!
One more thing to say that I have noticed that isn't in the advice columns IS that many of the email scams if you look closely or in some cases not so closely the grammar is completely amateur. And where a lot of these people are foreign they often write as they speak so, bad English comes out as just that.
Overall the internet has made me fairly cynical or more cynical. If I get an email from my real bank, however professional-looking it is, I will not reply and certainly won't be clicking on anything and that's sad but with the right security measures in place on accounts and remembering to do updates, a continual stream of information gathered together in one thread I think is a good way to go.
