You are the winner of our lucky draw that gives you a chance to get your hands on a cash prize of $500. All you need to do is give us your bank details and complete address so we can transfer your cash into it.
The paragraph that you read above was the simplest example of scams that happen today widely around the world. Scammers know the common interest of people, and they use it for their profit.
Most scams have several things in common. If you learn about these things, you’ll get an idea of how to deal with such people and also how to save yourself from online scams.
Involving Money
A scam usually involves money. It has to be a lottery, prize money, or any give away that requires your details, including bank information. This should be a warning sign for you. You should never trust someone with your money at an online forum.
Also, avoid passing on your credit card information to anyone, it might not look harmful at this stage, but it may cause you a huge loss.
Email based Scams
The huge number of unwanted emails that we receive almost daily today are all a part of the scam. You can report them and get yourself free of those. People might usually want to befriend you and then later provoke you to share your personal information with them. These emails can be easily recognized by looking deeper into the email address. The type of address would tell you a lot about the person himself. Other than that the font style and the conversation he does with you also reflect his true intentions.
You may receive a job offer someday with excellent pay, but then you realize that you’ve never applied for the job on an online platform.
All you need to do is to keep your eyes open and observe everything that happens around you.
Fake websites
It often happens that we are watching a movie, and suddenly an alien site opens by itself. These are ads attached to your movie links. You should always be aware of such sites as they might be spelled in a slightly jumbled manner or they may not be secured. If you are applying for a job on an online portal and it asks for your information, then search well about it first and then look for the security of the website. If it is verified by the government and security can be seen in the address bar, then you can trust it.
Charity Fraud
This is the worst type of fraud where scams use the emotions of individuals to play for their own benefit. They show us fake pictures of patients suffering from illness such as cancer or tumors and ask for money to be sent to a certain bank account.
Such people might show haste in asking and receiving money, that shows they might not be honest.
