We’ve all been bombarded with emails or pop-ups that tell us we can have it all with a very little investment. Make 5,000 dollars in a short time with just an investment of six dollars? You’ve won an all-paid for vacation to the Bahamas? You can get a weight loss program on a free trial offer? No.
Your parents were right when they told you if something sounds like it’s too good to be true, then it probably is.
In 2013, losses to one specific scam, the Nigerian 419, totaled to $12.7 billion in 2013 according to Ultrascan AGI. Internet scams have existed from the beginning of the Internet’s invention, but people are still falling for them. Here are five scams you should keep an eye out for and avoid at all costs.
One of the worst scams in the world is called the Nigerian 419 scam, because the method comes from Nigeria and 419 is the number of the article in the Nigerian Criminal Code that deals with this kind of fraud. Some of the perpetrators don’t even come from Nigeria, they just have to have a West African connection and require advance fees.
The Nigerian scam spreads widely by offering large inheritances, lottery prizes, and even romance. The Nigerian Scam will commonly arrive at your email inbox, most likely telling you that you’ve suddenly inherited a large portion of money from a wealthy Nigerian prince, and all you have to do is pay some legal and transportation fees. Another scenario might break your heart a little. It seems as if you’ve met your dream guy online, but he’s in a different country and asks you to help him out with rent or a plane ticket to come see you. When you do so, no hunk is at the airport waiting to embrace you, just a con artist who is sitting at home with your money.
One of the last kinds of Nigerian scams is the one where you’re certain you’ve just won the lottery. It’s quick and easy money, but you’re asked to give your bank information, which is where it all goes downhill. The Nigerian scam is an easy one to fall for, because the con artists spend time to create a connection with you, so you feel like the offer might just be real. The report from Ultrascan AGI notes that high achieving professionals are more likely to be defrauded than poorly educated or financially desperate people. Evidently so, falling for scams can happen to anyone, so the next time you find an online boyfriend or instantly in 10,000, take a second to think again.
Just as you’re casually browsing the Internet, a pop-up distracts your view or an advertisement catches your attention. It’s an offer for a free trial of some weight loss supplements that look like they really work! There are before and after photos from actual people, so you’re sucked in. You only have to pay for shipping after all.
However, that’s really not the case. In the very fine print of the supplements’ website, they start charging close to $100 a month after 14 days. According to Reader’s Digest, Christine Durst, an Internet fraud expert who has consulted for the FBI and FTC said, “the companies spell out the numbers, with no dollar signs; anything that has to do with money or a time frame gets washed into the text.”
It almost always starts with your venture on the Internet. A pop-up message will suddenly appear trying to convince you that a virus is infecting your computer. Exclamation points, red fonts, bold backgrounds make you think that something is actually wrong. This scares you, so you click on the pop-up to find out if anything is fishy with your computer, and of course it tells you that there is. You pay a substantial sum of money to this non-reputable provider, and your computer isn’t really rid of the so-called virus. If something like this does pop up, do your research before you invest your money in something that has the chance to do your computer harm.
Unfortunately, natural disasters are the biggest and best opportunity for scammers to take advantage of your generosity. Recently during disasters like Hurricane Katrina and Sandy, 15 fake websites were made to look like the American Red Cross according to the Huffington Post. “After Hurricane Sandy, one charity calling itself the Hurricane Sandy Relief Effort raised $600k for storm victims, but it was all actually a ploy to help a couple of con artist with their own credit card relief,” Huffington Post said.
It’s easy to fall for a fake charity, because the scammers are so good at copying larger, real charities. However, to make sure your donation is going to a real cause, avoid “charities” that push you into making a donation, don’t tell you what it clear initiative is, and uses a name that sounds awfully close to the real one.
This one appeals to your brewing wanderlust spirit by exciting you with a free trip to some tropical or cultural getaway. This scam will come your way most frequently during the summer when your itch to getaway is at an all time high.
The offer might appease your with incredibly cheap prices, but they will get you in other ways by hiking up hotel room fares or transportation. By avoiding this type of scam, book your trip through a legitimate travel agency or a reliable website like Travelocity. Scams will always be lurking the Internet as long as it exists, so remember to be cautious with your credit card so that your money can go to real purposes that actually benefit you!
