The internet has made it a lot easier to do many things. Some things that took people a lot of time to complete are now done in days or even hours. But while the internet has given connectivity, access, and speed to people, it also brought negative effects. One of those bad things is online scams.
So many people have fallen victim to online scams. Many just wrote off the money they lost. To give you some information, the various kinds of online scams will be discussed here. But for starters, one basic thing you can do to avoid becoming a victim is to read online scam reviews. For instance, you can visit websites assessing scam risks like https://www.scamrisk.com/ and other similar sites for more information.
How To Fight Online Scams
The legitimate online community is learning to fight back. They’ve found ways to detect online business scams and bust them. Here are some of the things you can do to detect them, too.
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Check Reputable Scam Reviews
One active way of busting online scams is by encouraging people to check reputable scam reviews. Online customer reviews and user experience sharing are very important. There’s no substitute for the information you’ll get from actual buyer feedback or user experience. They’ll spare you the mistake of being fooled by the same scam.
In recent months, numerous websites and social media accounts appeared, featuring wealth gurus, investment mentors, and life coaches. It’s not always easy to separate the legitimate ones with extensive knowhow and experience. But there are ways of objectively assessing online investment mentors like Grant Cardone and others like him. New websites have sprung up focused on how to avoid online scams. They’re quite helpful in making people more aware of the red flags of possible scams.
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Flag Patterns Of Online Scams
The second way of busting online business scams is by flagging patterns when you see them. To do that, you’ll have to be familiar with various patterns of previous scams. The first types of online fraud were emails that tricked people into sharing personal and financial information.
Here are some patterns of online scams which were created and have evolved over time:
- Email scams to get your personal and financial information, such as IDs and credit cards
- Nigerian scams saying you were selected to receive a huge sum of money, but you have to shell out some amount for the transfer and service fees
- Online stores selling counterfeit brands or outright fake goods
- Chats from clone social media accounts of your friends asking for money
- Pop-ups loaded with malware that can remotely access your computer
- Fake accounts of charitable entities raising funds by asking for donations
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Secure Your Online Accounts
The third way of busting online scams is to secure your online accounts and be careful with your online activities and internet transactions. It may sound like a useless or repetitive reminder because a lot of people say they’re careful all the time anyway. But people really have to be extra careful because most online scams appear as harmless emails, chat messages from close friends, downloads of favorite apps, or links that fire up your curiosity.
Some specific examples are emails sent to get your passwords and other personal financial information. With millions of people doing online purchases and fund transfers, fraudsters have found it effective to get the passwords of emails since most online banking accounts are linked to the user emails.
In short, they’ll be able to log in to your online account thru the ‘Forgot Your Password’ button if they get access to the personal or work email linked to your online payment account.
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Double-check Emailed Links Before Clicking
Another online scam on the rise is what’s called phishing. Derived from ‘fishing,’ this scam is done by baiting a victim to click a link or enter their log in username and password. This would give the scammer access to the emails, bank accounts, credit card information, or payment accounts of the victim.
To avoid becoming a victim, double-check links you receive, especially when they ask for log in usernames, passwords, and other personal information. Phishing can happen very fast, and scammers are usually able to quickly siphon off the funds from your online account in just a few seconds.
Fighting Online Scams
Busting online business scams starts with you. The best way to combat online scams is by sharing information on scams and preventing them from happening. To avoid being a victim, remember the four ways of busting online scams: check reputable scam assessments and reviews; flag patterns when you see them; secure your online accounts and be careful with online activities and financial transactions; and, lastly, double-check links or log-in boxes before putting in your usernames and passwords.