Cybercrime has become a problem for everyone over the years, both people and businesses. More hacking has happened in the last ten years than they did before. People are falling for these schemes because con artists are coming up with new ways to steal people’s money.
Scammers get sensitive information from people they know or buy it on the dark web before they take over your account. Email addresses, passwords, credit card numbers, and social security numbers are all pieces of personal information that cybercriminals want.
Good news: people can stay safe by knowing about the most common scams, even ones that have to do with the coronavirus. It makes sense that the first thing you should do to beat scams is to learn what they do. Make sure you don’t fall for these 5 common scams by following these steps.
The Effect of Scams on Our Lives
Scammers use account takeover to get into one or more of your accounts by pretending to be you. With that access, they can then do things that aren’t supposed to be done on your account. Someone could, for instance, steal your login information and use it to get into your account.
After that, they move money to other banks. Sift, a company that helps stop payment fraud, says that account takeover is the thing that fraudsters do most often. Sift says that between 2019 and 2020, tries to take over someone else’s account went up by about 282%.
Scammers have many ways to get personal information, which they can then use to take over your account. Some of these are phishing, downloading malware, man-in-the-middle attempts, and more. The best way to protect yourself from identity theft is to know about and avoid these techniques and methods.
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Scams in Online Shopping
Everyday life has changed so that shopping online is now the rule. On online shopping sites, you can find just about anything, from the newest iPhone to expensive clothes to cutting-edge sound systems and the list goes on. As more people shop online, con artists have come up with clever ways to steal from people who aren’t paying attention.
There are many honest online sellers, but scammers use the fact that shoppers can be private to steal their money. Scammers use cutting-edge technology to make fake websites that look like real online shops. They do this by using complex designs and layouts, stolen logos, and fake domain names.
Investment Scams
The fact that these scams can be pretty smart and hard to spot makes them dangerous. They offer big payouts, quick cash, or returns that you can count on. A huge red flag is when the investment options say they will give you a high return with little to no risk.
You might get calls from businesses that want to sell your investments with the promise of big profits. The speakers are usually very clear and seem to know a lot about money. They might say the offer is only good for a short time and even give you a bonus to get you to sign up right away.
They might do this with brochures, websites that look good, and testimonials that sound good. Also, any money you “invest” usually ends up in the scammer’s bank account instead of being used to make a real investment. It’s almost always impossible to get your money back.
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Scams with Scholarships and Grants
People today naturally worry about how to pay for college and how much it will cost. Scammers know this and go after people who are trying to get scholarships and funds to pay for school. The scammers may want to steal your name.
A more direct attempt may be to charge you for “proprietary information” about grants or awards that the “general public doesn’t know exists.” There are different kinds of fake online college scam deals. Like, “guarantees” that you’ll get your money back if you don’t get the grant. It can also include grants that cost money that you have to pay for.
Scam in Lottery, Prizes and Sweepstakes
You got a million bucks! I’m sure that line has been in your dreams. Criminals are well aware of this, which is why lottery scams are big business in Tennessee.
People should be careful like Saturia because she lost a lot of money in a lottery scam: “I don’t have any more money.” I don’t have enough cash to pay for rent, food, or gas. I have no money at all. Saturia thought she lost a huge $190,000 over a number of years.
Job Placement Scams
Today is the first day of summer jobs. It’s much easier to find one of those jobs now that we have the internet. But there are risks with that. More than 1,000 people in Tennessee said they were scammed by a job ad.
Miranda Owens grabbed her computer right away when she needed to find a new job: “I was really banking on finding a job because I had looked through hundreds of different job listings at that point.” She finally found a job she liked that let her work from home. Before starting, the 24-year-old did some study on the company and the people who work there.
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Conclusion
The scams we talked about are just some of the most common ones. As time goes on, more scams appear, each with its own unique methods and approaches that are often very different from the first fake. They could show up right away or later. crooks may give your information to other crooks who will use it in a totally different way. We hope that this article has made it easier for you to spot a scam.