I have told you so many times about the Internet and the advantages we have when using it that I no longer remember. Despite everything, I believe that it is also essential, it is important that you know that unfortunately on the Internet you can also meet malicious people who use this tool to scam people who want ways to generate money online or who are in need. Do you know what I'm talking about? Exactly, I'm talking about the internet scams.
If you did not know, there are different types of scams that we are all exposed to. And at the same time these cyber criminals (I would also call them: scoundrels) are improving their methods to obtain more victims and not leave a trace. These things to me they bother a lot, because they take advantage of honest people looking to earn some extra money online and people who do not have much knowledge of the Internet.
It is because of that you have to be alert and know well what are the most common types of Internet scams to avoid them and not fall for them.
In this post you will find:
The 13 most common Internet scams
Read carefully which are the most common Internet scams and what they consist of so that you can identify them in time and avoid displeasure. Then I will give you at the same time some extra recommendations:
Scams that ask you for money upfront
Online shopping scams
It is increasingly common for us to turn to the Internet to buy anything, whether new or second-hand, so far there is no danger.
What emerges is that, some of the ads that you can find are going to seem like an authentic "bargain”, A possibility that is difficult to reject. But what happens? the person is going to ask you to pay in advance and more particularly through a company such as Western Union or similar. Once the payment is made, the product never arrives, and if it arrives, it does not match what you thought you bought (they send you a fake or something in poor condition).
You cannot get the money back and the ad has disappeared and you will not be able to contact the "seller".
These scams often occur on mobiles, PCs or other electronic messages.
Fake job offers
If you are registered in job portals, the scammers will have taken your data and will contact you by email to offer you a job.
The scam is about sending you a job offer that has very good salary conditions and that you can start right away. But for the position to be yours, you must pay in advance for a series of expenses that your hiring implies. Don't believe any of this! You should never pay to work, no company will ask you for an advance payment to work.
Scams in job offers from home and business opportunities
Scammers offer you the possibility of participating in a business with high returns or very profitable jobs, and all this from home. How generous, right?
The scam is very similar to the previous one. They ask you for money in advance for permits, licenses, training or for the material you need to get started. In some cases they even send you the material but this is only to make the scam more credible, they will not contact you again.
In this post I will tell you more about this type of scam.
False donations or aid
In this type of online scam, scammers pose as charities to request donations or aid for natural disasters, diseases, terrorist attacks, ...
Scammers do not hesitate to use logos of prestigious international institutions.
If you want to help these causes, the ideal is that you look directly in the institutions and inform yourself with them.
Love scams - sentimental
This scam is done through dating websites. It can also happen to you on any social network. So stay tuned @
What does it consist of?
The scammer pretends to be someone else to gain the trust of his victim, sends him photos (of another person, of course, and very desirable) and shows your interest in a romantic relationship.
When the scammer has gained the trust of his victim, he will ask for money saying that he is sick or that he is going through some difficult situation or that he requires it to move (because of course he lives in another city or in another country) and be able to see each other personally. When you get the money, the scammer's profile will disappear from the web.
Extortion scams and threats
This scam is about an alleged "hit man" contacting you by email because he has been hired to murder you. This "thug" very nice, he thinks to decline the offer if you offer him an amount equal to or greater than what he has offered your enemy.
It all sounds like a movie, but trust me these scams exist.
Another argument they use is that your enemyHe has hired him for a kidnapping or an assault, but the "thug" is not going to do it either, in exchange for money. (I already told you that he is very nice).
One of the internet scams that has increased: Scams with rental apartments
If at any time you have looked for rental apartments, you will know how complicated it is. But suddenly one day you come across an ad for an apartment like the one you were wanting: well located, new or renovated, the ideal size, lots of light and best of all… the price, a bargain!
In this type of advertisement the owner prefers to be contacted by email. He does not have a phone number and if he does, no one will answer.
When the interested party contacts the owner, he is going to tell him a story that is usually quite twisted but he simply tells you this: that he lives abroad, that he cannot take care of that house and that is why he rents it. You are interested in finding the right person more than financial gain. The downside is that only he or she has the keys and to be able to send them they must check the true interest of the person. How? Asking that they send him part of the deposit or a monthly payment by some money transfer agency.
In other cases, you are directed to another website (created by the scammers) where the interested party can make the payment.
In neither case, you can visit the flat.
Once they receive the money, the ad disappears and the money also. If you go to the address where the apartment is located, it does not exist or is occupied by its true owner who will have nothing to do with the ad.
eye! That this type of Internet scam can also be done for vacation rental apartments. Here a news from two arrested for fraud in Spain.
Nigerian Letters Hoax (Hoax 419)
Sadly this type of scam will ring a bell.
They are letters written in English and that arrive by email (or ordinary mail). They have this name because they are sent from Nigeria, or from another African country.
They have three variants but the same purpose: to obtain money from the victim, making him believe that he is going to receive a millionaire amount of money but first he has to cover some costs. They regularly provide these fundamental principles:
- The money is from an investment that cannot be recovered unless it is transferred to another person. That other person is the victim (you) and that by helping them get this money back (nonexistent), you will receive a percentage.
- You have won a Lottery prize! Because your email address has been chosen in a draw or the National Lottery of another country, what have you not even played. Scammers use official agency logos to make messages more credible. But think, have you participated in any lottery?
- You are going to receive an inheritance. In this case, a “legal adviser” or a “lawyer” will be contacted to tell you that you have inherited a fortune from a distant relative who lived in another country or from someone who has no heirs and wants to leave it to you. As nice as it sounds, it's not true.
Whatever argument you use, it's a lie!
Internet scams to obtain your data
Phishing
This is one of the most well-known scams on the Internet and that you may have heard of usually.
This scam is about getting credit card information and / or passwords.
How do they do that? Scammers contact the victim (you) by email posing as your bank (or other payment institution) telling you that your account has been blocked or that you must confirm your details. Some even use original logos. They tell you that you must use a link that directs you to a false page but very equivalent to that of your bank. Therefore, scammers get your data.
Sometimes they even send you these emails from a "bank" where you don't even have an account. This will make you very suspicious. Ignore these emails!
Remember that the only emails that banks are going to send you are for commercial promotion and they will never ask you for personal information or passwords by email. Never. No bank or payment entity does.
Pharming
This other type of scam, let's say it is the technical evolution of the previous one.
Scammers using specialized software look for the technical weaknesses of authentic web pages to redirect users to their own pages, without them realizing it and thus obtain their data.
Scams on social networks or WhatsApp
This is a type of phishing, in other words they use it to obtain personal data.
What does it consist on? Scammers send messages using the identity of a recognized brand (clothing, shoes, makeup, supermarkets, ...) for you to fill out a survey in exchange for a gift voucher of great value, about € 100 or more.
Sounds tempting, right? but don't do it!
To bring you the prize, they will ask you to share it with other people and at the same time give them your personal data. Therefore, it is how they obtain your data and those of your contacts to whom you have shared the message.
Here is the case of scam by whatsapp which occurred in Spain in 2016, using the Mercadona name.
(*13*)
The National Police warned of this type of phishing
Here is another example of deception by whatsapp, this time from Starbucks in Mexico and the United States.
Internet hoaxes that try to market you smoke or something that has no cost
The miracle programs to be a millionaire
Certainly on more than one occasion you will have seen ads with fundamental principles of the type:
"Single mother earns 365 euros a day from her home"
"He was unemployed but this method allowed him to earn 10,000 euros per month"
These headlines are very eye-catching and sometimes you can also see photos of their mansions, their luxury cars, their trips,… But… .. the objective of these ads is to convince you that you can also have a life like this "wonderful”And get rich overnight without working, like the people in the ad.
How? They tell you that by buying a method that the people in the ad have used, you will also earn quick and easy money, it's that simple!
But all this is a lie, in the best of cases you are not going to win anything and in the worst, you are going to lose all your savings.
The most advertised programs are the binary alternatives and the lists of paid survey companies. Advertisers are going to earn high commissions every time someone buys these programs, so they make money while you lose it.
Here are a couple of examples:
- This is a classic, there are different versions, and the names or photos usually change in each country.
This is the ad hook they use to tempt you.
- $ 3,000 to fill out surveys? With the surveys you will earn money but not that much, do not be fooled.
There are also single parents who earn a lot of money
Ignore these ads. In this post I tell you more about binary alternatives scams, read it carefully.
Sale of list of ...
Even though I have left this scam last, it does not mean that it is the least important. It's actually quite usual.
If you need ideas to generate extra money online, you have visited several websites where they tell you about different methods, this blog is one of them. But unfortunately in others of the same theme they are promoting paid lists of paid survey pages. They promise you that with this list you will earn a lot of money.
This bothers me a lot that they do it, because this is why people think that all bloggers are going to lie to you.
I am not saying that it is not feasible to make money from surveys, it is and I have talked about that here on the blog. But you are not going to earn much, but you are going to get it little by little and it will only mean an extra income in your account.
Never pay for lists of this type, because on the Internet you will find many free survey websites. I myself tell you about the paid surveys here. You can check that they are reliable by using search engines to find opinions of other users.
Never pay to subscribe to survey, ad or similar pages, these pages are free.
How to report a scam made on the Internet?
Crimes committed over the Internet have the same treatment as crimes committed off-line.
If you have been the victim of some type of Internet scam, this is what I advise you to do:
Complaint
File a complaint (written or verbal) at the nearest Police station or Civil Guard office, you can also seek advice from specialized lawyers.
If you are in Spain, you can also file the complaint online, and then go and sign it:
Report the scam to the website
If the scam was committed through a web page, you must tell them everything that happened and what was the ad the scammer had placed. Therefore they will take care of removing the false ad and blocking this person's account.
Some websites have an arbitration service to help you fix problems of this type.
Do not be shy and denounce it publicly
Tell what happened in blogs, forums or social networks, do not be shy! Count as many details as possible.
You will help to prevent the same from happening to other users.
Recommendations to avoid Internet scams
You have already seen that cyber criminals use different ways to commit their crimes. That is why you have to be very careful when you use the Internet. Here are some recommendations for avoid scams:
- Make sure you have an antivirus installed and updated. At the same time to be more protected you can use anti-spyware and anti-adware programs.
- When shopping online, be suspicious of products that are much cheaper than the official price and do not buy it.
- If you receive emails, SMS messages or whatsapp of unknown origin, do not open them and directly delete them.
- Don't open attachments or tempting message links.
- If you constantly receive these types of messages, check your bank transactions.
- If you think you have been the victim of an internet scam: cancel your cards and contact your bank, change your passwords.
- Never, never give money in advance or share your personal information with strangers.
- You should never pay to work. If a "company" asks you, it is a scam.
- Never pay for lists of something that you can find for free on the Internet.
- When you have to make an online payment, make sure that the connection to the payment gateway complies with security regulations. In the image below I explain how you can verify that the web page you are viewing is safe.
Check that the website you use is safe
- Never pay for miracle programs that claim to earn a lot of money. Remember easy money does not exist.
To complement this list of scams and tips, I leave you the link of the Civil Guard so that you know what other scams (outside the Internet) exist: http://www.guardiacivil.es/es/servicios/consejos/estafa.html
Here are some pages that do pay and are not going to fool you ...
If you are looking for safe ideas with which to get some extra money, I leave you some recommendations. These pages are not going to scam you.
- Pages of free paid surveys in Spain: Toluna and i-Say. In some Latin American countries you will also be able to find Toluna and LifePoints. These are just some of my favorite pages, in this post you will have the option to see the complete list.
- In addition there is aapplications that allow you to earn money with your cell phone. You only have to perform simple tasks and you will have a remuneration in return. It is ideal for your free time. You can read more here.
- Share your house on Airbnb for extra income. By clicking here you will be able to make a simulation of how much money you would get.
- Sell the clothes you no longer wear. For this there are different pages where you can upload photos and market your garments, or else let them take care of everything. Here I will tell you more about this dynamic of earning extra money.
These are just some ideas that you will find in this blog. I invite you to explore and discover the best idea for you. 😉 And if you are interested in saving here you will also find some very simple ideas.
Conclusions: internet scams
Surfing the Internet has become a habit for everyone, or almost everyone. We use it daily: to communicate, to buy, to be informed, ... and unfortunately we are exposed to any type of scam that can bring us serious financial and even legal consequences.
This is why I want you to take the recommendations in this post seriously and it is important that you know recognize internet scams to avoid them. Scammers will use all their tricks to seduce you into their trap. Suspicion of all those striking messages of unique possibilities, great prizes, easy money, all that is nothing more than a lie.
If you think this information can be useful to your friends, acquaintances, relatives or neighbors, do not hesitate to share it 😉
