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Scams: What? Where? Why? How?

The internet is present in almost every aspect of our lives. From a source of information to a tool for creation and sharing, business, communication, entertainment, and so on. As the internet evolves, so does the number of people who use it. According to Statistica Research Department (2022), there were more than five billion internet users worldwide as of April 2022, accounting for 63.1 percent of the global population. However, billions of these individuals are victims of internet fraud, particularly scams.

Internet fraud is defined as any scheme that uses one or more internet components (e.g., chat, email, website) to publish fraudulent solicitations, conduct fraudulent transactions, or transmit fraudulent proceeds (NC State University, n.d). Scams are a type of internet fraud in which people are deceived into giving their money or personal information for free.

Where do scams occur? Why does it occur?
Scams can come in many forms, including emails, social media, SMS, phone calls, and websites. Scammers usually make too-good-to-be-true promises, share and demand too much information, and request money up front. Their primary goal is to illegally obtain something from people, such as money, credit card information, login and password credentials, identity information, and so on.

Most common types of scams:

1. Online Shopping Scams - scammers will sell a product that is not what you paid for, send a faulty or inferior quality item, or send nothing at all. They may also pretend to sell a product in order to obtain your credit card or bank account information.
2. Lottery Scam - a lottery company’s email, letter, or text message appears out of nowhere. It will notify you that you have won a large sum of money or fantastic prizes in a lottery or competition that you did not participate in. Scammers typically claim that you must pay fees or taxes before receiving your winnings or prize.
3. Romance Scam - scammers attempt to weaken your defenses by appealing to your romantic or compassionate side. They use emotional cues to entice you to provide money, gifts, or personal information.
4. Banking and Online Account Scam - scammers send emails or text messages that appear to be from your bank, a financial institution, or an online payment service.

• Card Skimming - is the illegal copying of information from a credit or ATM card’s magnetic strip. Scammers attempt to obtain your personal information in order to gain access to your accounts.
• Phising - also called brand spoofing, occurs when scammers create email messages and websites that are exact replicas of legitimate sites and businesses. Scammers use these websites and emails to trick users into submitting personal, financial, or password information.

How to avoid internet scams?

• Create a secure password for each of your accounts.
• Check links and websites before you click.
• Be wary of strange phone calls, emails, text messages, and so on.
• Keep your personal information private.
• When someone asks you for money, be cautious.
• Do not put a lot of trust in what you see on the internet.

References:

• Statistica Research Department. (2022). Worldwide digital population july 2022. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/617136/digital-population-worldwide/
• NC State University. (n.d). Internet fraud. Retrieved from https://oit.ncsu.edu/it-security/safe-computing/internet-fraud/