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We truly want to believe that the Internet is a safe place where you can’t fall for all types of online scams, but it’s always a good reminder to do a “reality check”. We, humans, can become an easy target for malicious actors who want to steal our most valuable personal data. Criminal minds can reach these days further than before, into our private lives, our homes and work offices. And there is little we can do about it. Attack tactics and tools vary from traditional attack vectors, which use malicious software and vulnerabilities present in almost all the programs and apps (even in the popular Windows operating systems), to ingenious phishing scams deployed from unexpected regions of the world, where justice can’t easily reach out to catch the eventual perpetrators. According to a report from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), millennials are particularly more vulnerable to online scams than seniors, as shocking as it may seem. The research finds that “40 percent of adults age 20-29 who have reported fraud ended up losing money in a fraud case”.

Here are the findings of a report about financial scams

Source: Federal Trade Commision

For this reason, we need to know what are the most popular techniques malicious actors are using to get unauthorized access to our private information and financial data. We must not forget their final target is always our money and there is nothing they won’t do to accomplish their mission. Use the links below to quickly navigate the list of online scams you need to stay away from right now.

  1. Phishing email scams
  2. The Nigerian scam
  3. Greeting card scams
  4. Bank loan or credit card scam
  5. Lottery scam
  6. Hitman scam
  7. Romance scams
  8. Fake antivirus software
  9. Facebook impersonation scam (hijacked profile scam)
  10. Make money fast scams (Economic scams)
  11. Travel scams
  12. Bitcoin scams
  13. Fake news scam
  14. Fake shopping websites
  15. Loyalty points phishing scam
  16. Job offer scams
  17. SMS Scaming(Smshing)
  18. Overpayment Online Scam
  19. Tech Support Online Scams

1. Phishing email scams

More than one third of all security incidents start with phishing emails or malicious attachments sent to company employees, according to a new report from F-Secure. Phishing scams continue to evolve and be a significant online threat for both users and organizations that could see their valuable data in the hands of malicious actors. The effects of phishing attacks can be daunting, so it is essential to stay safe and learn how to detect and prevent these attacks.

Phishing scams are based on communication made via email or on social networks. In many cases, cyber criminals will send users messages/emails by trying to trick them into providing them valuable and sensitive data ( login credentials – from bank account, social network, work account, cloud storage) that can prove to be valuable for them. Moreover, these emails will seem to come from an official source (like bank institutions or any other financial authority, legitime companies or social networks representatives for users.) This way, they’ll use social engineering techniques by convincing you to click on a specific (and) malicious link and access a website that looks legit, but it’s actually controlled by them. You will be redirect to a fake login access page that resembles the real website.

If you’re not paying attention, you might end up giving your login credentials and other personal information. We’ve seen many spam email campaigns in which phishing were the main attack vector for malicious criminals used to spread financial and data stealing malware. In order for their success rate to grow, scammers create a sense of urgency. They’ll tell you a frightening story of how your bank account is under threat and how you really need to access as soon as possible a site where you must insert your credentials in order to confirm your identity or your account. After you fill in your online banking credentials, cyber criminals use them to breach your real bank account or to sell them on the dark web to other interested parties. Here’s an example of a sophisticated email scam making the rounds that you should be very careful. An example of phishing scam Source: News.com.au

Use this complete guide on how to detect and prevent phishing attacks (filled with screenshots and actionable tips) to better fight these attacks.

2. The Nigerian scam

Probably one of the oldest and most popular Internet scams used mostly by a member of a Nigerian family with wealth to trick different people. It is also known as “Nigerian 419”, and named after the section of Nigeria’s Criminal Code that banned the practice. A typical Nigerian scam involves an emotional email, letter, text message or social networking message coming from a scammer (which can be an official government member, a businessman or a member of a very wealthy family member – usually a woman) who asks you to give help in retrieving a large sum of money from a bank, paying initially small fees for papers and legal matters. In exchange for your help, they promise you a very large sum of money. They will be persistent and ask you to pay more and more money for additional services, such as transactions or transfer costs. You’ll even receive papers that are supposed to make you believe that it’s all for real. In the end, you are left broke and without any of the promised money. Here’s how a Nigerian scam could look like:

one of the most common online scamsSource: MotherJones.com

3. Greeting card scams

Whether it’s Christmas or Easter, we all get all kind of holiday greeting cards in our email inbox that seem to be coming from a friend or someone we care. Greeting card scams are another old Internet scams used by malicious actors to inject malware and harvest users’ most valuable data. If you open such an email and click on the card, you usually end up with malicious software that is being downloaded and installed on your operating system. The malware may be an annoying program that will launch pop-ups with ads, unexpected windows all over the screen. If your system becomes infected with such dangerous malware, you will become one of the bots which are part of a larger network of affected computers. If this happens, your computer will start sending private data and financial information to a fraudulent server controlled by IT criminals. To keep yourself safe from identity theft and data breach, we recommend using a specialized security program against this type of online threats. To find out more information about financial malware, read this article. And here’s how you can tell if your computer was infected with malware.

Another common Internet scamSource: The Beacon Bulletin

4. Bank loan or credit card scam

People can be easily scammed by “too good to be true” bank offers that might guarantee large amounts of money and have already been pre-approved by the bank. If such an incredible pre-approved loan is offered to you, ask yourself: “How is it possible for a bank to offer you such a large sum of money without even checking and analyzing your financial situation?” Though it may seem unlikely for people to get trapped by this scam, there’s still a big number of people who lost money by paying the “mandatory” processing fees required by the scammers. Here are 9 warning signs and sneaky tactics to watch out and avoid becoming a business loan scam. As regards to credit card scams, a recent report from the Identity Theft Resources Center said that the number of credit and debit card breaches have been on the rise last year. To better safeguard your data and prevent thieves from getting access to your payment card details, consider:

  • Watching your accounts closely and monitor your online transactions;
  • Taking advantage of free consumer protection services;
  • Signing up for free credit monitoring.

Source: ChaffeurDriven.com

5. Lottery scam

This is another classic Internet scam which doesn’t seem to get old. A lottery scam comes as an email message informing you that you won a huge amount of money and, in order to claim your prize or winnings, you need to pay some small fees. Lucky you, right?! It doesn’t even matter that you don’t recall ever purchasing lottery tickets. Since it addresses some of our wildest fantasies, such as quitting our jobs and living off the fortune for the rest of our lives, without ever having to work again, our imagination falls prey easily to amazing scenarios someone can only dream of. But the dream ends as soon as you realize you have been just another scam victim. DO NOT fall for this online scam and have a look at this checklist to see if you are getting scammed. This is an example of a lottery scamSource: Ripandscam.com

6. Hitman scam

One of the most frequent Internet scams you can meet online is the “hitman” extortion attempt. Cybercriminals will send you an email threatening to extort money from you. This type of online scam may come in various forms, such as the one threatening that they will kidnap a family member unless a ransom is paid in a time frame provided by the scammers. To create the appearance of real danger, the message is filled with details from the victim’s life, collected from an online account, a personal blog or from a social network account. That’s why it’s not safe to provide any sensitive or personal information about you on social media channels. It might seem like a safe and private place, where you’re only surrounded by friends, but in reality, you can never know for sure who’s watching you. Also, it’s better to be a little bit paranoid and protect all your digital assets like everyone is watching. Here’s how a Hitman scam looks like:

 

7. Online dating (romance) scams

As the Internet plays an important role in our social lives, with apps like Facebook or Instagram we access every day, it’s inevitable to use apps to look for love as well. Online dating apps are very popular these days and they are a great way to meet your future life partners. I have actually an example with a friend of mine who was lucky enough to find her future husband on a dating site. But not all scenarios have a “happy end” like this one, and you need to be very careful because you never know who can you meet.

A romance scam usually takes place on social dating networks, like Facebook, or by sending a simple email to the potential target, and affects thousands of victims from all over the world. The male scammers are often located in West Africa, while the female scammers are mostly from the eastern parts of Europe. Cybercriminals have abused this scamming method for years by using online dating services. They improved their approach just by testing the potential victims’ reactions. According to research published in the British Journal of Criminology last month, the techniques (and psychological methods) used by scammers in online romance scams are similar to those used in domestic violence cases. To avoid becoming a victim of these Internet scams, you need to learn how to better protect yourself.

Knowing that hundreds of women and men from all over the globe are victims of these online scams, we recommend using these security tips for defensive online dating, including warning signs that could help you from becoming an easy target. I would also recommend reading these real stories and learn from them, so you don’t fall for these online scams:

8. Fake antivirus software

We all saw at least once this message on our screens: “You have been infected! Download antivirus X right now to protect your computer!” Many of these pop-ups were very well created to look like legitimate messages that you might get from Windows or any other security product. If you are lucky, there is nothing more than an innocent hoax that will bother you by displaying unwanted pop-ups on your screen while you browse online. In this case, to get rid of the annoying pop-ups, we recommend scanning your system using a good antivirus product.

If you are not so lucky, your system can end up getting infected with malware, such as a Trojan or a keylogger. This kind of message could also come from one of the most dangerous ransomware threats around, such as CryptoLocker, which is capable of blocking and encrypting your operating system and requesting you a sum of money in exchange for the decryption key. To avoid this situation, we recommend enhancing your online protection with a specialized security product against financial malware and complement your traditional antivirus program. Also, make sure you do not click on pop-up windows that annoyingly warn you’ve been infected with a virus. Remember to always apply the existing updates for your software products, and install only legitimate software programs from verified websites.

9. Facebook impersonation scam (hijacked profile scam)

Facebook. Everyone is talking about it these days and the scandal about Cambridge Analytica firm harvesting personal data taken from millions of this social media channel without users’ consent. It’s still the most popular social media network where everyone is active and uses it on a daily basis to keep in touch with friends and colleagues. Unfortunately, it has become also the perfect place for online scammers to find their victims.

Just imagine your account being hacked by a cybercriminal and gaining access to your close friends and family. Nobody wants that! Since it is so important for your privacy and online security, you should be very careful in protecting your personal online accounts just the way you protect your banking or email account. Facebook security wise, these tips might help you stay away from these online scams:

  • Do not accept friend requests from people you don’t know
  • Do not share your password with others
  • When logging in, use two-factor authentication
  • Avoid connecting to public and free Wi-Fi networks
  • Keep your browser and apps updated
  • Add an additional layer of security and use proactive cybersecurity software.

To enhance your online privacy, I recommend reading our full guide on Facebook security and privacy.

facebook-scam

10. Make money fast scams (Economic scams)

Cybercriminals will lure you into believing you can make money easy and fast on the internet. They’ll promise you non-existent jobs, including plans and methods of getting rich quickly. It is a quite simple and effective approach, because it addresses a basic need for money, especially when someone is in a difficult financial situation. This scamming method is similar to the romance scam mentioned above, where the cyber attackers address the emotional side of victims.

The fraudulent posting of non-existent jobs for a variety of positions is part of the online criminals’ arsenal. Using various job types, such as work-at-home scams, the victim is lured into giving away personal information and financial data with the promise of a well-paid job that will bring lots of money in a very short period of time. Read and apply these ten tips that can help you avoid some of the most common financial scams.

this is how a financial scam looks likeSource: Makerealmoneyonlinefree.com

11. Travel scams

These scams are commonly used during hot summer months or before the short winter vacations, for Christmas or New Year’s Day. Here’s how it happens: you receive an email containing an amazing offer for an exceptional and hard to refuse destination (usually an exotic place) that expires in a short period of time which you can’t miss. If it sounds too good to be true, it might look like a travel scam, so don’t fall for it! The problem is that some of these offers actually hide some necessary costs until you pay for the initial offer. Others just take your money without sending you anywhere. In such cases, we suggest that you study carefully the travel offer and look for hidden costs, such as: airport taxes, tickets that you need to pay to access a local attraction, check if the meals are included or not, other local transportation fees between your airport and the hotel or between the hotel and the main attractions mentioned in the initial offer, etc. As a general rule, we suggest that you go with the trustworthy, well-known travel agencies. You can also check if by paying individually for plane tickets and for accommodation you receive the same results as in the received offer. If you love to travel, you can easily fall prey to airline scams by simply looking for free airline tickets. Airline scams are some of the most popular travel scams, and we recommend applying these valuable tips.

travel

 

12. Bitcoin scams

If you (want to) invest in Bitcoin technology, we advise you to be aware of online scams. Digital wallets can be open to hacking and scammers take advantage of this new technology to steal sensitive data. Bitcoin transactions should be safe, but these five examples of Bitcoin scams show how they happen and how you can lose your money. The most common online scams to watch out for:

  • Fake Bitcoin exchanges
  • Ponzi schemes
  • Everyday scam attempts
  • Malware

Here’s how you can spot a Bitcoin scam and how to stay safe online.

Source: Express.co.uk

13. Fake news scam

The spread of fake news on the Internet is a danger to all of us because it has an impact on the way we filter all the information we found and read on social media. It’s a serious problem that should concern our society, mostly for the misleading resources and content found online, making it impossible for people to distinguish between what’s real and what is not. We recommend accessing/reading only reliable sources of information coming from friends or people you know read regular feeds from trusted sources: bloggers, industry experts, in order to avoid fake news. [Tweet “If it seems too good to be true, it’s most likely a scam.

Take a look over these online scams”] This type of scam could come in the form of a trustworthy website you know and often visit, but being a fake one created by scammers with the main purpose to rip you off. It could be a spoofing attack which is also involved in fake news and refers to fake websites that might link you to a buy page for a specific product, where you can place an order using your credit card. To avoid becoming a victim of online scams, you can use tech tools such as Fact Check from Google or Facebook’s tool aimed at detecting whether a site is legitimate or not, analyzing its reputation and data. Cybersecurity experts believe that these Internet scams represent a threat for both organizations and employees, exposing and infecting their computers with potential malware.

Source: Opportunitychecker.com

14. Fake shopping websites

We all love shopping and it’s easier and more convenient to do it on the Internet with a few clicks. But for your online safety, be cautious about the sites you visit. There are thousands of websites out there that provide false information and might redirect you to malicious links, giving hackers access to your most valuable data. If you spot a great online offer which is “too good to be true”, you might be tempted to say “yes” instantly, but you need to learn how to spot a fake shopping site so you don’t get scammed. We strongly recommend reading these online shopping security tips to keep yourself safe from data breaches, phishing attacks or other online threats. Source: Originalo.de

15. Loyalty points phishing scam

Many websites have a loyalty program to reward their customers for making different purchases, by offering points or coupons. This is subject to another online scam because cybercriminals can target them and steal your sensitive data. If you think anyone wouldn’t want to access them, think again. The most common attack is a phishing scam that looks like a real email coming from your loyalty program, but it’s not. Malicious hackers are everywhere, and it takes only one click for malware to be installed on your PC and for hackers to have access to your data. As it might be difficult to detect these phishing scams, you may find useful this example of a current phishing campaign targets holders of Payback couponing cards, as well as some useful tips and tricks to avoid being phished.

Source: G Data Security Blog

16. Job offer scams

Sadly, there are scammers everywhere – even when you are looking for a job – posing as recruiters or employers. They use fake and “attractive” job opportunities to trick people. It starts with a phone call (or a direct message on LinkedIn) from someone claiming to be a recruiter from a well-known company who saw your CV and saying they are interested in hiring you. Whether you’ve applied or not, the offer might be very appealing, but don’t fall into this trap. To protect yourself from job offer scams, it’s very important to:

  • Do thorough research about the company and see what information you can find about it;
  • Check the person who’s been contacted you on social media channels;
  • Ask for many details and references and check them out;
  • Ask your friends or trustworthy people if they know or interacted with the potential employer.

To avoid these types of online job scams, check this article.

Source: Drexel.edu

17. SMS Scamming (Smshing)

Smartphones. You can’t live without them in the era of the Internet. They’ve become essential for communication, online shopping, banking or any other online activity. Needless to say the amount of data we store on our personal devices which make them vulnerable to cybercriminals, always prepared to steal our online identities or empty our bank accounts. Smishing (using SMS text messages) is a similar technique to phishing, but, instead of sending emails, malicious hackers send text messages to their potential victims. How does this happen? You receive an urgent text message on your smartphone with a link attached saying that it’s from your bank and you need to access it in order to update your bank information or other online banking information. Be careful about these SMS you receive and don’t click on suspicious links that could redirect to malicious sites trying to steal your valuable data. These useful tips can help you easily spot these types of online scams. Source: Malwarebytes Labs

18. Overpayment Online Scam

If you are considering selling different items on specialized online sites, we strongly recommend watching out for overpayment scam. A typically overpayment online scam like this works by getting the potential victim “to refund” the scammer an extra amount of money because he/she send too much money. The offer will often be quite generous and bigger than the agreed price. The overpay (extra money) is to cover the costs of shipping or certain custom fees. One such story can unfold right now and can happen to each of you. This happened to one of our Heimdal Security team members.

After smiling a bit and seeing the method, we did realize that’s a common online scam and we had to share it with you. Also, we included a few security tips and actionable advice to prevent falling prey to overpayment online scam. Our colleague posted a sofa for sale on a Danish site called dba.dk which is a sort of a flea market online. After a few days, he received a message from a person claiming to be interested in the item and willing to pay more than the price offered, via PayPal account. Here’s how a scam email looks like in which the malicious person asks for personal information to transfer the money.

Also, here’s the confirmation email coming from the scammer which shows that he paid an extra amount for the sofa, including extra shipping fees and MoneyGram charges the extra fee for transportation.

After that, he also got another email saying that he needs to refund the extra amount of money, including the shipping and transportation charges to a certain shipping agent via MoneyGram transfer. Here’s how the phishing email looks like that you should be very careful and don’t fall for it:

Follow these security tips to protect yourself from overpayment online scams:

  • If you notice a suspicious email coming from an untrusted source or something out of ordinary, you should report it as soon as possible.
  • If you receive a similar email like the one our colleague got, do not transfer extra money to someone you don’t know, especially if he/she wants to overpay. A legitimate buyer won’t do that.
  • Also, do not transfer money to a fake shipping company or some private shipping agent, because it’s part of a scam and you need to be very careful.
  • Do not provide personal information to people who don’t show a genuine interest in buying your item.
  • Do not send the product to the buyer until the payment was completed and received in your bank account.

19. Tech Support Online Scams

Here’s another online scam that is common and you need to be extra careful. The next time your smartphone rings and you don’t know the number, think twice before answering. Maybe it’s not your friend on the other end of the phone, maybe it’s the scammer! According to a recent report “nearly half of all cellphone calls next year will come from scammers”, so we need to learn how to better detect and prevent such malicious actions coming from skilled persons. Tech support scams are very common and widespread these days. Scammers use various social engineering techniques to trick potential victims into giving their sensitive information. Even worst, they try to convince potential victims to pay for unnecessary technical support services.

These tech “experts” pretend to know everything about your computer, how it got hacked and many other details that help them gain your trust and convince victims to fall prey to their scams. A scenario like this can happen as we write this, and one of our Heimdal Security team members recently got a phone scam call. While we got amused by the conversation he had with the person pretending to work for an Indian tech support company, we realized it can happen to anyone who can become an easy target.

What happened? The person, pretending to be the representative of a software company and experienced one, is informing our colleague that his computer got hacked by cybercriminals, and offers to guide him and solve this urgent problem. With poor English skills, he gives details about the serial number of the computer, and provides guidance to access the unique computer ID, trying to misrepresent a normal system as having serious issues. After a few minutes, the call is transferred to another tech representative who informs our colleague that they detected unusual activity going through his computer. He’s been told that multiple attempts have been seen on the PC in which hackers tried to get unauthorized access to his computer. Our colleague detected this as being a scam and didn’t go along with it, but for someone without technical knowledge, it may not be so easy to spot. You can listen to this call here:

If someone else would have fallen prey for this online scam, things would have gone even further. The so-called tech scammers could persuade the potential victim to give them remote access to the system. To “help” the victim, scammers mention about additional software that is required to be installed and victims need to pay for these software victims, hence, provide credit card details. You can find out more info here How to avoid getting scammed by tech support “specialists” To avoid becoming an easy target of these sneaky tech support scammers, we strongly recommend following these basic rules:

  • Do not trust phone calls coming from people pretending to come from tech “experts”, especially if they are requesting for personal or financial information;
  • DO NOT PROVIDE sensitive data to them or purchase any software services scammers may suggest you as a solution to fix your tech problem.
  • DO NOT allow strangers to remotely access your computer and potentially install malicious software;
  • Make sure you download software apps and services only from official vendor sites;
  • Don’t take it for granted when a stranger calls you out of the blue, pretending to have a technical solution for your issues. Make sure you ask for proof of their identity and do a quick research about the company they are calling you from;
  • Always have an antivirus program installed on your computer, and for more protection, consider adding multiple layers of security with a proactive security solution like Heimdal™ Premium Security Home, which will stop any type of online threats.
  • Have a security-first mindset and be suspicious about everything around you. Also, consider investing in education and learn as much as possible about cybersecurity. Here’s how you can reduce spam phone calls.

 

Where can you report Online Scams and Frauds?

If you become a victim of an internet-related scam, you can report it to these government authorities:

  1. Econsumer.gov – Report international frauds. A partnership of more than 40 consumer protection agencies around the world. Accepts complaints about online shopping and e-commerce transactions with foreign companies.
  2. Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) – Report international frauds. Takes internet-related criminal complaints and forwards them to federal, state, local, and international law enforcement agencies.
  3. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) – US only. Consumer complaints and online scams are shared with all levels of law enforcement.
  4. Europol – For Europe. Several European countries listed with direct links and emails where you can report online scams.

 Conclusion

Since some scams are so well organized and really convincing, and people behind them so difficult to catch, we need to always keep our guard up. Stay informed about the latest scamming strategies.

Have you met some of the above scams while browsing or in your email inbox? What were the most convincing ones?

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Author Profile

Ioana Rijnetu

Cyber Security Enthusiast

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I am a thinker and dreamer human being. Passionate about online marketing and technology. Naturally curious and life long learner.

Comments

Steps to take after scam
Make sure you gather as many documents related to the scam cause you would be asked to provide a prove of all the transaction you made.

File a complaint with the government agent

in the US, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigates and builds cases against scammers. you can report the scam to them

A persons walks up or calls or a voice says through a AL audio machine /phone….. to you form out of no where or writes saying you are a sex offender and you are listed with our group, they also are saying you will leave your family, you are not welcomed in our town, you have to leave your job and your boss will be told and you will admit to the crime FBI knows what you did! and they say you have to pay for what you did or we I will make you pay! other stuff also include with threats and violence to your family and life and vulgar talk and there is a mans’ voice asking about your life also! Phishing scam is part of this crime! An unknown person was over heard talking about the crime, how they were going to get some people for revenge or pay back!
So it might be good to find out if your background has been changed by a hacker hacking police department information or something was added by mistake? Maybe a new scam act in the works? I was always told police need to get a report and from there on it goes to court and the judge makes the decision not anyone who wants to! Right?
It’s scam act with a new twist maybe in the works!? It is a scam!…only your boss can say your not doing your job right!

I sent money through western union and money gram I still have the receipts here , so what am I gonna do now? please help

There are so much scams online. What’s scary is that they are in different forms. As an internet and technology user, all we can do is be smart and be aware of the scamming signs to watch out for.

Dear Ioana,
You’ve listed an awful lot of scams here, but I wonder if you know anything about this one: basically, stuff gets onto your computer via downloads or whatever that prevents you from updating Windows. You’re then encouraged to pay money in order to get it fixed. It was mentioned to me when I was struggling to update my computer and I’m trying to investigate further. Do you know anything about this specific issue that could help me?
Kind regards,
Hannah Madden

I was a victim of a romance scam, whereby I got scammed of $30,000….I signed up to a dating app, I matched with a lady who works for the USA army, we started dating cause she was so loving, caring and beautiful, she approached me first, during this time I had already fell for her, so we started dating, after some weeks she told me she had been send to an African country for peace keeping, on getting there, she told me she had misplaced her debit, I felt bad for her, she asked for my help with money, I was so in live I didn’t think it over I sent her some cash to eat, after that I got asked help for her daughter who was in the hospital, I sent that too…. To cut the long story short, she asked for my help a lot of times and I kept helping cause I really cared about her, this happened for about 6 month, I was getting tired of waiting so I told her, that was when she told me she would come over but first she has to pay some money, I so want to meet with her so I made a wire transfer, that was the very last time I heard from her, it was then I got to realized I had been scammed of about $30,000…

Dear Nigerian Prince, Since I have gotten so many emails from you over the years offering to split 50 million dollars if I will send you my banking details, I have started distrusting that you are who you say you are. I don’t even think you live in Nigeria or are a prince at all. For all I know you could be in Russia or Iran. Take your 50 million and shove it where the sun don’t shine.

The scam I just experienced is a supposed US Army soldier who tells me that I am a father that she has never known before. This soldier now has recovered terrorist funds in Syria with her squad. Her share is $98,000. She needs a delivery address to send them to. No mention of delivery fees since the US Army uses Icanex Delivery Service (scam). I tell her this sounds like a scam and she shows me a photo of the money (hah). I stupidly give her my street address and cell phone number for delivery. Low and behold Icanex notifies me that they require $1950 to deliver the package. Stupidly I wire transfer this amount. Then several days later Icanex says that need a further $3780 for proper documentation. This is before I do some online checking an find out the only a FinCen 105 form is necessary for any amount of money entering the US. Stupidly I send the $3780. Then several days later ownship of the package is in question and Icanex needs $7850 for special documentation. I have now done my research and respond that this is exhorbitant and only the FinCen105 is required. I determine to check with my FBI Financial Crimes Contact (I have been previously lost several million $ to a Nigerian gang and met this contact) and send her all the documentation. She says this is a scam….duh….a variation of a romance scam where the fees continue until you run out to money.

this is what i got in my spam section that was already marked as suspicious.
Daleel
Hello!
Perhaps you feel surprised receiving this email because you don’t know me. I just have to warn you: your life is in danger. Two days ago, I met a woman who proposed to pay me money for killing you. Actually, she tried to hire me as a killer. She gave me your home address, your email, phone number and several photos.
I am a refugee, so I am a very poor man. She said she will pay me $1000 when the job is done. I need money to buy food and clothes for my kids, but I don’t want to kill an innocent person. So I decided to contact you. I can help you to identify this woman. Also, I can testify against her at the police office if you want.
If you help me, I’ll contact you and provide you with important information on her, so you will be able to bring her to justice. I don’t ask for $1000, I think $300 would be enough. I have no job, so my family needs money badly.
I can receive money only in Bitcoin because I don’t have a bank account nor a credit card. My Bitcoin wallet address:
16Yv3uiz5UcGHpNwp3McKcu6gvVa7enKC5

(case sensitive, copy and paste it)
(If you don’t have bitcoin, you can buy it online. Just enter in a search engine “buy bitcoin with a credit card”, “buy bitcoin with a bank account” and so on).
Please don’t click ‘reply’ button, the email address in the ‘from’ field does not exists. I am just worried about my safety, I hope you understand. If you decide to help me, I’ll send you my contact info including phone number and place of residence. I’ll do all my best to help you stay safe.
Best Regards,
Daleel
k6r3y1f2b7f6m3o

everything is just a scam alltogether. everything !
The internet is a scam. based on nothing but lies.

everything from fake dating sites to fake casinos. fake fake fake scam scam scam

I get scammed by my wife every day

This piece of writing is truly a nice one it helps new the web people, whoare wishing for blogging.

I was scammed by email today. The hacker actually took over my account in front of my eyes. I couldn’t understand the s.o.b and he basically started pulling up everything private on my phone. Took 1700 dollars from my account.That’s all the money I had.

i want to share what just happened to me

i just have a new friend from dating site, and it is already a month we had chit chat. his name is Hyunjung lee, he is marine engineer and work on the ship. from the first time he mentioned that he had oil business in turkiye and need to move it to china. and today he asked my favor to help me to make transfer money from his account in USTRUST bank to bank in Turkiye. He gave me this web https://usthomelb.com/en and gave me his login details, but i didnt do this since i realize that USTRUST bank page is not same as he gave to me. The real USTRUST bank page is private bank in USA, while the page that he gave to me is web template and everyone can make it.

anybody know what actually he want from me with access that page ?

actually i want to report to police, but which police ? as he is not in my country i saw his status in Japan, sometime in Cyprus

thank you for your help

Unfortunately I was scammed thousands of dollars in 2017 and found out when I contacted the Ghana Crime Unit-info.ghanapolice at consultant dot com and was given full details of the scam and played along and was exact ,evidence and bank of money transfer was sent to the Unit and they checked the bank and got the person arrested and justice was served.
They used bank websites from hsbc and other official government sites..

the company name Bonanza sell products online is a Frua and Scam company, the people by the products pay and never got the delivery when you try to talk to them we never got nothing from them. plase this company need be investigate by the police this people still a lot money for the people.

Hello Genaro,

If you would like to report an online scam, it’s advisable to file a complaint to your local police station.

Thank you,
Bianca

A great list to know especially as suggested names can be overlooked by many because they can’t be detectable by many before they got affected…

What are you trying to imply by calling a Scam “the Nigerian Scam” ??? it’s absolutely wrong…
It’s like saying the American Drug Addicts or American Psychopath … Does that mean all Americans are Psycho or Drug Addicts ?

There are lot and lots of Scammers in USA, Asia & Europe

Let me ask you this…… WHO ARE THE HACKERS DEVELOPING THESE SOFTWARE ?

*AMERICA HACKERS
*ASIAN HACKERS
*EUROPE HACKERS

Did you mention them in your article? No!

It’s wrong you attach a certain type of fraud to a County….. You all make people believe that every fraud attempt comes from Nigeria and you’ve forgotten the makers of these Software used to commit the Fraud are from America and other part of the World.

In fact there are also Fraudsters in United States of America you all know this but would you report them here or Tag any related Fraud activities/acts to USA?

American Hackers encourages Africa scammers and spermmer in sending these things because they Build these Malicious Software, Links e. t. c and send to African users to use them.

There are a lot of good people in Nigeria.

Don’t Segregate when it comes to races.

Hello, thank you for sharing your thoughts. We don’t believe this has anything to do with racial segregation. The reason this scam is called “the Nigerian scam” is that it originated from Nigeria and nowadays is still a very popular internet scam: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/18/nigerian-prince-scams-still-rake-in-over-700000-dollars-a-year.html
Also, we didn’t imply malicious software development comes solely from Nigeria. Obviously, hackers are present all over the world. What’s more, this email fraud technique relies on social engineering and tries to trick people into transferring money into a bank account or provide their personal financial details without being related to the use of malicious software.

Quit Being So Damn Sensitive.Alot of Scammers Are In Nigeria.

You are also a scammer. Good luck with your hunting

Please beware of this website: scottishfoodandsphynxkittenshome.com It is a scam. My husband and I thought we were purchasing a Scottish Fold kitten from these people. Needless to say there was never a kitten in the first place. Beware of sending any money to Bryant Okafor or his partner in crime Alexander Gunther. Address given is: 1001 Lincoln Ave, Charleroi, PA 15022.
We paid them about $24,000 but never got what we paid for. Thanks to a friend of mind who works with the Interpol, they were arrested and we managed to recover our money.
Please you are never alone in such a mess, you can reach me for help.

Miriam Cihodariu on May 20, 2019 at 9:41 am

Hi Margaret! Sorry to hear you got scammed, but glad that it worked out ok-ish in the end. Thank you for sharing your story!

If you still look at comments from this site, could you please help me with this same scam? You say they were arrested, but they were doing it again a week ago.

My wife just got scammed by Bryant Okafor as well. Are you sure they were arrested? From everything I see, they claim to be based out of PA so I’ll be contacting the Attorney General’s office tomorrow when they open. Any information anyone else has will be helpful and appreciated. If anyone else is pursuing help through the AG’s office and needs additional info or wants to include related offense please feel free to contact me or have the AG’s office contact me.

They need to pay for their crimes

Hello I was recently scammed by someone who pretended to be someone else. These people contacted me using an Instagram chat. At first he (let’s say he) was very nice and told me that he was a soldier who was going on a special mission to Estonia. After his supposed arrival in Estonia he contacted me through a “military computer.” He told me he was able to keep contact with me because he was “Sergeant” and had special privileges. The story is very long and I would be writing forever. To get to the point my cousin looked up his Instagram account and found out that it was fake. Not only that, my cousin also found the person he was imitating, also on Instagram. I gave this person $2000 of my hard earned money and now I regret it so much. He had me wrapped around his little finger to the point that all I would do is wait for his text messages on Hangouts. Yes he said he wanted to leave the chat on Instagram and go resume on Hangouts, which I did. My life was just waiting to talk to this person who professed his love for me and I believed every of his words. I hope this helps other people who have been scammed by these online criminals. I do not know were to report this or where to go.

I know someone who could help track such people

i know who can get this scumbag track down

Hi Ioana, great article! Yes, greeting card scams have been around for some time and have been used to access valuable data from the recipient. Whistle blowers can prevent such scams by reporting any suspicious activity around them or any suspicious source of such malicious content. For instance, after being reported by a whistle blower, on April 24, 2018, the SEC announced that it had reached a $35 million settlement with Altaba, Inc., the company formerly known as Yahoo! Inc., to resolve claims that the company misled investors by failing to disclose a cybersecurity breach that enabled hackers to steal the personal data of hundreds of millions of Yahoo users.

Hello Fredrick! Many thanks for your feedback and for sharing your thoughts!

I want to warn of the scams being carried out by the couple of thieves: Philippe Ballesio and Rosaline Ballesio, they manage the companies: Btcmt4 and others, those companies that offer services that do not work. They charge money in advance and then the systems they sell stop working, many people are reporting being scammed by these people, please report them.

Thank you for sharing these and i would like to share my experience here.

Yesterday i got a call that my ATM card is about to block and i need to verify and was asked for the CVV no. and i feel this is fake call as i have heard about such scams.

Should i file a complaint against him?

For Covert Hack espionage majorly on Remote infiltration of any data base to effect a grade change , alter your transcript AND professionally conduct a detail background check or private investigation on any target solve your problems, visit darkwebssolutions gmail for more

SSCRPSCHOOL is also a scam – Sscrpschool (sometimes called Sscrpschoo) is an internet scam operation from China that claims to be a discount clothing seller. Don’t be fooled by the professional looking website – they will gladly take your order (and your money) but never send you the items. A maze of polite runaround emails will follow any inquires you send, and you’ll never get the truth or a satisfactory result. Any attempt to get a refund of your money will be ignored by this fraudulent website.

I strongly recommend you AVOID SSCRPSCHOOL mail order..!!

Dhivya, you are not legit. I can tell as a NIgerian

yup scammers are everywhere in dating sites, i have also read an article recently regarding dating scams and how to identify scammers: https://datingsecurityadvisor.com/how-to-identify-scammers-in-dating-websites-and-apps/

Why cant these scammers be stopped? And is there a web site that puts up people’s name because they are a easy target? I am having a problem with my husband he is being target by scammers and he refuses to see that they are scammers. And just about all of them are from Niagara. The man one says she works on a secret base there but she is not in any branch of services. She claims that she don’t get paid anything but she can’t make phone calls or web cam but she can text all day on her privet phone. But he believes she is real and is telling him the truth. He was a MP in the Army I wont to know how he can fall for this when you know its a scam? And one more point if you do ask them to do a check in on face book that can be taking care of to they have someone log into there account and do the check in. Me and a friend proved that she lives in Calf. I live in Georgia but it showed me in Calf. He is 53 years old he should know better but so far he has 4 online wives and I don’t know how many he has told he loves them and new ones pop up everyday. And I don’t know how much money he has sent them. I am disable and he wants to get with them and leave me homeless. I want to know why cant we sue these country’s that are letting them scam people like this?

Hello Angel Rhode.

Your story is very pathetic and I wish to inform you that your husband is a potential victim of Scam. I can help you if you wish. Thanks

Oh, and don’t forget those pages that promise to “help” you if you’ve been scammed.
As “BTCMT4”, that page, which is managed by Philippe Ballesio and his wife Rosalie Lai Ballesio, ensures that will help you to recovery your money. But first, they ask you for a payment of 2,000€ for “the lawyers”. They communicate with the clients through the email “plakumust@/gmail.com”, and they answer everything.
Then, after the client pay, they disappear without leaving traces of their whereabouts. Many clients are trying to report them.

Be careful with this kind of page, be careful with this scammer couple!

If you want to invest in Bitcoins, do not do it through Cryptomt4
It is a site with content in English, but it claims to be based in Poland and does not present any type of content in that language, with a false physical address and although the Whois analysis reveals that it has no known registrant and operates anonymously, it He has been able to determine from the research conducted, which is directly linked with Philippe Ballesio, a French citizen residing in London, linked to several scams on forex sites.
This Cryptomt4 has no authorization to operate and its only contacts are emails, where they are contacted with future victims who will then be scammed.
So you are warned, if you receive an email from Cryptomt4 or Philippe Ballesio it is to try to cheat them.

Many thanks for your kind words, Merril!

a sweet candor scammers have, they could still dupe you again and again and again, and you can never know who the scammer is, he might also have written here. scamming and scammers are hillariously sarcastic

According to research, over a quarter of us will open suspicious links from scam and phishing emails. Most of these are after stealing your money by accessing your accounts such as PayPal. your online banking and more. People think that these kind of scams just come in the forms of emails and pop ups, however you can find them in hacked Facebook accounts or links in adverts too.

as an African..I would advice you not to ever send money to anyone you haven’t met. .they ask you to send the money to Dubai , Malaysia, Cairo….these cities are used to pickup the money and send to the final destination which is west africa

Research has found that 30% of users will click on suspicious links – this means that people are still falling for phishing scams etc. Up to one-third of all phishing attacks are aimed at stealing your money. Phishing is not limited to email and website pop-ups. Links in online ads, status updates, tweets and Facebook posts can lead you to criminal portals designed to steal your information. Phishing scams tied to brand names often make use of similar web addresses to take advantage of misdirected web traffic. The difference of a single character in an URL can lead you to a website that appears almost identical to a legitimate website for a brand, but it’s actually run by cybercriminals.

Funny to see that they even try to scam people on a site where they warn for scams.
Interpol police in Abidjan? Yeah right. Some fake loan ads with email addresses. It is a little sad to see how low those scammers think of their potential victims.

I wonder this too my Friend. One needs to be very careful with emails they receive on daily basis

I have been talking to someone for six months now. I think he is a scamer. I have never sent him money but he has asked me for some I want to make sure 100% that he is a scamer or not. How do I find out without paying

Simple, don’t send him money and make it clear you will not in the future. If he’s not genuine he will be gone in a hurry. However, given that he has asked for money and you already suspect he’s trying to scam you, I would suspect he’s up to no good.

It’s very simple to find out, do you have live chats with the person…?

I do call scammers on purpose to ask why they scam people. I know it doesn’t do much, but if I talk to someone, that is one person less than they scam at any given time. Usually I find them by making intentional typos on legitimate websites, such as youtuve.com or fecebook.com (Don’t worry, I use an old computer anyway, so even if I was infected, I don’t mind recycling it). I don’t understand why they make fake websites to make people call them (usually ending in an XYZ url). I hope that eventually, scamming goes away. I know times are hard, but why must people go so low as to steal money from people? I’ll never get it. Sigh

Here’s a new one – even I was scammed (briefly). Woman contacts you from a legitimate singles site. Wants to meet for a drink. You reply and set up the time. But she won’t come after nearly escaping an attacker in a previous date. She wants you to be verified on her cam software so if she does not check in regularly the authorities will be contacted for her last GPS position and phone. You think “now there’s a good app. Why haven’t I heard of it? I’d like that for myself.” So within hours of the date the mail comes and you click the links. The sites seem valid and then the HIT – your credit card number used for verification and not billed at all. Sign up for one and taken to another site for the second phase of the verification. In reality you’ve just signed up for a pornography site of cams and a second for hook ups. $39.99 for the first and $20.00 for the second billed monthly. And Miss dream date does not show up. Or make contact again.

New Credit card numbers are easy to get. And in the end the scammer makes zip. But its in the legit seeming areas of life at least for singles that a scammer can plausibly worm their way in for a hit. As a writer it will become a part of a plot line in a future novel but this one was quite elaborate and achievable in less than an hours time by e-mail and a smart phone. Singles BEWARE! (Vincent Price laughing from Michael Jackson’s Thriller LP in the background.)

Ochre Media – Fraud Company

Is there any association online where we can complain about companies fraud. In this 21st century digital age, many online companies came up apart from financial fraud this company gives very poor service or no service at all.

We faced this with the company called Ochre Media Pvt Ltd. Ochre media showed they healthcare and Pharma magazine got over 70k circulation and region wise breakdown but in reality magazine circulation was not more than 1k.

Even with email marketing campaign, same problem Ochre media email marketing campaign promised to deliver 10k emails (all are opt-in) ochre media didn’t deliver even 1k emails but generated reported stating 10k email delivered- click and open report as well. We placed our own code as well to monitor.

The sad part is we paid full payment before Ochre media run an email campaign.

Ochre media call themselves as number one company in digital marketing b2b portals

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