Identity Theft Articles

Common Online Scams to Lookout For

By Jim Travers

©Jim Travers - All Rights Reserved

http://www.MyIDTheftHelp.com

While the majority of Internet users already know better than to trust unsolicited emails, it’s still surprising how a great number of people end up falling for the same old trap and wiring hard-earned money to bank accounts or Western Union account numbers of expert conmen.

Being new to the Internet is not something to be ashamed of but you do have a lot to learn. And one of them is learning how to determine legitimate business offers from common online scams.

COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF ONLINE SCAMS

Unsolicited – They were sent to your message inbox without any prompting from your end. You did not join any lottery, you did not sign up for any account or you certainly don’t know anyone from Nigeria.

Urgent – Most of these mails are labeled “urgent” in the subject line or instructing you to read and take action immediately.

Money for Free – All of these scams one way or another offer you the chance of the lifetime: obtaining more money at no cost to yourself.

Payment Needed – To get the prizes offered, you will have to pay a certain fee to facilitate the transaction process.

Identity Needed – They will also ultimately ask you for details regarding your personal background.

COMMON ONLINE SCAMS TO WATCH OUT FOR

I NEED YOUR HELP DESPERATELY TO GET MY MONEY OUT OF NIGERIA.

Nigerian Scam – This is one of the top 5 scams that continue at present in deceiving people out of their money. The Nigerian scam was created sometime in the 1980’s and involves Nigerian citizens – they are usually portrayed in the letters as corrupt civil officials – who wish for your help with money laundering. In return of letting them use your account without alerting the proper authorities, you will be immediately compensated for services rendered. The amount of money you’re to receive is usually immense. You will be initially asked to provide them with your personal information and perhaps your bank account records as well. Later on, you may also be asked to pay an advance fee to facilitate the process.

YOU WON ONE MILLION DOLLARS IN THE LOTTERY!

Foreign Lottery Winning – You open your email inbox and find the words JACKPOT or YOU’VE WON THE LOTTERY staring straight back at you. You open the email and you learn that you’ve just won the lottery - $1,000,000 being the smallest amount of winnings you can supposedly receive from these letters – and they’re going to request you to do one or both of the following:

Give Information about your identity – Their reasons are varied but often legitimate sounding. They have a convincing way of portraying themselves as the good guys so trusting individuals would find nothing amiss about giving the other party a copy of their birth certificates, passports and other important documents. The information they obtain from you will be used to open accounts or make purchases in your name.

Pay Up Front – The payment is needed to make the transfer of money possible; this should alert you more than any other about the unrealistic aspect of the situation. Legitimate lotteries never ask you to pay anything. If you do win the lottery, the only thing you owe is taxes due to the government.

I READ IN YOUR E-BAY ACCOUNT THAT…CAN WE…?

e-bay Scams - Because millions of people worldwide conduct online transactions, hackers and fraudulent individuals are therefore pinning their chances on deceiving people in relation to e-bay accounts.

It’s easy for them to learn about email addresses of actual e-bay users. The next thing they’ll do is send you an email regarding the need for email account verification of the products you’re selling. They may ask you if they can overpay for the item you’re selling and then ask you to send them the balance. They may also send you threatening mails about the goods not being delivered on time to their place and reporting you to e-bay for not fulfilling your end of the bargain. What’s so scary about these scams are that con men are actually using real logos of e-bay and other distinctive e-bay trademarks that make them appear very convincing!

PLEASE UPDATE YOUR ACCOUNT DETAILS

Phising – This term is a combination of the words “password harvesting”; it is an online scam perpetuated to gain illegal access to highly classified information about a particular individual. The emails scam artists use for phising are almost exact replicas of the official documents so that they often succeed in deceiving people into releasing sensitive information about themselves.

There are many other scams that litter the Internet that are waiting simply to have their chance of deceiving you so be careful every time you open your inbox!

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Worried about Identity Theft or Online Fraud?

A complete information pack, together with self help action plans to stop ID thieves in their tracks can be found in the 'MY ID Theft Help' book package published by My Help Books. Visit => http://www.MyIDTheftHelp.com

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