Scam

Everyone hates being scammed. It is important you know how to protect yourself from a scam. Scams are not as easy to spot now because it is becoming more sophisticated.

First, you must know that anyone can be a victim of a scam, no matter your age, sex, income or intelligence. These crooks make use of latest technology and old tricks to get people to give out personal information and details or send money. So, you must be very careful and vigilante. This does not mean you should be paranoid though. If you are job searching, you just have to be careful not to be a victim.

Before giving you tips on how not to fall for scams, you have first to know what a scam is:

What is a scam?

A scam in all simplicity is a fraudulent scheme to obtain something precious from someone without their knowledge or approval. The concept is associated with words like fraud, swindling, and Con. Usually, people who commit these crimes are called con artist. It must be mentioned that a scam is a crime punishable by law in most governments. If you know how to avoid scams, you can avoid a lot of pain. Scammer use different ways to con people such as

  • Fake Buying and Selling
  • Dating and Romance websites
  • Gaining personal information
  • Fast cash opportunities or investment
  • Fake charities
  • Surprising winnings
  • Threats, Blackmail and Extortion
  • Fake Job opportunities and employment.

Tips on how to protect yourself from Scams

Especially when you are desperate for a job or extra cash, there is a tendency for you to be a victim of a scam. These job ads ask for unnecessary background checks, certifications programs and interviews that get you to reveal personal details or information. Some go as far as making you fall in love with them using dating sites and fake profiles and then making stories such as hospital bills, emergencies, student loans, etc. to extort

#1. Detect phoneys:

A lot of times, scammers pretend to be a trusted personality,e.g., a police officer or some other government official, a distant family member, a charitable organization and the likes. These con artiste steal identities so don’t take their words for it. Save your money by not accepting those request that comes through emails, texts or phone calls to send money. In the case of calls, don’t believe the caller ID apps, technological developments have made it easier for scammers to fake caller ID information.

#2. Do thorough fact-finding:

if you do want to be a victim of a scam don’t take just anyone’s word for it. Do thorough research on the so-called company or the hirer yourself, just to be safe. You can search for the phone number or contact online, to know if they have been reported as scams in the past- A scammers list. You could search for the product name or company name with words like “con”, “scam”, “Complaint” attached to it.

#3. Photo Search:

In the case of those who meet on dating websites or social media, with your search engine, you can do a photo search. If different names pop up for such a person, you know that it is most likely a scammer and you avoid such a person. Also, if the person’s picture disappears after a few days, it’s very likely that such a person is a con artist and you should report such a person to the authorities.

#4. No Upfront payments:

Some may ask you to make a down payment in advance for a promised service, product, credit and loan offers or a job. They may come under the guise of you winning a prize and ask for certain upfront fees or taxes. Don’t fall for it, it’s a scam. In your search online, there are scammers list. So, you could check through to make sure the contact is not on that list.

#5. Payment platform:

Most credit card payments are traceable, so most times scammers don’t use credit card payment platforms. But online platform like Western Union and MoneyGram are easier means and target because they are less traceable. This also applies to reloadable cards like MoneyPak and gift cards like Amazon and iTunes. When dealing with government offices and legitimate companies, they don’t make use of such payment methods. So, if anyone comes under this guise, there is 90% chance it is a scam.

#6. Password:

When choosing a password for your online platforms, be careful not to choose passwords that can easily be guessed. You have to update your passwords regularly,so you don’t get hacked. A strong password is usually a mixture of letters (upper and lower case), numbers and symbols. It is advisable that you don’t use the same password for your different accounts or profile as a security measure.

#7. Quality of the account:

For some websites its quite easy to spot if it’s a phoney. All you have do is pay attention to details such as poor design and organisation, grammatical blunders and errors, overly official language. Sometimes It is the little details that give these scammers away. These websites can be in the guise of an online resume service, but in reality, it’s a cover for scam sites.

Conclusion

It is very easy to avoid being scammed if you are vigilante and careful enough you will not fall prey to such schemes. The methods listed here are just a few, there are endless means that scammer can make use of.  Also, scammers have a network and talk among themselves, so if it happened once, there is a probability they would want to do it again. Stay sharp!