Facts About Online Scam Operators
FACTS ABOUT ONLINE SCAM OPERATORS
If you fear becoming a victim of scam, please take a few moments to read this!
I’m kinda embarrassed to expose the experiences I’ve had with scammers and cyber criminals in the online marketing businesses…guess I, admittedly, was a little ashamed to talk about it. No doubt I should have been more alert and exercised more diligence and caution with these criminals. If the truth were to be told, you’d be so surprised at those who were actually scammed, including family, friends and acquaintances …at least once!
The internet is an excellent source of communication in our homes, and at work. It facilitates speedy means of communicating for our benefit. Regrettably, some of us use it for evil intentions…so is the way of scammers.
How They Operate
All they want is our money, under any circumstance, and they use every means possible to make you a victim of their macabre purpose of scamming you…Phishing Emails scams, Nigerian scams, Guaranteed Bank loans scams, lottery scams, Get rich Quick scams, Delivery scams, and Travel scams, to name a few.
Now that’s not all! I’m gonna give a little information about some of their common scam methods to put you on the alert.
Phishing Scam
This method has increased tremendously over the past couple of years. These scams are used through communications via email and social media networks. The cyber criminals, as they are known, will make it look like the emails forwarded to you come from an official source, with some urgency for you to respond, and they will attempt to get login info from you about your bank account, social network, or other personal data that serves a purpose for their evil intentions.
Just how do you prevent scamming?
Well, even if you install the absolutely best anti- virus program, the best prevention is to simply avoid the initial infection phase by not responding to their messages…don’t even open their email messages.
The Nigerian Scam
This one was too good to be true and I almost fell victim to their scheme!
Scams originating from Nigeria are some of the more common types around. They were very popular about ten years ago, and it still exists to some extent. The scammers are usually, believe it or not, members of rich Nigerian families, government officials or CEO’s of large companies, usually oil and gas leases, gold coins, trading Markets .
Emails, letters, text messages and social media communications are sent to unsuspecting individuals requesting assistance to retrieve huge amounts of money from a banking institution for a pretty hefty commission in return for their assistance.
Their ploy is just to get you to pay moneys for official paper work and bank transfer transactions, etc. continuously and as you send moneys for these charges, eventually you find yourself drained of huge amounts of money. And commission…you got to be joking as there is none, so you simply end up stopping all communications with them.
The worst part though, is that you feel a sense of guilt and embarrassment so you never tell anyone you’ve been gypped by the scammers. Who would, in fact?!
Guaranteed Bank Loan/Credit Card Scams
People become so gullible for loans from banks for personal use or credit card payments that when contacted by a bank about a pre-approved loan, they fall for it and end up paying for paperwork processing fees and still no loan to be had. But what’s so funny is the bank not having no knowledge of your personal banking record to suggest that you are eligible for a bank loan you never applied for in the first place. Whew!
Hell, man, do you think the victims talk about this to anyone…and to whom?!
Lottery Scam
This is another popular method of scamming!
You are contacted that you have won a certain amount of money in a Facebook lottery. You are only required to sign and pay for some paperwork to receive your funds which you end up doing. Heck, you become so elated that you immediately dream about your change of lifestyle that you don’t remember ever purchasing lottery tickets in the first place. Wow…can you truly imagine this!
Travel Scam
We all like to take vacations especially during the summer months. You will receive an ad via email about a travel destination or vacation at a price that’s too good to be true, and requiring you to respond as soon as possible in order to qualify for it. Of course you do and submit necessary fees as a guarantee for the vacation, only to discover in the end that it was nothing more than a scam. Oops!
Real Life Scammer Apprehended
There was a professional scammer named Jim who admitted to scamming millions of dollars over a period of ten years from unsuspecting people who are usually older retired people with some life’s savings and investment portfolios. He confessed to scamming people of gold coins, real estate deals, oil and gas leases, time-shares, etc. up to the time of his arrest in 2004 by FBI agents at his office on Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, Florida.
But there are many others out there still! He’s just one of many, but it’s good to know that he’s been put away!
Tricks Scammer use on people…so serious about their craft!
- They make you feel obligated.
- They get in before the deal ends
- They befriend you to earn your trust..
- They try to get you to agree
- They make persistent phone calls
- They pretend be professionals
These guys are pretty good at their trade! Don’t get caught with your pants down!
Here are a few tips for your protection against scams
- Avoid clicking links in emails that ask you to log onto any of your personal accounts, particularly banking, insurance and investment accounts.
- Do not pay upfront for anything
- Be vigilant about giving out personal information over the phone…unless you initiated the contact.
- Exercise caution on everything you receive, i.e. phone calls, emails, Facebook notifications, and take nothing for granted.
- Do not allow yourself to be rushed into doing anything you might regret
In Closing
If you’re not sure that a call or email is legitimate, consult a family member or friend. Actually in spite of prevention measures, remember that scammers are pretty smart too, and are very innovative. So the bottom line is don’t give up the fight, and if you are scammed contact the authorities immediately.
Be vigilant always, my friend, and I repeat, “Don’t get caught with your pants down.”!
You are welcome to leave your comments and I’ll we willing to respond to them as soon as possible
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that good information on scammer, it will help a lot of people
they should take this to hear and read again.
thank for you ,keep up the good work
God Bless
That’s a nice summary of some of the better known cons, thanks!
That some of these stupid schemes still persist after so many years is probably a testament to how fruitful they are for the con artist.
I would add however, that it isn’t just money that’s useful for the con artist online. Your personal information is also useful. Not just for the way you might imagine (credit card fraud), but also to build a convincing gang of fake profiles to bolster the confidence of the next possible victim.
On various unnamed subscription platforms I’ve observed for instance, numerous profiles being set up by con artists of real Pensioners. Photos were current, taken with a webcam. Users were all mainland US residents with Anglo names. They shared various personal details. But their interactions were all in severely broken English that betrayed a syntax particular to certain other languages. Among other things.
The funniest of these fake profiles that I’ve seen, borrowed all the life details of a retired nurse in the US (and possibly her CC details too). Except that, the personal profile picture used was of someone VERY different. Those dumb scammers had unfortunately, borrowed the detailed life story of a lady who was something of a celebrity in her US hometown, going back fifty years. Her real photos are everywhere, as is her life story. Just dumb.
As you mentioned, pensioners are attractive targets. There are a variety of reasons for this, but I would hope that any person reading this who has a question about such interactions would overlook their embarrassment and just ask the nice community here for advice.
Better safe than sorry!
Hello, Ivy...your comments are so much appreciated.
People need to be vigilant always and put their red flag up to secure themselves against scammers as they are all around us and will devour unsuspecting victims with their ingenious and creative schemes to dishonestly take people's money, ID';s and other valuables.
Let's just hope as many of them are caught soon enough, and feel the full extent of the law.
again, thanks for your comments...appreciate it!
Cheers!
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Very good info, I have always never opened an e-mail if I did not recognize the source. Learned that from the work environment I came from. If it turns out to be legitimate whoever they are will get back to you somehow.