Internet Scams

Internet scam could be defined in simple terms as any deceptive or fraudulent scheme that uses one or more online services, such as e- mail, chat rooms, forums, etc to collect money from people illegally. Everyday, people loose their money to other people who claim to solve all sorts of problems, offer financial assistance or provide programs that will make you rich overnight. It is quite unfortunate that the internet which brings people from different geographical, racial, social and political background together is used to carry out this criminal practice. Some of the devices and online services that these criminals use to perpetrate their fraudulent acts are discussed below.

1. Through e- mail: These fraudsters somehow get e- mail addresses of people, and start sending all sorts of deceptive information. such as the type i recently received in my gmail account. Here is an example of what i am talking about; Dear e-mail user,
Your e-mail has emerged as a winner of £500,000.00 GBP (Five hundred thousand British Pounds) in our on-going Google Promotion. Your Winning details are as follows: Computer Generated Profile Numbers (CGPN):7-22-71-00-66-12, Ticket number: 00869575733664, Serial numbers:/BTD/8070447706/06, Lucky numbers: 12-12-23-35-40-41(12). Contact Mr Grahams Benfield, for more details through the contact below:

Mr Grahams Benfield,
Email:


Sincerely,
Mrs. Zhaban William.

The sender of this e mail called it Google promotion, but the alert was not sent to me by Google. That is the first indicator. Secondly, I did not enter for any draw, so how is it possible that i won in a promotion i did not register for.

2. Online forums: Online forum is supposed to be a platform where members share views and exchange opinions among themselves, but the fraudsters have succeeded in making it an avenue to scam other members of the forum. It is from online forums that the scammers collect e- mail addresses of people, and start sending unwanted mails to them. If you receive an e- mail from somebody you have not met before, and the person starts falling in love too quickly when you have not asked for it, delete the mail and ask questions later.

3. Work at home and High Yield Programs: Sometimes, online criminals make use of a promise of how you can work at home and High Yield Programs to scam innocent online users. They usually ask you to send your credit card information in order to receive your starter kit. It is very important that you check a company very well before you give out any billing information. You can always use Google search to see if anybody has complained about the program you want to join. If there are few complaints, 80% praise cannot atone for 20% complaints. As for the High Yield Programs, more than 90% are scams. Do you think that people are so generous? If there is a way they are making 200%, 300%, etc in a single day, I do not think the information will be revealed. If there is a way a hundred dollars can increase by 200% for two consecutive weeks, the investment will be running into million. This is the kind of promise you will get from this type of program. This is unrealistic, do not fall for that.

There are millions of internet scams, the discussion is endless, but if you will be careful , patient, and avoid being greedy, you can actually avoid being scammed online.
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