On 19 May 2017 Australian Scamwatch made a substantive post about National Consumer Fraud Week which being held 7 days before. Australian Scamwatch is an organization that provides an urgent help to people with spotting social media scams.
Each day the number of fraud victims increases and what is more those may suffer who use social media regularly. By this post we would like you to be warned about any possible danger caused by your interest within romance scam and virtual fraud. The case is that usually criminals use the internal users trust to social media and thereafter abuse them easily with imitating being real users who are searching for dating, trading online or any other useful services. All of that causes great money loss and unbelievable distress for poor soft marks and often it is very hard to reveal any crime without a report and to recover from such devastative crime.
You may find below some general tips that may be essential to protect yourself in future.
According to dating scams:
– Always verify profiles of request list even if you haven’t seen this person in real life. What to pay attention to:
- if profiles have been created recently
- if there is only a few content or limited information
- if a friend list is hidden
- if a friend list if almost all people of the opposite sex
- if a page looks like dating profile
- if there are lots of grammar and spelling errors
– Do not neglect the image search option to find out if a person about to be your friend is real. The data in the internet will show you who is he or she.
– As a rule it is better to use TinEye or Google of course.
– Never transfer a dollar to a person you have never met in real life even if it is urgently. And forget about sharing your personal information freely.
– Be careful with sharing photos and videos with unknown people, or even if you know them via the internet but have never met in real life. Keep in mind that blackmails is the main armory of scammers so they will use your data with pleasure.
As for the trader scams:
- If you are going to buy reviews online it is better to verify details beforehand: the reputation of the seller, sources and experience. Find necessary facts in the internet (forums, reviews and etc.)
- In case of retail websites trying you should better check the main company location. If this is your country, it would be easier to follow the issue and to fix it asap if something happens.
- While proceeding any payments use only verified payment system, secure and known. Wire transfers are not recommended.
- In case you still haven’t received your product yet, get in touch with your bank or financial organization urgently.
Regarding social media scams:
- Look all invitations though, be ready to reject those from people you have no idea who they are (with no related messages for example).
- Do not forget to report about any evident suspicious profiles you consider scams to social media bases: to investigate and to work on.
- Always check privacy settings of your profile and what information about you is shown to everyone: you have to be in safe.
- Once being scammed be careful to secure your profile accordingly and to inform the platform you use.
Related sources for your information:
This report tells about main scams trends and explains scams affecting into society. Besides this article uncover detailed investigation of the ACCC, their greatest job in detecting scams and informing consumers.
Fresh data this source gives to highlight the impact and spreading factor of scam. Use filters to show you the statistic for a month or a year to follow scam activity changes.
The Little Black Book of Scams.
This s a perfect guide how to avoid scams and eventual victim role: here you may read about warning signs that will help you to focus on, explain what types of scams you can meet online and how to protect yourself. What is more this book will give some general examples of tools scammers used to trick with, patterns of their strategy and etc.
Be educated. Be in safe.