BEWARE OF SCAMS
The biggest problem with the internet today is that it’s much easier for nasty people to use a range of methods to separate people from their hard-earned money and/or their personal information. The smarter they get at creating scams, the more educated we need to be at detecting them.
You should always be aware of anything suspicious and seek legitimate help, whether it’s from a family member, a friend, an online support group or forum, or in Facebook (But be selective about who you ask).
Scams can come in the form of phone calls, emails, text messages, Facebook messages (especially private messages), and much, much more. It’s not good enough that you know about scams. You need to make sure that family members and friends are also made aware of them. This is especially critical in the case of people with disabilities and elderly people, often in poor health, who may easily get tricked by these con artists.
If somebody is attempting to convince you to do something right now, before missing out, and before seeking help, DON’T DO IT!`Anything legitimate can certainly wait for you to verify that it’s real. Please bookmark this page of my site so you have reference material you can check quickly and easily.
Check out this excellent list of scams that target writers. https://makealivingwriting.com/ripoff-alert-freelance-writers-scams
On this page I have also included numerous links to other sites with good examples of scams. At the end of this page, you can download a 40 page FREE government report containing a lot more scams to avoid.
Facebook Profiles.
This is a very common scam. You receive a request to add a friend and it appears to be somebody you know. Often you remember you had added them before but they may use an excuse for requesting it again. This is known as Facebook Cloning. You can read more about it here
OVERSEAS CALL CENTRES.
Most people are aware of various overseas call centres in places such as: India and The Philippines and other countries where people are hired to ring and try to scam people out of their hard-earned money. Here’s one massive scandal.
England’s BBC TV did a story on more overseas call centre scams. It’s disgusting the way they rob people of their last dollar. You can read more about it HERE
International Calls
Do you receive calls from overseas numbers when you either don’t expect overseas calls or you don’t know anybody overseas? Are you tempted to ring them back to abuse them? If so, DON’T!!! They will try to keep you on the line for as long as possible because you made the call so you’re footing the bill. They can put you on hold or play music for a while, or anything else. Think of the 1900 numbers and “adult” lines that charge a premium. If this happens to you, contact your telecommunications provider to avoid having to pay such a large bill.
Looks Can Be Deceiving
This scam can be frightening when it first appears in your email inbox. The reason is that it claims to know one of your passwords. In my case, it was an old password, but it still made me stop and think.
This link goes to the entire email he sent me. I have copied it exactly, so there are lots of spelling, punctuation and other errors I have chosen not to edit.
You can tell it’s a scam for the following reasons:
- The email address doesn’t match the person’s name. On its own, that isn’t always a scam/spam email.
- The person doesn’t have English as their first language because there are far too many mistakes.
- He demands a payment of $6000 via bitcoin when neither is for anything I have bought and I never use bitcoin anyway.
- Threatening to send this “so-called video” to my family and friends isn’t easy for him to do unless he uses Facebook contacts.
- Nobody can access a computer remotely unless they have been granted permission OR if they’re a hacker, but even a hacker can be booted by simply going offline or turning your computer off.
- You should always check emails if you don’t know the sender and NEVER click any links. Even if you get emails that supposedly come from your bank, insurance company, Telstra, or other places, check the sender’s email address because their will be errors in it that tell you to delete it.
The list goes on but you get the idea. Always be vigilant when receiving emails.
GO PHISHING.
This one is called the Google Phishing Attack.
Because it’s a long post, I have provided a link to the full article.
This next one can potentially be financially disastrous. If you get phone calls, especially from numbers you don’t recognise, they would often say “Can you hear me.” DON’T SAY YES!!!
The person is trying to get you to say YES and then they will hang up. Once they have your voice recorded, they can use it to rob you by accessing your bank account and/or credit card. If you want something to say, simply say “I can hear you!” Read more here. DON’T GET CAUGHT OUT!!!
You’re welcome to download this 40 page FREE REPORT covering a lot of different scams to avoid. Although it has been put together by the Australian Government, the information is just as valid in many other countries as well.