scams and schemes. Unwanted emails and messages bombard us on a regular basis. Many people would ignore, delete or toss junk mail in the rubbish knowing that these messages are most likely mass-market scams, others aren’t so savvy. There are more than 3.7 billion global mobile Internet users as at June 2019 providing an endless opportunity for criminals to find new victims, and only through sustained education can we try to mitigate the divesting financial effects that scams have on the global economy.
Scammers will often use persuasion techniques like pretending to be a legitimate business and using local area codes to build trust and familiarity. Or they make time-sensitive claims to increase urgency. Some letters use images of money or prizes and even pictures of past “winners” smiling and happy. Others are much more direct with legal-sounding text, to also create the perception of a legitimate company.
People are generally most vulnerable in situations such as a sudden loss of regular income or in the case of impending retirement that have inadequate savings, are going to be prime targets for scammers. If you have been contacted by someone with a quick solution to your most critical financial situation, and they require your signature, birthdate, credit card number, a small deposit, or some other personal information or payment, it is advisable to halt all discussions immediately. If there is a legitimate solution to your particular financial problem, it will not be solved by chasing unrealistic financial opportunities.
Scarcity is a word that suggests there is a perceived limited supply of something and there might be an opportunity to tap into that supply, you will most probably feel an urgency to do so. Many people who would otherwise not provide a credit card or bank account number will do so if they are confronted by such a situation. One of the biggest ways fraudsters manage to scam people is to make you think that it’s now or never opportunity.
We are all constantly bombarded with information from so many directions at once. There are Emails, blogs, forums, text messages, and, of course, the ever present and ubiquitous social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and lots of other social networks. We see serious news and articles, jokes, memes, updates from friend feeds, business messages, spam and hidden amongst this ever present stream of data is of course, Scams as well.
On our website we will focus on some of the more common scams and we will dig deeper into how they operate, what to look out for, how to avoid them and how you can potentially get your lost funds back.
We also put together other types of scams below that criminals have mastered at re-inventing and in some cases have simply re-cycled to find new victims.
Advance Fee Inheritance Scams, Agribusiness Scams, Carbon credit Scams, Credit Trading Scams, Charity Scams, Diamond Scams, Early Pension Release Scams, Fortune Telling Scams, Gambling & Casino Scams, Insurance & Warranty Scams, iTunes Gift Card Scams, Land Bank Investment Scams, Loan Fee Scams, Parking Ticket Scams, Rare Metal Scams, Real Estate Scams, Share And Bond Scams, Small Business Scams, Student Loan Scams, Travel Prize Scams and Unregulated Investment Scams.