5 Internet Scams to Avoid

5 Internet Scams to Avoid

I love the internet. It answers my questions.  It solves my problems.  It connects me to a whole world outside of my little city.  I take classes online.  I advertise online.  I correspond online. I simply don’t know what I would do without it.  That being said, the internet is a dangerous place and must be treated with respect.  I would say that my father gets scammed once every two months.  While the details change with each circumstance, the lesson should be clear – Be suspicious.  Online, skepticism is your very best friend.  There are tens of thousands of online scammers out there and they are just waiting for you to misstep.  You can’t learn every single scam, but you can learn these 5 ways to identify a rip-off what you see one.

1)  There is no such thing as a free iPad - I have actually gotten quite a few free lunches, but I have never gotten a free iPad.  Why?  It doesn’t exist.  If you are online and you think you just won a free iPad, you just won a virus…and no iPad.  The same is true of iPhones, laptops, $1,000 gift cards to Walmart, etc.  There are good people out there and they want iPads (I get it, they are cool), and scammers online are preying on that.  If you get a pop-up of any kind…You did not win anything. If you get an e-mail for a contest that you didn’t enter…You did not win anything.  Should you make the mistake of providing these scammers with any of your information, you will most likely begin receiving funny charges on your credit card…and you will never get that iPad.

2)  Don’t cash any checks – Here is the set up – you get an e-mail stating that a distant relative recently passed away and willed you an estate/you have been selected for a work from home gig/you are a Nigerian price’s chosen heir and they will soon be sending you a check.  All you have to do is cash the check and send a small processing fee/taxes/lawyers fees back.  The check turns out to be bad and you are on the hook for those funds.  I have seen several iterations of this and every single one of them is rotten.  Assume anything that sounds vaguely similar to this is a scam.  Some sure fire ways to spot a scam are poor grammar/misspellings and requests for you to cash checks.  Don’t do it.  Just don’t.  Some of you may be wondering how could someone fall for this?  The answer is pretty simple….We tend to believe what we want to believe.  Just like with the iPad – we think…If I really did inherit this money, all of my problems would be solved…I’d never have to worry about money again.  Resist this urge.  If you reply to this scam…Your problems have just begun.

3) You never win with a penny auction - This has been a hard lesson for my father, and if you google anyone of the penny auction sites out there you can see how poorly they are reviewed.  Now, I should explain that penny auctions as a concept are not scams.  There are a few legit ones, you are gambling.  Unlike tradition auctions (like Ebay), you are paying not for an item but for your bid.  So, you see an ad for a $30 iPad (see point 1) and you go place your $35 bid. You pay for the actual bid.  Others do the same.  In the end, the penny auction site could take in thousands of dollars for a hundred dollar item. I have also heard that people often have a great deal of difficulty getting their items.  I’d stay clear.

4)  Your daughter isn’t stuck at the airport and she hasn’t been mugged - I have gotten this one several times and I consider it amongst the most rotten.  It preys on our families and our fears.  It’s deplorable.  That being said, it’s everywhere.  Here is the set up.  You get an e-mail from your son/daughter/friend telling you they have been mugged while traveling out of the country.  You didn’t know they were traveling by the e-mail sounds so desperate that you begin to panic.  Here is a sample of one of these emails –

I'm writing this with tears in my eyes, my family and I came down here to Wales United Kingdom for a short vacation unfortunately we were mugged at the park of the hotel where we stayed, all cash, credit card and cell were stolen off us but luckily for us we still have our passports with us.

We've been to the embassy and the Police here but they're not helping issues at all and our flight leaves in less than 3 hrs from now but we're having problems settling the hotel bills and the hotel manager won't let us leave until we settle the bills.

I'm freaked out at the moment.

This is not real.  Don’t buy it.  Take a breath and call the person.  Odds are that their e-mail was hacked and if you respond in anyway, yours will be too. 

5)  Your bank is not e-mailing you for your social security - One of our clients gets a lot of these emails.  They look just like they are from your bank.  They have the graphics.  They have the email address.  Everything about it looks legit, and they need to confirm your information.  Don’t buy it.  It’s not real.  Neither your bank nor the IRS will ever ask you for your social, pin, or password online.  If you are being asked for those things, you can assume someone is up to no good.  If you have any doubts, report it to your bank.

Don’t let this list scare you off the internet.  Before the internet even existed there were a range of similar scams that happened in mail and over the phone.  You should, however…always be careful.  Have virus protection (Avast is free and amazing).  Run malware scans (MalwareBytes also free and great!) and clear out cookies (CC cleaner – also free).  Finally, always remember to take a breath.  Don’t panic or get crazy excited/scared about something online.  Copy and paste whatever text was emailed to you, whatever link you have, the url of the site, etc., and google it followed by the word “scam.”  Chances are somebody else has fallen for it in the past and has shared their experience as a warning to other potential victims.  This should help keep your name, your computer and your wallet safe.

-Nicole P