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Online Fraud and Money Scams: How Can You Avoid Them?

Have you been victimized online recently? Are you not feeling the love? If not, call Investigation Hotline to make you feel safe and provide you the best advice.

Over recent years, technology has become a pervasive element of North American culture where nearly every individual is connected to the internet. A wealth of information and instant connection is available at our fingertips. Because of this influx of internet usage, digital extortion and online fraud have increasingly become a threat. Scammers have learned to take advantage of anonymity and availability of victims. Criminals using an online platform have a number of different techniques and methods of extracting money from unsuspecting individuals and employ technology prowess and crafty word play for their devious and fraudulent activity.

Online fraud and money scams can also be called internet fraud, online crime, e-crime and consumer cybercrime. Being the victim of cybercrime can be life changing; it can culminate into serious financial problems that can follow you around for a lifetime.

Are you concerned that you or your loved ones may fall victim to a cyber criminal? The best way to avoid becoming the victim of online fraud is to be able to identify the warning signs. Be wary of the following:

1) “Get rich quick” scams. If you are being promised a quick path to wealth, you are being sold a myth for the promise of an unrealistic dream in order to take your money from you.

2) Being asked for money or being promised money. The most common being the “Nigerian Prince” scam, scammers will craft elaborate reasons for needing you to loan them or gift them money. These will often come to you in a poorly worded or misspelled email. Also common is to receive emails claiming you have been chosen as the recipient of a sum of money (it may look like an accident, you may think “wow, I’m so lucky!”). If there is no clear reason as to why someone would gift you money or if you have won a “contest” you never entered, it is probably too good to be true.

3) Being pressured. If you are interested in buying a product online, it should be for your own reasons. If someone is using pressure tactics to entice you into a sale, i.e. making you feel silly for not taking advantage of a deal or insisting that the sale will be ending very soon, walk away (metaphorically). If you feel threatened, report it.

4) Pop-ups. More often than not, pop-ups that ask you to download software or drivers are not reputable and will allow hackers into your computer.

5) Confusing jargon. Online scammers often use complicated lingo and terms in order to confuse unsuspecting shoppers. If they are trying to dazzle you with complex or unclear vernacular, they may be hiding something.

6) Phishing scams. One of the most common types of online fraud, scammers will entice you to share valuable information, such as your passwords, credit card information, personal identification information, etc. Be very careful when asked to provide this information that the website is reputable and that you know why they are asking for it.

If you are concerned that you or a loved one may have been or may become the victim of online fraud or money scams, contact a private investigator to provide you with the assistance you need to ensure that you do not make a mistake that will haunt you for life.