What Types of Internet Frauds Are Most Common | Online Fraud Awareness
January 2, 2024
You can do almost anything online, including personal banking, investing, streaming videos, watching Notre Dame football games, and booking trips to South Bend. However, among all the advantages of online activity, cybercriminals also operate.
This reality is why you should know what internet frauds are most common, how they work, and how to avoid them. So, by becoming familiar with these online fraud tactics, you can safeguard your financial accounts and internet activity.
Personal Identity Theft
Identity theft occurs when scammers steal your personal information to use it to get personal loans, credit cards, or other forms of credit. You can tell when someone else is using your identity when you:
- Receive bills for purchases you didn't make
- Discover unfamiliar new accounts on your credit report
- Get denials of loan applications you didn't fill out
- Notice that mail stops arriving at your mailbox
- Receive debt collection calls for credit accounts that you never opened
Online scam artists use several methods to get your identifying information, including email phishing scams[1], phony job offers, fake social media accounts, and public Wi-Fi interceptions.
To protect yourself from this type of internet fraud, you should:
- Ignore and delete any suspicious emails or strange requests from people on social media.
- Remove personal information from your online profiles, such as your full name, address, date of birth, and relative names.
- Avoid signing into your online bank account or other password-protected sites while using public WIFI.
- Install internet security and monitoring software on your device to guard against online scams and malware[2].
Internet Greeting Card Scams
Greeting card scams take advantage of the growing trend of friends and family members celebrating birthdays, Christmas, New Year's, and other special occasions by sharing greeting cards through email. Hackers use these events to pose as someone you know and email you an electronic greeting card containing malware.
When you open the greeting card, the malware downloads into your device. Once it self-installs, the malware can slow down your device with pop-up ads. It also can collect your personal and financial information. The best way to protect yourself from this type of internet fraud is to contact the sender to confirm the email came from that person. Then, you can open it safely.
Online Dating Scams
If you visit social media platforms or dating websites, a dating scammer will likely try to communicate with you. If they succeed, these scammers typically use fake profiles, hardship stories, or promises of romance to persuade you to give them money or personal information. Once they get as much as possible from you, these fraudsters usually disappear into cyberspace.
- You can look for these signs of online romance scammers.
- They seem too good to be true.
- They move too quickly in the relationship.
- They don't show up for planned visits.
- They need money, usually delivered through a specific payment method.
- They want to transfer your conversations to a different platform, such as WhatsApp.
For added security, you should not share your personal or financial information with anyone online outside of your bank or other trusted institutions. Also, plan meetings in public places or at events like the Circle of Lights to be safe.
Lottery Fraud Scams
Lottery fraud is a time-tested, prevalent and popular form of internet fraud. It starts when a fraudster sends you an email that claims you won the lottery. The email also provides instructions on how to claim your prize after paying a fee. These criminals typically work hard to make the emails look convincing and official. They also count on you getting lost in the excitement of winning, reducing your chances of spotting flaws.
The warning signs of lottery fraud are as follows:
- They ask for a fee. No real lottery would charge a fee to give you money.
- They ask for personal information or your bank account number.
- The email has a short deadline to claim your winnings.
- They use high-pressure tactics to get you to send money or provide personal information.
Despite being one of the most well-known online scams, the Nigerian prince scam continues to be profitable for scammers using phishing emails. In the email message, the scammers typically claim to be a Nigerian Prince or a member of a Nigerian royal family. They explain they need someone outside of Nigeria to help them release a giant sum of money from government control. At this point in the message, they offer you a generous portion of the money in return for your help.
These fraudsters usually start this online scam by asking for a small sum to cover legal fees and processing. Then, they begin asking for larger amounts of money as the process moves to higher levels of approval and transaction costs. The scammers continue this tactic until they have received as much money as possible before disappearing. However, now that you know the details of the Nigerian Prince scam, you should be able to avoid this fraud easily by simply deleting these emails.
Credit Card Reward Point Frauds
Credit card reward points are an effective promotional tool for banks and credit card companies. Fraudsters also use this popular promotional tool to trick cardholders into revealing valuable credit card information.
This internet fraud typically starts with an email from someone pretending to be a genuine employee of your credit card company. While stressing that your points will expire soon, the scammer offers to help you redeem your credit card reward points immediately if you call a specific phone number. However, the process requires you to give your credit card information to the scammer.
Once scammers have your credit card information and password to your account, they can pile up points with fraudulent purchases. They can also transfer all your points to untraceable gift cards[3] and slip away before you find out and report the fraud. You can simply avoid this fraud by redeeming your points in the safety of your online credit card account or bank branch.
The Advantage of Knowing What Internet Frauds Are Most Common & Prevalent
By keeping alert for these online scams and others like them, you can go about your internet activities with peace of mind. It also helps to install internet security software on your devices and do business with legitimate online institutions that put your security first, such as Centier Bank. Learn more about how Centier can help you protect your identity and safeguard against fraud.
Sources
[1] https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/topics/identity-theft/phishing-scams
[2] https://www.mcafee.com/en-us/antivirus/malware.html
[3] https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/data-visualizations/data-spotlight/2021/12/scammers-prefer-gift-cards-not-just-any-card-will-do
