The scams online have shown a significant growth in sophistication and prevalence in the modern and digitalized world, every 1 in 5 people experienced an online scam during their internet usage. The scams are affecting both businesses and individuals. The modern world is providing us with the comfort of online shopping, banking, and social networking, and that is helping scammers discover many more ways to attack their unsuspecting victims. This article provides an overview of five common scams and offers tips on how to avoid them and prevent falling victim to them. Have you gotten any phishing e-mails recently?

 

1. Online shopping scams.

Scams in the online shopping area involve fraudulent websites or sellers that offer products at extremely cheap and irrelevant prices. This leads to the delivery of fake goods or even non-existent goods.

How to identify:
• Too Good to Be True Offers: Highly reduced prices or extreme discounts on popular products can be a warning red flag.
• No Contact Information: Scammers usually don’t provide clear contact information or customer service.
• Awful Website Design: This can include misspellings, broken links, and unprofessional design, which can be signs of scam websites.
• No Reviews or Fake Reviews: A very high number of only positive reviews, generic review count, or absent authentic client feedback.
• Similar URLs: Hackers can establish very similar URL address to a legitimate one, by changing some of the letters or adding words, so that they can confuse the customer.

How to Avoid:
• Research the seller: Try to search for information, reviews, and ratings for the company on independent websites.
• Use Secure Payment Methods: Choose secure payment methods, payment options like credit cards, or reliable online payment providers such as PayPal, which can provide you with protection.
• Check for the security website certification: Ensure that the website uses HTTPS (define what that is later) and has security certifications.



2. Tech Support Scams.

Those kinds of scams involve scammers pretending to be famous company representatives and reaching out to you with urgent problems with the communication system that need to be fixed. The tech support scams have increased significantly in the past few years, with a record number of 32.5K victims per year.

How to identify:
• Unauthorised Calls or Pop-ups: Trustworthy tech providers don’t call people in an attempt to resolve problems.
• Request for Remote Access: Scammers may ask you to provide them access to your computer so they can “fix” your problem.
• Payment Requests: Often, fraudsters can ask you for money in exchange for a service that is not needed in the first place.

How to Avoid:
• Hang-up: If you ever receive a suspicious call, the best thing to do is to end it.
• Do Not Grant Access: Don’t allow remote access to your personal computer unless you have requested it and you are sure and confident in the person’s legitimacy.
• Contact Official Support: Always search for and find the official and verified contact details to get in touch with the official tech support.


3. Investment scams.

Investment scams trap individuals into fake investment opportunities by offering large returns with little to no risk, which often gets people’s attention. Investment scams have fooled 33% of all money customers by scammers in 2023.

How to identify:
• High Returns, Low Risk: Promises of unbelievably high and guaranteed returns with minimal risk are usually a sign of problems.
• Pressure tactics: Scammers force victims to make quick and not well-thought-out decisions, offering limited-time opportunities.
• Lack of Registration: Legitimate and trustworthy investment companies are registered with financial regulatory authorities on file. Scammers usually don’t provide such registration.

How to Avoid:
• Do Your Research: Read and research the investment company’s history. Verify registration with financial authorities.
• Be skeptical about promises: Be aware of any kind of investment that guarantees returns.
• Seek professional advice: Consult and take advice from a licensed financial advisor before making any financial decisions.


4. Romance scams.

Those kinds of romance scams have become extremely popular; they involve scammers creating fake profiles on dating apps and social media channels in order to establish love connections with their victims and eventually use their victims for financial obligations. In 2022, it was reported that 70,000 Americans were involved in a romance scam. The scammer stole an unbelievably high number of $1.3 billion in 2022.

How to identify:
• Rapid Intimacy: Scammers quickly profess love and escalate the relationship.
• Excuses to Avoid Meetings: Scammers always have excuses for not meeting with the victims in person or even via video call.
• Requests for Money: Eventually, they ask for money due to some made-up stories and fake emergencies.

How to Avoid:
• Be cautious with personal information. Don’t share too much personal information with people online early on.
• Research their profile: You can easily check their photos and profile details using reverse image searches.
• Never Send Money: Be cautious when it comes to your money, and if anyone you haven’t met in person tries to ask about money or bank information online, never send any kind of personal information or money transfers.



5. Phishing scams.

The famous phishing scams refer to fake emails, texts, or even websites that look authentic but are actually meant to steal personal information and private data, which can include credit card information, passwords, and identity information. Statistics show that 3.4 million emails are sent every day by cybercriminals. Making the emails look like they are legit and sent by a trusted sender is leaning toward a lot of victims of phishing emails.

How to identify:
• Unusual Sender Address: Phishing emails often look quite like legitimate ones, but there are a few things that you can note in them, such as misspellings or extra characters.
• Including Threatening or Urgent Words: Scammers usually use an aggressive approach to individuals by creating a sense of urgency by threatening to suspend your account because of questionable activity.
• Generic Greetings: Phishing emails refer to you as “Dear User” or “Dear Customer” instead of using your name.
• Suspicious Links: If clicking over a link reveals the URL, you might notice that it appears strange or doesn’t match the purported destination.

How to Avoid:
• Always check the source: Never open the attached files or links sent by unknown users or companies that you don’t recognize or find questionable. Go straight to the official and legitimate website instead.
• Use the Security Website: Install and update anti-virus programs and software on the devices that you use.
• Inform yourself: Keep yourself updated about the most recent and famous phishing schemes and scams, so you can be prepared. You can also check your email for any data breaches for free. This will show you if any unauthorized user has gained access to your personal and confidential information.


General Tips for Staying Safe Online:

• Use of Strong Passwords: Creating unique, complex passwords with characters, symbols, and numbers, regularly changing them for different accounts and platforms, enhances online safety. pCloud offers a secure password manager, enabling users to log in to different online accounts with a single click. Also, it gives you the opportunity to create complex and strong passwords with the built-in password generator.
• Enable Two-Factor Authentication: You can add an extra phase of security to your accounts.
• Monitor Your Accounts: Always check your bank account and statements for suspicious activity.
• Stay Updated: Keep your software and systems updated to protect yourself from vulnerabilities.

You can protect yourself from these common internet scams by being informed and cautious. Prioritize your safety online, secure your data, and securely operate in the digital world. Remember that if something seems too good online, it is probably a scam.