The Internet offers a wider variety of stuff for each of us! Quite equally, though, there are certain internet scams and threats to stay away from. If you become a victim, you may end up losing your data, privacy, and money. Last time we checked, not many people knew about these Internet scams.
How can you stay away from threats if you don’t know what they look like? And, making things worse, there are times when your carelessness goes beyond the notifying powers of antivirus programs. So, we thought of writing an article about the 5 common internet scams people generally fall for.
1) Fake Antivirus Scam
In most cases, these fake antivirus programs fill your device with ads and pop-ups. We can’t underestimate these threats, though. In the event of some certain internet scams, you will download and install ransomware on your PC. Ransomware will encrypt your data and will demand a ransom to receive the data back. Even if you pay something, there’s no assurance of getting the data back. The effective prevention method is to use an impressive antivirus program like Bitdefender Total Security which has integrated pop-up ad blocker.
Recommended reading: Bitdefender Total Security 2017: Review.
2) You-Have-Won-A-Lottery Scam
Scammers always try to make the emails/SMSs look as genuine as possible. There will be an official seal or a trusted address. You may even find that the email is from a trusted authority. As said, they would collect the basic address and details first. This is, needless to say, a huge threat to most people out there. Then, if you are proceeding, you will be asked to pay a particular amount as a transaction fee. It’s also noticed that the scams are always international. That is, if you live in the United States, the lottery money would be surely from another country.
3) Romance-based Scams
Your new romantic interest is in trouble. Maybe, she is going to get killed and want to flee the country. Or, she wants money to come and visit you, at your own place. Either way, the motivation here is money, and you’re required to send a whole lot of money — to a provided PayPal email or via Wire Transfer. Although the communication methods may vary, you will be asked to send money to the person. All the claims would be seemingly genuine, and it takes people no time to be in this trap.
4) Phishing Email Scams
On the other hand, if you receive an email from a social networking website, it will be for stealing your login credentials. In these cases, there will be Password Reset link. However, you will be redirected to a bogus site that looks exactly like Facebook or Twitter. Once you have entered the credentials, you’re done. Everything will be at the hacker’s end. Similarly, scammers have unique methods for all types of institutions. Because the email header and content seems legit, most people become prey for this sort of internet scam.
One thing you can do to prevent these attacks is to get an Internet Security package. There, you’ll have advanced options for spam protection and phishing protection.
5) Money Laundering
Well, money-laundering scams make you believe so, through different ways. First of all, there is an email to talk about the current situation of the sender. He might be in some financial issues or under death threat. So, he/she wants to transfer the money to you, and you receive a handsome amount of commission. Still, the catch is same: you have to pay an amount as a part of transaction fees. Plus, you will have to share your address and other banking details.
It’s noteworthy that the scammers present the idea so convincingly. Victims don’t even doubt the legitimacy of the messages. So, most people end up sharing their information and losing money. There is nothing you can do to prevent being a victim of these threats — except having anti-spam protection and common sense.
Let’s Wrap Up
Apart from these, there are many other such Internet scams. For instance, we have seen people falling for the Hit-Man scam and Make-Money scams. In some cases, you’re losing your privacy and data — which is, in no way, better. Have you been victim to any of these scams? Do let us know.
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