The term “Internet Scams” normally refers to any sort of scam scheme that uses a single or a lot more on the net providers to present fraudulent solicitations to prospective victims, to conduct fraudulent transactions, or to transmit the proceeds of fraud to monetary institutions or to others connected producing use of the structure.
World wide web scams can take location on laptop or pc process programs for instance chat rooms, e-mail, message boards, or internet sites.
ScamX.net makes it effortless for you to determine which websites are credible and who are scams.
Internet Scams Resources:
Wikipedia – Internet Scams
Internet Fraud Information: USA.gov
OnGuard Online
Federal Trade Commission
Federal Bureau of Investigation – Internet Fraud
Internet Fraud – SEC.gov
Internet Fraud – Justice.gov
Internet Crime Complaint Center – IC3
15 Ways To Protect Yourself From Internet Fraud
Internet crime, a bad crime influencing online shoppers, is rising each year.
The internet has been a standard avenue for both customers and sellers to
operate their business. Naturally, fraudsters will exploit some of the system’s
defects to make quick cash. These are some ways to protect yourself from online
crime.
1. Guard your private information
Never divulge your personal or banking information unless you are making a
serious purchase. You must only provide you social security number when you are
required to do so. Never provide it in response to an uncalled for e-mail. A
method to avoid being a victim of Internet crime is to always be cautious when
providing private information.
2. Never trust uninvited mail
Mail from unknown senders should be ignored. Responding to these mails will only
verify the validity of your e-mail account which can lead to more fraudulent
activities.
3. Think, Look, Investigate every link you receive in your E-mail before
Clicking.
It’s no secret that scammers thrive greatly on spamming our emails with Phishing
links; links which appear to be on behalf of a real company but are in fact
owned by the scammers. Let us be real; it is no longer safe or worth the risk of
clicking an email that comes to your inbox without first investigating it. If
you are not sure about the legitimacy of a link, what you could do is copy (not
click) the link and paste it into Google’s search engine and run a quick search.
This way you are able to read the short text that comes up in Google about the
link, look for words such as scam, internet scams, fraud, phishing. Of course,
the number one thing to do is never click on a link that isn’t from a site you
are familiar with. In closing, most "urgent" emails asking for financial
personal information should be instantly suspicious as such real organizations
almost never request this unless in person, so always make a call first.
4. Determine the seller’s identity
Before buying items from online auction internet sites like eBay and Craigslist,
discover if the particular company really exists. You can do it by visiting the
local consumer protection agency at your area. Get the company’s physical
address and find out what kind of company they are.
5. Type in Web Addresses manually into your Browser.
Sites that require you to use your personal data –such as banks, social
networking sites and others — should be typed in manually into the web address
bar. This is a very safe way as opposed to clicking a link that comes into your
E-mail inbox.
6. Payment strategies
Understand the different payment techniques the vendor accepts. Know where and
how to send the payment. Make sure the site is secured if you are making an
online payment.
7. Use secure Webservers for transactions with your Credit Card, etc.
Always look for "https" (which indicates a secure Web server) rather than "http"
when you share sensitive information. To ensure it is "https" check the
beginning of the web address in your address bar.
8. Ask about return and warranty policies
Ask the delivery date and the estimated arrival of your purchased item. You need
to also inquire the sellers warranty policy or if you can exchange the item in
case of any defects.
9. Shipping Costs
Some sellers have separate shipping and delivery charges, while others include
those charges in the price.
10. High pressure sales
Internet scammers would never give you the time to consider carefully about your
decision. They’d often demand an immediate reply to a purchase and would ask you
to make a payment at the moment. You need to avoid these practices.
11. Never wire payments before receiving the item
Transactions through wire payments should be avoided. Many of these transactions
are fraudulent.
12. Use Cards
Among all of the different transaction techniques, credit cards offer the best
and safest way to pay for purchases online. You can disagree with erroneous
charges with the company if any problem appears. Nevertheless you need to also
take mandatory cares when giving away your card number, particularly via e-mail.
13. Antivirus and Firewalls are Important.
If scammers/phishers can’t get you to click on a link, chances are they will try
to send you a virus, it’s very important to protect yourself. Buy an anti-virus
program and firewall program and install, run daily scans and update it
regularly. You have no excuse for not protecting yourself since some excellent
ones are absolutely free these days.
14. Train yourself
Read the existing trends in internet scams and crime to circumvent being a
victim of one.
15. Update yourself
It’s important to keep in the know since scammers create different techniques
every day to rob individuals. Check anti-scam websites on a regular basis, visit
such blogs and forums also.
Finally, from my experience the best way to protect yourself and/or a business
from a scam is to remind yourself that there may be scams that are out there
which you do not currently know about. Below is my recommendation of a website
which will "keep you in the know" about the latest fraud tactics and how to
protect yourself and your identity.