How To Avoid Internet Internet Scams What Should I Know?

I’ve came across a couple of internet scams already and they seem so real before you realize it is a scam. I’ve received emails about winning the lottery or claiming money that is owed to me and I had no knowledge of playing the lottery or money that I’m entitled to. This seemed kind of strange, and the thing of it is I would only receive these emails during the holidays. Right now it is a perfect business opportunity for criminals to make money online. Consumers become more vulnerable over the holidays because of the holiday deals, the convenience of shopping online and the need to earn money for gifts and the special occasions.

Online scams are usually to good to be true, if you receive a email saying you’ve won the lottery and you’ve never even heard of the company or never participated in the contest, then it is false. Here’s an example of one of the emails that were sent to me and they always have African names or are from Nigeria.

Example:

Hi, congratulations! You’ve won the Microsoft lottery in the sum of 2,00,000,000 dollars, your winning number is ZXC4567. Contact your lottery agent

Mr. Abdul at prizedepart@yahoo.com (1202)-435-2345 with your winning number, address, phone number, age, DOB.

Again congratulations
Microsoft Team

Now there’s a lot of information missing and a lot of bullsh** going on! First of all if you’ve signed up for something, anything shouldn’t they know your name? There’s no real phone number and Microsoft does not even have a lottery, they use that name because they know that it is a very well known name and it is more believable because it is from a highly reputable company. And the email address is not the company’s address that is a red flag on the spot!

If you have gotten emails stating you’ve won or they need help with a transaction when it comes to money DELETE IT! These scammers are trying to collect your personal information to use which can damage your credit and leave you responsible with expenses you had nothing to do with. Identity theft is more popular online then offline. If you have to send someone money to get money, that is a sign right there and it needs to be ignored! Don’t fall victim to identity theft, you will never get your life back once you do.

A email that wants you to follow another site, but when you get there it is something different than the link do not give out any of your information. Immediately look for a phone number on the website and call it to verify that the web address is theirs. Internet scams are usually too good to be true.

Don’t
Give out any personal info

Credit card numbers

Bank account numbers

When shopping online do research on the company make sure it is real, a lot of websites look genuine and that’s how a lot of people get scammed. Especially watch out for these type of coincidences on Cyber Monday and another thing, to save money compare your prices, browse around for deals. Don’t just fall for the first one you see. Watch out for advertisements that will have such as “Must buy limited supply”, “limited time only” these companies just want to get people in to buy their products by tricking them into thinking that these products will be gone soon.

One more thing, if you are an associated of a business and a customer does not want to go through the business to purchase products, watch out for that one too. If they want to deal with you directly instead of just ordering through the website take caution. They will try to send you a check that’s well over the cost of their order and get you to send back the remaining balance, do not deal with people like this. You have to think! Why would they send you way more then their total cost? This is a way of getting into your bank account by depositing a phony check and getting you to send them your hard earned money. WATCH OUT! Be safe this holiday season and through out don’t fall for online scams. Shop at websites you are familiar with such as Avon or Wal-mart