We truly want to believe that the Internet is a safe place where you can’t fall for all types of online scams, but it’s always good reminder to do a “reality check”. We, humans, can become an easy target for malicious actors who want to steal our most valuable personal data.
Criminal minds can reach these days further than before, into our private lives, our homes and work offices. And there is little we can do about it. Attack tactics and tools vary from traditional attack vectors, which use malicious software and vulnerabilities present in almost all the programs and apps (even in the popular Windows operating systems), to ingenious phishing scams deployed from unexpected regions of the world, where justice can’t easily reach out to catch the eventual perpetrators.
According to a report from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Millenials are particularly more vulnerable to online scams than seniors, as shocking as it may seem. The research finds that “40 percent of adults age 20-29 who have reported fraud ended up losing money in a fraud case”.
Here are the findings of a report about financial scams
Curious to know what are the most common ways to easily fall victim to a malware attack or phishing scams? It usually happens when you:
Shop online
Check your email addresses
Access your social media networks
For this reason, we need to know what are the most popular techniques malicious actors are using to get unauthorized access to our private information and financial data.
We must not forget their final target is always our money and there is nothing they won’t do to accomplish their mission.
Use the links below to quickly navigate the list of online scams and see the top online scams you need to stay away from right now.
Phishing email scams
The Nigerian scam
Greeting card scams
Bank loan or credit card scam
Lottery scam
Hitman scam
Romance scams
Fake antivirus software
Facebook impersonation scam (hijacked profile scam)
Make money fast scams (Economic scams)
Travel scams
Bitcoin scams
Fake news scam
Fake shopping websites
Loyalty points phishing scam
Job offer scams
SMS Scaming(Smshing)
- Phishing email scams
More than one third of all security incidents start with phishing emails or malicious attachments sent to company employees, according to a new report from F-Secure.
Phishing scams continue to evolve and be a significant online threat for both users and organizations that could see their valuable data in the hands of malicious actors.
The effects of phishing attacks can be daunting, so it is essential to stay safe and learn how to detect and prevent these attacks.
Phishing scams are based on communication made via email or on social networks. In many cases, cyber criminals will send users messages/emails by trying to trick them into providing them valuable and sensitive data ( login credentials – from bank account, social network, work account, cloud storage) that can prove to be valuable for them.
Moreover, these emails will seem to come from an official source (like bank institutions or any other financial authority, legitime companies or social networks representatives for users.)
This way, they’ll use social engineering techniques by convincing you to click on a specific (and) malicious link and access a website that looks legit, but it’s actually controlled by them. You will be redirect to a fake login access page that resembles the real website. If you’re not paying attention, you might end up giving your login credentials and other personal information.
We’ve seen many spam email campaigns in which phishing were the main attack vector for malicious criminals used to spread financial and data stealing malware.
In order for their success rate to grow, scammers create a sense of urgency. They’ll tell you a frightening story of how your bank account is under threat and how you really need to access as soon as possible a site where you must insert your credentials in order to confirm your identity or your account.
After you fill in your online banking credentials, cyber criminals use them to breach your real bank account or to sell them on the dark web to other interested parties.
Here’s an example of a sophisticated email scam making the rounds that you should be very careful.
Use this complete guide on how to detect and prevent phishing attacks (filled with screenshots and actionable tips) to better fight these attacks.
- The Nigerian scam
Probably one of the oldest and most popular Internet scam used mostly by a member of a Nigerian family with wealth to trick different people. It is also known as “Nigerian 419”, and named after the section of Nigeria’s Criminal Code which banned the practice.
A typical Nigerian scam involves an emotional email, letter, text message or social networking message coming from a scammer (which can be an official government member, a businessman or a member of a very wealthy family member – usually a woman) who asks you to give help in retrieving a large sum of money from a bank, paying initially small fees for papers and legal matters. In exchange for your help, they promise you a very large sum of money.
They will be persistent and ask you to pay more and more money for additional services, such as transactions or transfer costs. You’ll even receive papers that are supposed to make you believe that it’s all for real. In the end, you are left broke and without any of the promised money.
- Greeting card scams
Whether it’s Christmas or Easter, we all get all kind of holiday greeting cards in our email inbox that seem to be coming from a friend or someone we care.
Greeting card scams are another old Internet scams used by malicious actors to inject malware and harvest users’ most valuable data.
If you open such an email and click on the card, you usually end up with malicious software that is being downloaded and installed on your operating system. The malware may be an annoying program that will launch pop-ups with ads, unexpected windows all over the screen.
If your system becomes infected with such dangerous malware, you will become one of the bots which are part of a larger network of affected computers. If this happens, your computer will start sending private data and financial information to a fraudulent server controlled by IT criminals.
I never thought cyber criminals could be so creative! Check out these online scams to stay away from
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To keep yourself safe from identity theft and data breach, we recommend using a specialized security program against this type of online threats.
To find out more information about financial malware, read this article. And here’s how you can tell if your computer was infected with malware.
- Bank loan or credit card scam
People can be easily scammed by “too good to be true” bank offers that might guarantee large amounts of money and have already been pre-approved by the bank. If such an incredible pre-approved loan is offered to you, ask yourself:
“How is it possible for a bank to offer you such a large sum of money without even checking and analyzing your financial situation?”
Though it may seem unlikely for people to get trapped by this scam, there’s still a big number of people who lost money by paying the “mandatory” processing fees required by the scammers.
Here are 9 warning signs and sneaky tactics to watch out and avoid becoming a business loan scam.
As regards to credit card scams, a recent report from the Identity Theft Resources Center said that the number of credit and debit card breaches have been on the rise last year. To better safeguard your data and prevent thieves from getting access to your payment card details, consider:
Watching your accounts closely and monitor your online transactions;
Taking advantage of free consumer protection services;
Signing up for free credit monitoring.
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