Top Internet Scams Computer Users Still Fall For
With the holiday season quickly approaching, many of us will be taking to the Internet to shop around for the best deals and bargains. We will find all sorts of claimed deals and huge saving offers in our email inboxes, pop-up advertisements, and even so-called deals on popular websites that we often visit. Unfortunately, some of those offers are among the many top Internet scans that we still fall for on a daily basis. Some of the scams range from a Nigerian resident claiming that he/she was mobbed and is in need of money, but they will later reward you with millions if you only send them $200. Other scams that we may fall for are items for sale on Craigslist asking that if you deposit $450 you will then get a fortune for doing a good deed. Internet scams are virtually endless, and we fall for them every day.
While there are countless Internet scams making their rounds on the information superhighway, we have composed a list of the top Internet scams that most internet users still fall for below.
Table of Contents
1. Classic Phishing Scam
Phishing, as many of us know, is a method of an entity pretending to be a well-known and legitimate company through the use of their official logos through an email or website. The scam that we still fall for when it comes to phishing are emails that claim to be from your bank saying there is a problem with your account and if it is not addressed it may be suspended.
Most of us have encountered this Internet scam as it remains to be one of the most popular. Usually, the phishing emails of this type will include links or attachments that are malicious and designed to either steal personal information or spread malware so that hackers can obtain personal data from your computer. Millions of people get scammed through phishing attacks, and banking institutions will repeatedly remind you that they will not solicit emails claiming there is an issue with your account. Instead, banks will notify you through a direct phone call or secure notification through an app or online account.
2. Mugged on Vacation Scam
Internet users will eventually discover emails from an unknown person claiming that they were mugged while on vacation and will need your "assistance" to fly back home and pay hotel bills. Such a scam is one that is cleverly written and attempts to gain your sympathy for someone who alleges to be stranded due to having their wallet stolen, which supposedly included all of their credit cards, passport or other personal items preventing them from flying home. The person in the email then usually goes on to ask for a loan of around $2,500 and promises to reimburse you for additional money once they return home thanks to your generous gift.
In most cases, the email sent asking for money due to unfortunate circumstances while on vacation will include a link or attachment that installs malware to either pilfer personal data on your system or make an attempt to scam friends on your Facebook profile.
3. Pre-Approved Credit Card Scam
A crazy fact about the world is the majority of people live on some form of credit, and the credit card is an essential part of life for them. Looking for the best credit card offer is sometimes like finding gold in the full scheme of getting the best deal on interest rates. Scammers know this, and it's why one of the top internet scams that we still fall for is those pesky pre-approved credit card offer scams. Many times, credit card offer scams come about as an email message or an advertisement that we may click on and end up landing on a malicious site or downloading malware.
4. Sweepstakes Winner Scam
We all have seen them on the internet at one point and time. A big banner advertisement that says we have won a sweepstakes or an email from what appears to be from a "Winning Notification Center" claiming that we have won millions of dollars in the European lottery or some vacation trip to a remote island. They seem too good to be true, and they are just that. Those who fall for such a scam usually end up sending a check to an unknown source for a few hundred dollars for "processing and taxes" only to later found out you were scammed out of money instead of being on the receiving end of the lottery.
5. Work-at-Home Scam
The perfect job awaits many of us but not until we fall for the work-at-home scam that seems to perpetuate in our email inboxes on a daily occurrence.
Work-at-home scams are very clever in how they promote a particular job that claims to garner a large sum of money during payday but best of all, you get to work at home and only do it for a few hours each day. Sure, it all sounds like the perfect dream job but unfortunately, the work-at-home offer is a means for crooks to take money from you by claiming that you need to pay for something up front and then get access to some website that is supposedly your work to do while at home. Somehow we still fall for this trick, especially those of us who are in desperate need of work and think the perfect opportunity has just landed in our email inbox.
6. Fake Charity Scam
Our natural morality usually garners a giving heart for those of us who have the proper means to do so. Through that, many of us give to well-known charities with a clear understanding that our money is going to a good cause to help others in need. Scammers, on the other hand, conduct a plethora of fake charity scams that sometimes take advantage of recent world calamities or the aftermath of a big disaster. Most times during such events your email inbox will be flooded with messages claiming that you can give to help victims of a certain unfortunate event by paying money via a charity link included in the email. Doing so usually processes your money and gives it directly to a cybercrook network. Computer users are urged only to give to trusted charities through their direct channels and websites set up for that purpose only.
7. The Perfect Girlfriend Scam
Online dating has inevitably changed the landscape of social interaction with potential mates, just as much or more as social networking on the internet. Finding the perfect mate is not the easiest thing in the world but the internet is there to help just don't be the next victim of pretty pictures of females or males that appear in your email inbox or on a website that you visit. Many times scammers will purposely use attractive and enticing images of women and men to gain your attention only to offer a date with a person for a certain fee. Only thing, the person is imaginary, and you will never end up meeting them, no matter how hard you fall in love with that sexy picture.
8. SMS Text Messaging Scam
Crooks will sometimes send bogus text messages to your mobile phone number, ones that they find at random, only to entice you with some special offer. Additionally, text messaging scams may be ones that claim your banking account has a problem, much like a Phishing scam, and give you a number or link to follow that then asks for your account information.
9. Fake Computer “Infection Detected” Scam
It is common for computer users who surf the internet often to encounter a pop-up notification that claims your computer is infected with a virus. Most times these scams will end up offering a download for installing a bogus security program, which we technically refer to as a rogue antivirus or rogue antispyware program. Such applications will scan your computer and then claim that you must spend a high dollar amount to remove the infection or clean your computer of an "infection detected." These programs cannot be trusted and may be considered as computer viruses themselves.
10. Nigerian Email Scam
Probably one of the most popular email scams on the plant is the Nigerian email scam that claims to be a person in dire need of help or has money to share with someone due to an inheritance from a passed relative. The Nigerian email scams vary greatly and are run by large groups of cybercrooks located in the Nigerian region who are untraceable.
Thousands of computer users to nearly millions around the world have fallen victim to many variations of Nigerian email scams. Some of the scam emails are cleverly disguised to evade email spam detection and end up in your inbox appearing to be from a trusted source or someone who may be part of the government or military. In asking to send money to them, the Nigerian crook may continually keep the line of communication open until you stop sending them money but they never fulfill their initial promise, no matter how much or how little money is sent.