Let’s talk about Online Scamming !

Cyber criminals affected the online businesses and individuals since the internet networks first appeared and spread all over the world.

Internet services and websites make it easy for us to pay bills, shop, make online reservations and even work. And you can do any of these actions from any place in the world. Old boundaries and human limitations were dropped, in order for us to have access to almost any information. Our lives became so much easier.

But the same thing is true for CRIME.

Our freedom to navigate and access a wide number of online locations represents in the same time a main vulnerability, because an open door always allows access in both directions.

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 methods 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.

The most common ways for you to become vulnerable to a malware attack or phishing scam usually happen when you:

shop online
check your email
access social media networks
For this reason, we need to know what are the most popular schemes and techniques used by cyber criminals in order to obtain 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.

Here’s the list of online scams to stay away from:

Phishing email scams
The Nigerian scam
Greeting card scams
A guaranteed 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
Delivery scams
Fake news scam
Stock market scams
Job offer scams
SMS Scams (Smishing)

1. Phishing email scams

Phishing

According to a recent report released by Wombat Security, the number of phishing emails sent this year was bigger, with a 155% increase compared to 2016. The effects of phishing attacks can be devastating to both organizations and individuals, so it’s essential to stay safe and raise a security awareness. This report has proven that people know and understand what phishing is, because 65% of US and 72% of UK respondents answered correctly to question: “What is phishing?”

Phishing scams are based on communication made via email or on social networks. Cyber criminals will send you messages and try to trick you into giving them your login credentials – from your bank account, social network, work account, cloud storage or any other personal data that can prove to be valuable for them.

In order to do that, the phishing emails will seem to come from an official source – it can be bank authorities or other financial institutes, but also delivery companies or social networks representatives.

This way, they’ll persuade you to click on the links contained by their messages and access a website that looks legit, looks like the real one, but it’s actually controlled by them. You will be sent 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.

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 web page where your 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.

It’s one of the main scamming techniques used to spread financial and data stealing malware. There isn’t any reason why you shouldn’t be very well prepared for this attempt. However, even if you install a good antivirus program, there is no better way to stay safe from this threat but to avoid the initial infection phase.

Here’s a complete guide on how to detect and prevent phishing attacks – filled with screenshots and actionable tips.

1. The Nigerian scam

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Nigerian scam is one of the oldest and most popular online scamming technique used mostly by a member of a Nigerian family with wealth to trick different people. Also known as “Nigerian 419”, the number 419 comes from the section of Nigeria’s Criminal Code which banned the practice.r.

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.

This is just the beginning, as they will continue to ask you to pay more and more money for additional services, such as transactions or transfer costs. You 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. There were also cases where not only money was lost in the scam, but people were kidnapped or even worse.

In this blog post we exposed more examples of scams carried on social media networks (tips on how to stay safe from them included).