Scams
A scam is a dishonest attempt to trick a person into voluntary parting with their money or material possessions. Some scams take the form of personal solicitations. Other scams are carefully crafted propositions sent to the victims via e-mail, phone call, text message or even via post. Scams are often “too good to be true” offers that entice the target to give the perpetrator valuable personal information or money for a perceived benefit or to stave off a perceived threat.
A scammer will normally employ persuasive techniques that the target may find very hard to resist. These techniques are often psychological in nature, causing the target to feel inadequate or fearful of missing out on the offer, which distracts the victim from questioning or resisting the offer. It is this intended psychological effect that will have the person deciding to take up the offer against their better judgment, thereby falling victim to the scam.
Spotlight on Scams
Is USANA a Scam?
USANA is a company that is commonly considered an MLM, or multi-level marketing company, based out of Salt Lake City, Utah. Many people have posted complains about USANA, accusing the company of predatory activities, while others mistakenly believe that MLM companies in general are set up accordi... Continue Reading »
Is USANA a Scam?
USANA is a company that is commonly considered an MLM, or multi-level marketing company, based out of Salt Lake City, Utah. Many people have posted complains about USANA, accusing the company of predato...
Scams on Kijiji
Kijiji is a free, local classified-ad knowledgebase that allows users to post ads, browse ads and participate in online discussions on many subjects. However, Kijiji may also used for scamming purposes,...
About Scams
With the rise of the internet, email scams have become increasingly commonplace with thousands of internet users falling victim each year. Email scams may be classified into the following six categories: advanced fee fraud, lottery scams, phishing, auction scams, employment scams and financial/ investment scams. Advanced fee fraud involves the request for money in order to release a much larger amount which is being held by a third party. This scam has particularly achieved notoriety especially with Nigerian scammers in recent years. Lottery scams require payment in order to transfer your big unsolicited lottery winnings into your national bank account.
Phishing involves the sending of official-looking emails from large internet banking and online payment services which request you to confirm certain information. Phishing emails may be sent from PayPal, eBay or MoneyBookers, and will ask you to enter your credit card details which will then be used or sold to others to use in credit card fraud. Auction scams are simple scams which use eBay or Craigslist to take money or property from the victim. These may take the form of ìsecond chance offersî which you receive on auctions you did not win in the first place.
Employment scams involve offering employment which involves processing international payments. In this case, a certified check will be paid to the targetís bank account, after which they will be required to deduct their commission then remit the remainder to the employer. However, the check will either turn out to be a fake or may even result in the victim being prosecuted for money laundering. Financial or investment scams offer huge unrealistic returns on non-existent or illegal investments.