Beware of scammers

Posting on social platforms on a daily basis — and monitoring comments, re-tweets, re-shares, etc. — is one way to engage with the online community. We respond to everyone — from fielding personal inquires and suggestions in our general inquiry box to answering comments, as every fan and follower is important to us. We interact with our followers individually to breed a close community of brand ‘insiders’ who feel comfortable regularly engaging with us,

One of the easiest ways to attract a social following is to offer incentives to "like," follow or connect and flashing the email ID. This what is need by the scammers. They want your details. They even look at your profile and chance upon dragging into a scam.

Because many free email services do not require valid identifying information, and also allow communication with many victims in a short span of time, they are the preferred method of communication for scammers.

Some fraudsters hijack existing email accounts and use them for advance-fee fraud purposes. The fraudsters email associates, friends, or family members of the legitimate account owner in an attempt to defraud them. Variety of techniques such as phishing, key loggers, computer viruses are used to gain login information for the email address.

Sometimes, victims are invited to a country to meet government officials, an associate of the scammer, or the scammer themselves. Some victims who travel are instead held for ransom. Scammers may tell a victim he or she does not need to get a visa or that the scammers will provide the visa.If the victim does this, the scammers have the power to extort money from the victim

A scam usually begins with a letter or emailpurportedly sent to a selected recipient but actually sent to many, making an offer that would allegedly result in a large payoff for the victim. More recently, scammers have also used fake but plausible-seeming accounts on social networks to make contact with potential victims. Once the victim's confidence has been earned, the scammer then introduces a delay or monetary hurdle that prevents the deal from occurring as planned, such as "To transmit the money, we need to bribe a bank official. Could you help us with a loan?" or "For you to be a party to the transaction, you must have holdings at a Nigerian bank of $100,000 or more" or similar. This is the money being stolen from the victim; the victim willingly transfers the money, usually through some irreversible channel such as a wire transfer, and the scammer receives and pockets it.

One of the most common types of confidence trick. There are many variations on the most common stories, and also many variations on the way the scam works. Some of the more commonly seen variants involve employment scams, lottery scams, online sales and rentals, and romance scams. Many scams involve online sales, such as those advertised on websites such as Craigslist and eBay, or even with rental properties. It is important to keep in mind that it is beyond the scope of this article to list every single type of known advanced fee fraud or 419 scheme

1. Employment scams target people who have posted their resumes on e.g. job sites. The scammer sends a letter with a falsified company logo. The job offer usually indicates exceptional salary and benefits and requests that the victim needs a "work permit" for working in the country and includes the address of a (fake) "government official" to contact. The "government official" then proceeds to fleece the victim by extracting fees from the unsuspecting user for the work permit and other fees.

The scammer contacts the victim to interest them in a "work-at-home" opportunity, or asks them to cash a check or money order that for some reason cannot be redeemed locally. In one cover story, the perpetrator of the scam wishes the victim to work as a "mystery shopper", evaluating the service provided by MoneyGram or Western Union locations within major retailers such as Wal-Mart. The scammer sends the victim a forged check or money order, the victim cashes it, sends the cash to the scammer via wire transfer, and the scammer disappears. Later the forgery is discovered and the bank transaction is reversed, leaving the victim liable for the balance. Schemes based solely on check cashing usually offer only a small part of the check's total amount, with the assurance that many more checks will follow; if the victim buys into the scam and cashes all the checks, the scammer can win big in a very short period of time.

1. Lottery scam involves fake notices of lottery wins. The winner is usually asked to send sensitive information such as name, residential address, occupation/position, lottery number etc. to a free email account which is at times untraceable or without any link. The scammer then notifies the victim that releasing the funds requires some small fee (insurance, registration, or shipping). Once the victim sends the fee, the scammer invents another fee.

Much like the various forms of overpayment fraud detailed above, a new variant of the lottery scam involves fake or stolen checks being sent to the 'winner' of the lottery. The winner is more likely to assume the win is legitimate, and thus more likely to send the fee (which he does not realize is an advance fee). The check and associated funds are flagged by the bank when the fraud is discovered, and debited from the victim's account.

1. Online sales and rentals scam involve the purchase of goods and services via classified advertisements, especially on sites like Craigslist, eBay, or Gumtree. These typically involve the scammer contacting the seller of a particular good or service via telephone or email expressing interest in the item. They will typically then send a fake check written for an amount greater than the asking price, asking the seller to send the difference to an alternate address, usually by money order or Western Union. A seller eager to sell a particular product may not wait for the check to clear, and when the bad check bounces, the funds wired have already been lost.

Other scammers may be listing items for sale on the Internet, usually high-priced consumer electronics, such as cameras or computers, but at a "steal" of a price far below the retail value. When a victim places an order for the item, they're contacted by a "salesperson" who explains they'll have to pay extra for batteries, memory cards, power cords, manuals, warranties, etc. If the victim refuses, and attempts to just order the item advertised, suddenly it becomes indefinitely out of stock. Sometimes, the scammer will ask for a (non-refundable) deposit to place the order, and the product never comes in.

1. Some scammers advertise phony academic conferences in exotic or international locations, complete with fake websites, scheduled agendas and advertising experts in a particular field that will be presenting there. They offer to pay the airfare of the participants, but not the hotel accommodations. They will extract money from the victims when they attempt to reserve their accommodations in a non-existent hotel
2. Pet scams- This is a variation of the online sales scam where high-value, scarce pets are advertised as bait on online advertising websites using little real seller verification like Craigslist, Gumtree, JunkMail and like websites. The pet may either be advertised as being for-sale or up for adoption. Typically the pet is advertised on online advertising pages complete with photographs taken from various sources such as real advertisements, blogs or where ever an image can be stolen. Upon the potential victim contacting the scammer, the scammer responds by asking for details pertaining to the potential victim's circumstances and location under the pretense of ensuring that the pet would have a suitable home. By determining the location of the victim, the scammer ensures he is far enough from the victim so as to not allow the buyer to physically view the pet. Should the scammer be questioned, as the advertisement claimed a location initially, the scammer will claim work circumstances having forced him to relocate. This forces a situation whereby all communication is either via email, telephone (normally untraceable numbers) and SMS. Upon the victim deciding to adopt or purchase the pet, a courier has to be used which is in reality part of the scam. If this is for an adopted pet, typically the victim is expected to pay some fee such as insurance, food or shipping. Payment is via MoneyGram, Western Union or money mules' bank accounts where other victims have been duped into work from home scam.

Numerous problems are encountered in the courier phase of the scam. The crate is too small and the victim has the option of either purchasing a crate with air conditioning or renting one while also paying a deposit, typically called a caution or cautionary fee. The victim may also have to pay for insurance if such fees have not been paid yet. If the victim pays these fees, the pet may become sick and a veterinarian's assistance is sought for which the victim has to repay the courier. Additionally, the victim may be asked to pay for a health certificate needed to transport the pet, and for kennel fees during the recuperation period. The further the scam progresses, the more similar are the fictitious fees to those of typical 419 scams. It is not uncommon to see customs or like fees being claimed if such charges fit into the scam plot.

1. Romance scam is another variant, a money-for-romance angle. The con artist approaches the victim on an online dating service, an Instant messenger, or a social networking site. The scammer claims an interest in the victim, and posts pictures of an attractive person. The scammer uses this communication to gain confidence, then asks for money.The con artist may claim to be interested in meeting the victim, but needs cash to book a plane, buy a bus ticket, rent a hotel room, pay for personal-travel costs such as gasoline or a vehicle rental, or to cover other expenses. In other cases, they claim they're trapped in a foreign country and need assistance to return, to escape imprisonment by corrupt local officials, to pay for medical expenses due to an illness contracted abroad, and so on.The scammer may also use the confidence gained by the romance angle to introduce some variant of the original Nigerian Letter scheme, such as saying they need to get money or valuables out of the country and offer to share the wealth, making the request for help in leaving the country even more attractive to the victim.

In a newer version of the scam, the con artist claims to have information about the fidelity of a person's significant other, which they will share for a fee. This information is garnered through social networking sites by using search parameters such as 'In a relationship' or 'Married'. Anonymous emails are first sent to attempt to verify receipt, then a new web based email account is sent along with directions on how to retrieve the information.

A scam from Malaysia involves a "woman" alleging to be half American and half Asian with a father who is American but has died. After communication begins the target is immediately asked for money to pay for the woman's sick mother's hospital bills. Also, requests are made to help her get back to America. In every case the scammer does not use a webcam so the target can't verify the woman is truly in the picture they have sent. Offers to send a camera to the woman by postal mail (instead of money to buy it) are met with hostility.

Domestic scams often involve meeting someone on an online match making service. The scammer initiates contact with their target who is out of the area and requests money for transportation fare. One "woman" scamming had money sent to a generic name like Joseph Hancock alleging she could not collect the money due to losing her international passport. After sending the money the victim is given bad news the woman was robbed on the way to the bus stop and the victim feels compelled to send more money. The fraudster never visits the victim and is willing to chat with the victim through a chat client as long as the victim is still willing to send more money.

In another variation on the romance scam, the scammer contacts women, either in Nigeria or elsewhere, for example, Ghana, offering to "find a man" for them on Internet dating or social media sites. The scammer will charge the woman a fee for his services or may even offer to sell her a computer so she can have direct access to Internet and e-mail. The scammer then runs the traditional scam to lure a man into a relationship, again using false names, stories and photos

1. Other scams involve unclaimed property, also called "bona vacantia" in the United Kingdom. In England and Wales (other than the Duchy of Lancaster and the Duchy of Cornwall), this property is administered by the Bona Vacantia Division of the Treasury Solicitor's Department. Fraudulent emails and letters claiming to be from this department have been reported, informing the recipient they are the beneficiary of a legacy but requiring the payment of a fee before sending more information or releasing the money.In the United States, messages may appear to come from the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA). Interestingly, this is a real organization of unclaimed property chiefs from around the nation, but it does not have control over any actual money – much less the authority to dole it out to people.

In one variant of 419 fraud, an alleged hitman writes to someone explaining he has been targeted to kill them. He tells them he knows the allegations against them are false, and asks for money so the target can receive evidence of the person who ordered the hit.

Another variant of advanced fee fraud is known as a pigeon drop. This is a confidence trick in which the mark, or "pigeon", is persuaded to give up a sum of money in order to secure the rights to a larger sum of money, or more valuable object. In reality, the scammers make off with the money and the mark is left with nothing. In the process, the stranger (actually a confidence trickster) puts his money with the mark's money (in an envelope, briefcase, or sack) which the mark is then entrusted with. The money is actually not put into the sack or envelope, but is switched for a bag full of newspaper or other worthless material. Through various theatrics, the mark is given the opportunity to leave with the money without the stranger realizing. In actuality, the mark would be fleeing from his own money, which the con man still has (or has handed off to an accomplice)

1. Consequences- the estimates of the total losses due to the scam vary widely since many people may be too embarrassed to admit that they were gullible enough to be scammed to report the crime. A United States government report in 2006 indicated that Americans lost $198.4 million to Internet fraud in 2006, averaging a loss of $5,100 per incident. That same year, a report in the United Kingdom claimed that these scams cost the United Kingdom economy ￡150 million per year, with the average victim losing ￡31,000. In addition to the financial cost, many victims also suffer a severe emotional and psychological cost, such as losing their ability to trust people. One man from Cambridgeshire, UK, committed suicide by lighting himself on fire with petrol after realizing that the $1.2 million "internet lottery" that he won was actually a scam.In 2007, a Chinese student at the University of Nottingham killed herself after she discovered that she had fallen for a similar lottery scam.

Other victims lose wealth and friends, become estranged from family members, deceive partners, get divorced, or commit other criminal offenses in the process of either fulfilling their "obligations" to the scammers or obtaining more money.In 2008, an Oregon woman lost $400,000 to a Nigerian advance-fee fraud scam, after an email told her she had inherited money from her long-lost grandfather. Her curiosity was piqued because she actually had a grandfather whom her family had lost touch with, and whose initials matched those given in the email. She sent hundreds of thousands of dollars over a period of more than two years, despite her family, bank staff and law enforcement officials all urging her to stop. The elderly are also particularly susceptible to online scams such as this, as they typically come from a generation that was more trusting, and are often too proud to report the fraud. They also may be concerned that relatives might see it as a sign of declining mental capacity, and they are afraid to lose their independence.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/419_scams

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I had bitter experience with scammers. A least one scam mail is received daily asking Your assistance is needed. To stop this, now I have changed my mail ID for use in only social networking so that to have a better control on managing my mails. Request all Group and Non-Group Members to note this change.

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