Learning about scams (Part 2)

Type of scams

Because of the evolving nature of scams, it would not be possible to list out all the different types of scams but I have listed some of them to give my client a flavour of the ideas that scammers have to eat your lunch.

Fake friend call scams

These usually come via a phone call from an unknown number. The caller would start by calling your name and asking if you recognise their voice. You would hazard a guess and he would admit that he is that person and that he changed his number recently. The conversation will continue and he will eventually try to trick you to part with your money to help him out. The way to detect this type of scam is to lead the scammer by responding "Are you my 3rd uncle?" (When your dad only has sisters, or he has passed on), and then putting down the phone when he admits it.

Phishing scams

These are usually SMS or email links with a message asking you to click on it to enter details (lost package, government website etc). From there they will gather your details to enter your bank account or verify your identity online. Be extra suspicious of clicking on any links.

Investment scams

These are possibly through Internet ads or Youtube videos (I see them quite a lot!) or even calls informing of great investment deals (3% returns every month etc). Scammers will ask you to do a no risk tryout, which will work, but once you transfer a large sum, they will block your access to the platform. Always remember that if the deal is too good to be true, it's probably a scam.

Social media impersonation scams

At one point, this was gaining a lot of popularity, especially when Twitter lost its "blue tick" verification. Basically, this scam is when the scammer approaches the victim with the identity of a famous individual on social media. This could be either if the actual famous person does not have an account on the social media platform, or a spoofed account like "Barack 0bama" was used. Once a link with a potential victim is established, the scammer will take steps to interact and find a way to scam the victim.

Internet love scams

At its roots, scams are just ways that scammers use to entice people to part with their money. Some target man's greed, others, like Internet love scams, target man's (and woman's) need for companionship and attention. Scammers are very good at being a good attentive boyfriend/girlfriend, but make no mistake, these are just complete lies as the scammers follow a guided script of what to do or say to pull at your heartstrings.

Loan scams

Till date, loan scams target people's desperation for a short term loan to tide them through a period. Likely victims may find SMS or WhatsApp messages pushing them to borrow at very good rates with low risk. But they will find themselves out-of-pocket for even more money if they respond to these messages.

Government official impersonation scams

These tend to affect people who are generally more timid and don't want to get in trouble with the law. Scammers will pretend to be some form of Government official (policemen, Ministry of Health officials etc) and accuse the potential victim of violating some law and only by paying fees will it go away. It is driven by the psychology of fear that causes the victim to believe the scammer's story.

Credit-for-sex scams

This is for the naughty boys and girls who are looking for some excitement in their lives. Unfortunately, what they will find is disappointment and an empty wallet. The scammer will ask the victims to buy some Google Play or other forms of prepaid cards and ask for the scratch codes to redeem. After the cards are redeemed, the scammer will drop the call and block the victim...

Bargain sale scams

This seems to be a trending scam, especially for Android phone users. The victim will respond to an ad on an online platform for cheap items, could be cheap New Year food ingredients or electronics at bargain prices. Scammers will then request that victim download and install an app to make a deposit payment for the items. Unbeknownst to the victim, while installing the app, malware would also be installed on the victim's handphone. And when the victim makes the deposit payment, the bank user ID and password would be captured by the scammer. With the banking credentials, the scammer would be able to access the victim's bank account and clean it out. Take note that the scammer doesn't even need the victim to reveal his two-factor authentication (2FA) since with the malware loaded onto the handphone, the scammer can access the 2FA easily. This defeats the general rule of thumb that everyone has been advised not to do: "Do not share your OTP to anyone else!"; because the scammer knows the OTP before the victim does!

Job scams

With the trending retrenchment going on, a lot of employees are definitely concerned about their rice bowls. Scammers target victims who have recently been out of a job or looking for a new job. By promising cushy jobs with lucrative salaries, scammers have been able to scam victims to pay fees to attend interviews. And a slight variant of the job scam, victims have also been tricked to go overseas for these lucrative jobs, only to be enslaved and work in a scamming factory (yes, even the scammers who scammed you are victims themselves).

Rental scams

This was also very common during the early days of COVID-19. With the bereft of affordable housing in the country, scammers use this trick on victims by posing online as housing agents marketing a unit for rent. They may entice victims by offering a reasonable rent for a unit with good location. They may even have nice pictures of the unit to hook any potential victims. After 2 months rental + deposit is collected, the tenant (victim) will realise he had been duped when he goes to the unit and found out from the owner that the unit was never up for rent.

And the list goes on. It would not be possible for me to list down every type of scam, because the scammers are evolving their scams to cater to current trends and thwart the techniques that are developed to help victims combat scams. Instead, what I hope everyone can see are the similar traits that the scammers have used above to entice victims to send money to them. Next up, I will describe how the scams generally work so that you can recognise (and hopefully run away from) them.