?? Spotting Online Scams: Don't Be Fooled! ??

Recently, I had a discussion with a client about online scams. She asked me how to protect herself and recognize red flags.

We’re all familiar with the typical scams: inheriting money from a nonexistent relative, government officials asking for codes from Amazon or other outlets' cards, and marriage scams.

However, I've noticed a growing number of scams on LinkedIn. About two years ago, I was contacted by someone allegedly from 'The Warren Buffet Foundation' offering money to help local businesses. I’ve written an article on this topic, and if you use the translator, you can read it here.

Every few weeks, I receive a message from the Crown Prince of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, expressing interest in doing business with me. Can you imagine? A ruler of Dubai, with all his duties, reaching out to me personally to conduct business! Not. And I can’t figure out why he creates a new profile every time he contacts me. ??

Depending on my mood, I might wait a few days, and the profile typically turns into a 'LinkedIn User' with no substance. A person I know once responded to such a message and was invited to Dubai to speak at a conference. Great opportunity, right? However, they were directed to a website (which looked legitimate if you didn’t know what to look for) with all the conference information, an application form, and – pay attention – a payment processing form. If you’ve ever been invited to speak at a conference, you either did it for free (gaining exposure while the organizer sold more tickets due to your appearance) or were offered a fee for your speech because of your ticket-selling power. If you’re being asked to pay to speak at a conference, this is a red flag.

Of course, some business models build huge followings, organize free or paid summits, and offer speaking spots for a fee. Usually, these fees don’t run into thousands of USD.

There are also organized scammers preying on 'victims' for relationships. They’re often unfamiliar with the psychology of the platform and its users, leading to massive failures. Maybe I should set up a course: 'LinkedIn for Scammers'! Just kidding.

Another legitimate-sounding scam involves PR agencies offering exposure in numerous outlets. Sure, each outlet offers paid promo options, and you don’t need a PR agency to handle this. You can directly contact the outlet and submit your piece, which will be marked as PAID PROMO. Be honest, how often do you read paid promos? Here’s where the scam escalates – many no-name PR agencies create fake outlet sites and feature your content there. Although it appears authentic, you don’t get the exposure you’d receive from the original outlet. If you’re an authority producing quality content, you can get featured for free – those are the articles we read.

Have you noticed the rise of all types of magazines? Nowadays, you can even design a shiny

magazine in Canva and create an attractive mockup that entices people. However, they provide creative figures when you ask for circulation, visitor, or reader numbers. Tools are available to show visits to specific pages, so it’s worth doing your due diligence. Last year, I was offered a huge spread in a magazine I’d never heard of with a shiny cover (I saw different people with the same cover). In the digital sphere, creating multiple covers and selling each as unique is easy. And each person they sell it to also receives some copies of the printed version. Well, if you were skilled in design and someone paid you thousands of dollars to do it, you'd do it too.

If something seems too good to be true, it most certainly is. If you receive an offer from an unknown profile and feel tempted, wait a few days, maybe a week. You might be dealing with a real opportunity if the profile still exists.