Internet Fraud and its Prevention

Every facet of development has it pros and cons. So the advent of the internet should have its own share of disadvantages. Prominent among them, is the fraudulent acts that is perpetrated on the World Wide Web. Internet fraud is nothing but an on-line deception of a business transaction that will ultimately turn potential buyers/clients to victims of financial scam. Its purveyors are diabolically cunning and can out-smart the most intelligent of us all. They come in different evil guises all in a bid to lure us to them. Beware!

One of the types of on-line scam is done by direct solicitation. Here a “potential buyer” request to buy goods worth a lot of money using  fake credit cards or Counterfeit Postal Money Orders; only for the hard-working salesman to make a cataclysmic loss that may make him/her bankrupt.

Another form is the Automotive Fraud, where the car sales person presents a “ghost” automobile for sale. Suddenly the ghost automobile is no more in stock, but the car sales person can get you its kind. However the desired automobile is in another “continent” and he wants you to pay for its shipment. There is neither a car nor a continental place, thus the expectant buyer is lured to pay for shipments that goes into the salesperson’s wallet.

It can even be romantic (dating scams) where you cannot really blame the victims. For it is said that the heart that yearns is gold. Here, the Romance chat rooms are turned into an arena for the sale of Love. ‘Lovers’ develops a heart-to-heart relationship with you for a while, and then suddenly they are in a state of dilemma (health problems) and need urgent medical and financial assistance. Beware it is all a lie. The only romantic language they know is currency and they will do all that is deceitful to get it from you.

Everyone is interested to watch the next football match, music concert, latest thriller at the cinema. But one can only end up being duped by these scammers. How? The answer is by selling fake tickets  on-line in the name of the real company to consumers.  And to add salt to injury, one is further harrased at the venue of the show for possessing a fake ticket.

Scammers also front graphical sites aimed at selling “ghost” retail goods. What they actually want is your credit card detail used in purchasing these non-existing products. And afterwards, you can be assured that they will buy for themselves  real products at your expense.

There is also a recent one: Click Fraud.  Where online advertising affiliates force you to click on ads which are generated by spywares. And due to affiliate programs, such as Google Adsense, where they pay large amount of commission; you can be assured that there will be an obvious large amount of remunerations going into their wallets. Don’t be fooled that this is a marketing strategy. It is definitely fraud.

As I said earlier: they come in different guises in the bid to lure you. These guises can be listed to an infinite degree.

Thus the important question is this: HOW DO YOU PREVENT THIS?

Provide little amount of information about yourself to an unknown website. Do not give your social security number unless it is necessary. If you have a bank account online, access it from links in search engines. Do not use the links posted on the website.  Also share limited information about your personal life.

Ensure that your anti-virus software and firewall are on and updated to prevent unwelcomed access to private information on your PC.

You can also endeavour to report a scam case to the appropriate authorities on the net. It may never be too late to retrieve what is stolen.

Be cautious with spam mails. They are a reservoir of fraudsters’ invitations. Do not transact business immediately when you receive one.  Make sure you confirm its legitimacy first before transacting.

Do not readily click links  inviting you to buy or sell any product. It is advisable You should also confirm if a website is legit.  A good guide to this is that  the legitimate ones usually have their addresses, phone and fax numbers  at the lower part of the page. If these present it is likely they are for real.

Do not use money transfer for payment. Because money via paid via this medium is not retrievable in a case of scam. However Paypal ensures for scam security.

And PLEASE, do not just trust anybody you meet in the chat room no matter how much they profess their undying love for you, and no matter the financial predicaments they are. It might be lies. Be wise.