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New Internet Scams – What You Should Know
Scams come in all shapes and sizes. Wherever you go online or offline, you should be aware that criminals are always trying to make a quick buck. This is unfortunately the case all around the world and the internet. Many scammers collect personal information, which doesn’t cost anything upfront to the victim, but leaves them vulnerable to identity fraud over time.
After collecting personal information, scammers will make an offer. These offers are never real but always promise something incredible. There are tried and true scams like the Nigerian Prince and unexpected lotto winnings worth millions, but criminals are getting more creative. You may have heard of these newer scams before and you might not have, but it doesn’t hurt to know a little bit more about these sorts of things.
Bitcoin pitfalls
Only a few people have gotten rich because of Bitcoin, but many more have lost money because of it. In the spotlight are the newly minted millionaires, but what about the people who lost everything? There’s plenty of doubt whether or not if Bitcoin is a complete scam, a partial scam, or a legitimate currency. How does one even legitimately acquire Bitcoins? Can the Bitcoins be exchanged for USD after being purchased? There are far too many uncertainties when dealing with Bitcoin.
Plenty of people have given away personal information to receive “free” Bitcoins. A website promises to give you a Bitcoin worth thousands of real dollars for your name, address, and phone number. If this sounds similar to every other scam, that’s because it is. Taking advantage of people who don’t understand technology is the first step in a criminal’s path to ill-acquired riches.
After submitting your personal information, the scammer can show you a random string of numbers and letters and claim that you’ve received one Bitcoin. This is definitely not a Bitcoin. Your private information was just stolen by a scammer. These types of scams are common, but Wiperts can help you see if your personal information ended up on Google or some other website for bad actors to profit from.
Sadly, many people have tried to purchase Bitcoin and that money promptly went into the criminal abyss, never to be seen again. Furthermore, a lot of people who successfully bought Bitcoin also unsuccessfully tried to exchange it for USD. Seemingly legitimate websites promising cash for Bitcoin popped up and then promptly disappeared.
Victims, as you have come to expect reading this far, gave their real name, address, telephone number, and financial information (Bitcoins, bank account, sometimes even Social Security Numbers) in expectation of getting rich. These fake websites took all the information and money without ever giving anything back.
When dealing with a financial website, it’s normal to give a lot of private information to ensure the transaction successfully goes through – Bitcoin scammers relied on this type of logic. Not enough personal information, ironically, would make people suspicious of using their fraudulent website. Big financial transactions require more private information after all… right? These scammers played right into that mentality and took everything from unsuspecting victims.
Job offers you should refuse
Jobs and employment scams trick you into handing over your money and personal information by offering you a “guaranteed” way to make fast money or a high-paying job for little effort, according to Scamwatch, a website run by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
The scammer will usually try to contact you by email or phone, offering you a job. You may even come across false job opportunities on classified ad websites like Monster or Indeed. To accept the job, you will be asked to pay for a starter kit or materials relevant to the job. This may not seem unusual, as some legitimate jobs force you to buy a company uniform before you can truly begin clocking in.
After you send in your resume with your real name, address, and phone number, and pass your “interview” with flying colors (there might not even be an interview at all) – all you have to do is give them a significant amount of money to start working a dream job that will magically rake in the dough. These starter kits are usually exorbitantly expensive and the “work” will probably amount to loads of time wasted as the scammer runs off with your money and personal info.
If you buy the starter kit, you may not receive anything, or what you do receive is not what you expected. You might be sent instructions for how to get other people to join the same scheme. This is basically a pyramid scheme, where you pay in money to get a promised rate of return (in this case, a lucrative job), but instead you wind up trying to get more people to join this bogus “company.”
Basically, in this type of situation, after you get five more people to join, you might receive a little pocket change. or another empty promise that you’ll be paid after you get ten people to join. After you’ve recruited a hundred or a thousand more people, you might get paid, you might not. This is what scammers do – they get you to invest your time and money. Make no mistake, they are gathering up treasure troves of personal information from the people you’re recruiting.
If the “job” offer is too good to be true, then it’s most likely a scam. These scammers don’t even need you to buy their fake starter kit – sending in your resume loaded with personal information is plenty enough. They can sell this info to data brokers or post it online for their criminal companions to see. If you’ve ever fallen for an online scam, and we all have, then you should contact Wiperts to see what can be done to protect your identity and personal information. Removing yourself from the internet is a good idea if you value privacy and dislike the idea of criminals swapping your personal information like a trading card.
