What type of internet scams are there

Scammers prey on consumers and businesses that are buying or selling products and services. Scammers take advantage of people looking for romantic partners, often via dating websites, apps or social media by pretending to be prospective companions. Fake charities. Scammers will use any means possible to steal your identity or your money — including threatening your life or 'hijacking' your computer. Unexpected money. Scammers invent convincing and seemingly legitimate reasons to give you false hope about offers of money.

There are no get-rich-quick schemes, so always think twice before handing over your details or dollars. It says you have won a lot of money or fantastic prizes in a lottery or sweepstakes competition you did not enter. These scams try to trick you into giving money upfront or your personal details in order to receive the prize.

Scammers typically claim that you need to pay fees or taxes before your winnings or prize can be released. They use these profiles to try to enter into a relationship with you so they can get a hold of your money and personal details. The scammer will develop a strong rapport with you then ask for money to help cover costs associated with illness, injury, travel or a family crisis. Scammers seek to exploit your emotions by pulling on your heart strings. Sometimes the scammers will take months and months to build up the rapport.

Phishing emails are commonly used by scammers to trick you into giving them access to your computer. If you click, malicious software will be installed and the hacker will have access to files and information stored on your computer.

If you provide your account details, the scammer can hack into your account and take control of your profile. Scammers like shopping online for victims. Not getting what you paid for is a common scam targeting online shoppers. A scammer will sell a product and send a faulty or inferior quality item, or nothing at all. They may also pretend to sell a product just to gather your credit card or bank account details.

An online auction scam involves a scammer claiming that you have a second chance to buy an item that you placed a bid on because the winner has pulled out. Scammers send emails or text messages that appear to be from your bank, a financial institution or an online payment service. Card skimming is the copying of information from the magnetic strip of a credit card or automatic teller machine ATM card. They may even install a camera to capture your pin. If you own a small business you can be targeted by scams such as the issuing of fake bills for unwanted or unauthorised listings, advertisements, products or services.

A well-known example is where you receive a bill for a listing in a supposedly well-known business directory. Scammers trick you to sign up by disguising the offer as an outstanding invoice or a free entry, but with a hidden subscription agreement in the fine print. It works in essentially the same way except that the fraudulent message will come through as a text message. It may come from one of your contacts or pretend to come from an institution with which you normally associate.

Again, if it feels random - meaning you've done nothing to solicit this information - then leave it alone. Remember: when in doubt, don't click! This particular type of scam is rather difficult to prevent merely because of its randomness. Essentially, these scams are based around companies that pretend to sell you products they have no intention of ever sending you.

You may get a confirmation email after you pay, and they will certainly take your money, but the product will never arrive.

These scams will sometimes arrive to you via email or social media, but they will always direct you to a third-party eCommerce store. They will often offer high-end, luxury items at a very low price a red flag and they will usually demand payment via electronic funds transfer.

You may also find these sites if you search for specific items. If you're lucky, the worst thing that will happen is you'll lose the money you spend. But if you gave your credit card information, there's a good chance those who set up the scam are going to try and use it to make further purchases. If you find yourself shopping on a site you've never visited before, it doesn't automatically mean it's a fraud but you should do some research.

Look for customer reviews, see if these products are being sold elsewhere, and if you're really unsure, consider trying to contact the company. Not being able to reach someone is a big red flag that the site is really just a fraud. Also, check to make sure the site is secure the URL starts with "https" and not just "http" and try to only spend money on sites that use secure payment platforms, such as PayPal and credit cards.

This will help ensure your money is going to the right place. This is one of the oldest online scams in the book, but shockingly, it still gets people.

It's called the Nigerian scam because the first versions of it were sent from someone in Nigeria, but nowadays you can get emails from pretty much all over the world, and they all say the same thing. The term comes from the designation this scam has received in the Nigerian legal code. Essentially, in this scam, someone from a wealthy family in Nigeria, or some other West African nation, will reach out to you because they need help moving their fortune out of the country.

They promise to wire you a bunch of money, but they will tell you that you need to first cover some of the fees involved in the transaction. You're promised a portion of their fortune for your help, but obviously this is never going to happen. If you get this email, just delete it and tell your friends about it when you're at happy hour later that week. Cryptocurrencies, the most famous being Bitcoin, have taken the world by storm. They are cool, exciting, and often times quite valuable.

However, few people truly understand how these things work, and cybercriminals are more than willing to use this ignorance to steal some money from you, or worse, all your personal information. Most of these scams will encourage you to make an initial investment in a company that is about to go up for an Initial Coin Offering ICO.

In exchange for your money, you'll get a stake in the company, and, as the hackers will claim, this is going to make you rich. Sometimes these companies do actually exist, but the coins they are selling are either worthless or high risk. But most of the time, these companies are fictitious, and your payment will go towards nothing.

Plus, if you do this, whoever contacted you will have your information, which they can use to rob you even more. The fine print has the power to ruin us all. Nearly every online service we use has a set of terms on conditions to which we must agree, and they are usually longer than any book we've ever read. As a result, most of us just click "Yes" or "I agree" without putting too much thought into what we're doing.

However, all too often, less reputable companies will put things in the fine print that give them the right to take more money from you. For example, you may sign up for some sort of subscription, and in the fine print it might say that after three months you will be charged an additional service fee, which is usually exorbitant.

As a result, when you're signing up for something, especially from a company you've never heard of before, make sure to do your homework. If you don't have the time to read everything in the terms and conditions, then at least Google the company to see if anyone else has had a problem. If they have, there's bound to be a complaint out there warning you to stay away from the company, and this little bit of research can save you a bunch of money and problems down the road.

Debt is a huge stressor in most people's lives. As a result, when someone comes in and offers to help you get rid of your debt quickly and easily, it's tempting to want to at least listen to what they have to say. However, as we know, taking shortcuts and cutting corners gets us nowhere, and if you fall for this scam, you could be in serious trouble.

Essentially, these scammers will tell you that they can work with your creditors to help you lower your interest rates or even forgive some of what you owe. However, to gain access to this premium service, you need to pay an upfront fee, which obviously goes nowhere. This scam works largely because it targets those who are most desperate and who are most willing to seek an alternate solution. However, if you find yourself in this situation, know that there's always a way to make things work that is safe and legal.

This sounds scary, but it's not kidnapping in the traditional sense. Instead, in this scam, hackers will take control over one or all of your social media profiles. Then, they will contact you and demand payment for access to be returned. In some instances, they may threaten to post damaging content or harmful material, and this often has enough of an impact on people for them to open their wallets.

If this happens to you, the best thing you can do is contact the relevant social media platform and alert them that you've been a victim of fraud. When you simply view content on the web, the files you're looking at technically don't get onto your computer. Instead, they are simply displayed from the relevant servers onto your browser. However, when you click "download," those files are in fact loaded onto your hard drive, and if you're downloading from sketchy sites, you can end up with some pretty nasty software on your computer.

One of the most common things you can get is malware, which is essentially software designed to collect information from your computer. It usually disrupts the function of your computer, and if you catch it in time you can get rid of it, but it might be too late. Another piece of software you can download unknowingly is ransomware.

This software will essentially lock you out of your computer and demand you pay a certain amount to get back in. Instead, take your computer to a specialist, of if you know how, restore your computer to a point before the download.

Sometimes, hackers will work this scam by sending you a pop-up saying you're computer has been infected with a virus. In this same popup, you will be instructed to download software that will protect you but that will actually install something malicious on your computer. Again, when in doubt, don't click. Loneliness can do remarkable things to the human psyche, and unfortunately, cybercriminals know this and are willing to prey on this weakness.

These soulless hackers will make an online dating profile and work to build a relationship with you. Then, after some time, they will start asking you to send them money, which you will be tempted to do since you've grown to care for this person.

If you think this can't be you, check this out:. It's easy to say you won't fall for this, but you never know. The best thing to do is to remember that you should never, under any circumstances, give money to someone you've never met in person. Another common scam you will encounter online is what is known as the "fake lottery" scam, and it's exactly what it sounds like. Someone will contact you, usually via email, but it could also come via social media, text message, or even as a pop-up ad, telling you that you've won some sort of large lottery, usually in another country.

However, to claim your "prize," you will need to give up some sensitive information, which should be a big red flag. When you get a message such as this, just think back to when you may have entered some sort of lottery. If it's from a country you've never been to, then this is obviously a scam. But remember, if someone is offering you lots of money for doing nothing, there's a good chance they are up to no good.