Internet Scams of 2017
We are barely through the first quarter of 2017, but already a significant number of internet scams have already being recorded. Cyber criminals have devised new ways of stealing money and personal information from a sea of unsuspecting internet users from all across the globe. Nobody is immune to these threats; you just have to careful about the how you access information online and the various platforms that you visit.
Here are the top Internet scams that you can expect in 2017.
Online Purchase Scams
With the increase in the number of people buying products online, cyber criminals have become more proactive to net unsuspecting online shoppers. They pose as legit online stores and sell fake merchandise to local and international customers. If you intend to purchase a product online, it is of paramount importance to make sure that you do that on reputable websites.
According to the Director of Better Business Bureau, Adam Price, one in every five people loses money through this kind of internet scams per year. As stated in a report published on 11 Alive.com The average annual losses are estimated to be $50 billion.
Online Banking Scams
Online banking scams are executed through spoofing and phishing emails that resemble your real bank emails. The main objective of the scammers who send the emails is to trick unsuspecting customers of target banks to visit a fake website and submit their personal account information. With this information, the scammers are able to purchase products online without your consent.
Digital Bitcoin Wallet Scams
Bitcoin Ponzi Schemes
Bitcoin continue to attract millions of investors who are keen on making money from cryptocurrencies. Scammers have come up with smart ways of making a killing by tricking bitcoin investors. They create Ponzi schemes that lure people to invest in the scheme using their real bitcoins in return for profits. The first investors are paid but later on the scheme fails to honor its promise.
Unverified Bitcoin Wallets
According to Investomedia.com, the promise of improved transaction anonymity lures people to use unverified wallets. Once unsuspecting users deposit money to wallet, the scammer transfers the bitcoins to their own wallet. Phishing emails informing target recipients that they have being awarded free bitcoins and should access their wallets through a fake website to get the winnings will also become more popular in 2017.
Lottery Scam
According to an article posted on Scam Busters, Lottery scam is one of the typical scams which continue to devour money and personal details from unsuspecting internet users. An email is sent to the target person informing them that they have won a significant amount of money and all one is required to do is pay a small fee to collect the winnings.
The bottom line is; the need to be more careful about the sites that you visit and personal information that you share online is more crucial than ever before.
