How to Protect Your Elderly Family Members from Scams?

In today’s age, most scams take place on online platforms or in an online setting, primarily through social media and websites. Anybody who has invested time and has been on the Internet for quite a time now understands that only some things are as it appears, not everything. The Internet’s widespread anonymity has created an ideal environment for new sorts of deception.

Scamming can occur online or in person; however, it is more prevalent online. Online platforms are said to be an effective medium for both non-violent and violent crimes. They make use of certain websites, fake accounts, fake click baits, and more to lure people into interacting with them and eventually believing in them. 

Type of Internet Scamming and Schemes

Scams involving online fraud can take numerous forms. Lately, these have been more widespread, especially in this peak of the internet and social media age. These are a few examples of prevalent forms of internet fraud:

Phishing

A phishing strategy involves a fraudster acting as a legitimate company in an email or other electronic contact to collect sensitive information from a victim. For instance, the scammer could send you a message via email pretending to be a bank associate or spokesperson and asserting that your account needs to be verified. 

The email would therefore take you to a bogus banking website in which you would be requested for personally identifiable information such as your account number, login, passcode, and so on. The fraudster would then gain your account credentials and access them using this data.

Work from Home

You’ve undoubtedly seen job postings on the Internet that appear too promising to be true. Regrettably, the majority of them are. Several work-from-home plans demand you buy pricey items or pay charges and transaction fees before making a living. Others may be Ponzi scams in which you must recruit people in return for a percentage of the payments.

Apartment Rental Fraud

Rental advertising, like work-at-home offers, often appears to be too appealing to be authentic and legit. In a rental fraud, the culprit posts an advertisement on Craigslist or perhaps some other classified site offering a low-cost rental property. Images, as well as further details, are frequently lifted from actual postings. 

When potential tenants express interest, the fraudster states that they are away from town and requests that they transfer the first month’s payment or other costs to an out-of-state location.

“Catfish” Frauds

The “catfish” is an individual who sets up a phony profile on social media in order to search for an internet relationship. Catfishers would often persuade their targets to transfer cash or presents or to compensate for their flights or other expenditures.

Surprising Prizes

The Internet or online world is riddled with pop-up adverts informing you that you have won a Laptop or any kind of gadget or appliances or are eligible for a free trip. Are they being truthful? Very likely not. And so that you can obtain your “reward,” these “giveaways” sometimes demand you to pay specific fees or shipping charges. Of fact, the majority of the time, no reward is awarded, and the criminals keep the costs.