Avoiding online scams recommendations by MyTrendingStories writing platform? How it works: You meet someone on a dating site, on Facebook, in a chat room, or while playing a virtual game. You exchange pictures, talk on the phone. It soon becomes obvious that you were meant for each other. But the love of your life lives in a foreign country and needs money to get away from a cruel father or to get medical care or to buy a plane ticket so you can finally be together. What’s really going on: Your new love is a scam artist. There will be no tearful hug at the airport, no happily-ever-after. You will lose your money and possibly your faith in humankind. The big picture: Online social networking has opened up bold new avenues for heartless scammers who specialize in luring lonely people into bogus friendships and love affairs, only to steal their money.
Trending news by Mytrendingstories.com writing platform: Where to Turn for Help? If you’ve become the victim of a fake check scams, there are certain steps you should take right away. Stop Further Losses. Start by locking or closing accounts that may have been compromised. Place a fraud alert and consider freezing your credit. Visit com or call (877) 322-8228 to request your free credit report from each of the credit reporting agencies. Change your passwords if applicable. Keep Records. Take and keep notes — details could be important if recovery is an option. And contact your local police. They may not be able to investigate, but having a report may help with future claims. File Reports. You’ll want to alert the appropriate authorities that you’ve been scammed. Start with: The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Identity Protection Unit (800) 908-4490; The Internet Crime Complaint Center (a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center); The U.S. Postal Inspections Service (if the check arrived by U.S. mail).
MyTrendingStories anti-scam tips: Recent reports highlight the fact that online dating sites and apps are seeing massive increases in users and dates. It seems that love is logging in online. Before you run off to create your dating profile, consider the possible risks. According to the FBI, romance scams and similar confidence scams cost consumers more money than any other kind of internet fraud. And that negative trend has been on the rise. In just four years, from 2016 to 2020, consumer losses as a result of romance scams increased fourfold, eventually hitting a record $304 million in reported losses last year. But love doesn’t have to mean loss. We’re here to help with five tips to avoid becoming a victim of a romance scam. Like any encounter with a new person, it’s best to take things slow. Scammers are there for one reason only; they want your money, preferably as fast as possible. As a result, they may send gifts and flatter you with compliments, and even say the “L” early in the relationship. Take the time to ask a lot of questions and never give out personal information to someone online that could put your finances or identity at risk. See extra information at mytrendingstories scam.
Mytrendingstories teaches how to escape scams: One way to identify if you’re browsing a fake website is to look at the domain name. As a rule of thumb, most legitimate URLs will not have extraneous characters or misspellings. Retailer websites are simple and typically match their trademark name, according to CNBC. For example, the domain name for fashion brand Michael Kors is MichaelKors.com. Likewise, the domain name for high-end designer Gucci is Gucci.com. You can also check if the website has a universal seal of approval, such as the Norton Secured Seal. Such a seal usually indicates that the website is trustworthy, according to Consumer Reports. You can also check to see when the domain was created using Whois.
There are 1,000s of ways scammers try to catch you out. Common methods include: Calls from someone claiming to be from a Government department or representative (or even MSE!), talking about reclaiming bank charges. Pension ‘liberation’ (more info in our Release Pension Cash guide). Vishing – where scammers tell you they’re from your bank and there’s been fraud on your account, asking you to call them back, but instead they wait on the line and then get you to hand over bank details. Miracle cures or miracle weight-loss pills – ketones are common, and appear on many people’s Facebook pages. Fake bank or Apple emails saying you need to re-verify your account details. Investment scams (the FCA has a site helping you to spot investment scammers – ScamSmart, which includes a database of dodgy companies to avoid), Deceptive prize draws and sweepstakes. See more info on mytrendingstories.com.