Five Scams That You Must Stay Beware Of

Nikki Attkisson | Last Updated : September 18, 2020

Fraudsters have crashed in during coronavirus pandemic and exploiting the crowd with fake scams in the form of spotter quiz or other forms of games. Fraud can travel through a different form of social media or in the form of robocalls. With the halt of call centres, the robocalls also have slowed down, which may boom up with its revive. Covid-19 grand relief is one of the commonly reported bogus messages in Facebook by the users offering 1000 dollar with the name of familiar contact or as a family member, with the acceptance of the lure the scammer demands for processing amount to undertake the paying procedure.

Five scams that you must stay beware of

The conversation cut-off with the transfer of the money or active scammer demands for more. In most of the cases hacked account or purloined image or information. Victims related to such scams can report their fake profile on Facebook, call the National Center for Disaster Fraud hotline at 866-720-5721, email [email protected]. , loss of money online can complain through the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) To get relief from pandemic stress puppy or kittens may be a great obliging. Petscam is vigorously increasing online during this rough pandemic situation with the need of the people. The scammer act as individual asking people adopt a pet or may as well act as a breeder with images of animals on social media sites taking a personal interview and making one get personally attached with the animal during the interview showing stolen images of animals from online or from other authentic websites. In reality, the animal has no existence. ‘Petfinder’ and ‘The Shelter Pet Project’ are authentic sites to visit to adopt a pet. Victims of pet scam can report on Facebook by posting regarding the scam, write it down to Puppy Scams page on Facebook, complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and with loss of money online in a pet scam, register complaint through the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).

Spurious calls from Officials of Apple’s Special Investigation Units are also getting common nowadays; with the statement that they have authoritatively found pornography in an online cloud of their system with their account providing all the necessary details and asking permission to access the computer to completely erase it from the system by their respective forensic team. Recently over 90,000 dollars has been sent to the scammer by a caller from a national radio show. On the keynote, it is to keep in mind that Apple officials will never give a call regarding pornography on any computer or cloud instead of that official with a warrant will knock the door. Moreover, there are complaints regarding the acceptance of Amazon gift card for payment from Apple’s Special investigation unit for activation details; technically company will never accept any retail store gift card for any kind of payment.

Allowance of access to the computer from unwanted calls should be ignored in the first place. The victims of telephonic scams can file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, Federal communications commission online to check if caller ID was spoofed or directly contact State consumer protection office. Brushing scam is extremely common, which involves the packaging with mysterious items like toys, kitchen necessaries or jewellery originating from china with the motive of increasing positive review on shopping sites or reviews on Amazon. Online sellers from China send packages to United States address and send low-priced stuff and create a fake account using the address where they have shipped the parcel and create fake review. Amazon has forbidden selling seeds of different kind of plants online after receiving an immense amount of seeds from China by many. Victims of Brushing scam can file a complaint on Amazon as a security issue, change password at shopping site if receiving any unwanted parcel, a complaint can be registered to Federal Trade Commission.

The searches on online sites, open the door for companies to know the strata and departments, along with the assigned person in any company. The situation worsens when a customer or any random person receive mail that appears to be from the manager, co-worker, department head or even the CEO of the company. They approach the targeted person and ask them to take action regarding any stated situation as soon as possible. They usually attach a file to the mail and when opened corrupts the system. These are so-called known as Business Email compromise who corrupt the system of any company when opened and may lead to the system or financial crisis. If any problem is encountered, the crime should be reported, and the financial institution should be contacted. Also, there are reports that Many Facebook users have been told that they get COVID-19 relief grants. The scammers present themselves as familiar contacts or familiar people who are offering grant amounts of up to $ 1,000.

If you have sent the invoice, you end your conversation with money or the scammer demands even more payments. Scammers generally use compromised or duplicated accounts produced with stolen photos and personal data. You may even obtain extra fees. Do you have a strange packet of jewellery, kitchen utensils, or tiny toys in the mail? If so, you are the target of a peculiar “brushing scam” involving Chinese parcels. Online vendors from Sketchy aim to improve Amazon and other shopping sites with positive feedback. It’s a lot of work. In China, online salespeople find addresses in the USA, where cheap packages can be delivered. You then build a fake account with the address where the product is delivered on the shopping site. This address is used only to allow them to generate fake reviews.

Here’s what you need to do if you just opened a BEC attachment: Notify the IT department and director of your business. Run a full scan of any malware or viruses on your device. Some free online resources are offered here. Change all your passwords. Yeah, it’s full of pain. These tips will simplify it. Here’s what you or the business you have lost money in a BEC. Notify the IT department of your business and your boss. Somebody should alert and contact your financial institution where you sent your money. Crime alert to the nearest field office of the FBI. The points drafted above are few among the scam that usually takes place through online mode, which may corrupt and disrupt the function of any individual system or institution. With the coming of new opportunities and technology, more focus should be taken to make proper judgement and decision to be aware of such crimes.

 


Nikki Attkisson

With over 15 years as a practicing journalist, Nikki Attkisson found herself at Powdersville Post now after working at several other publications. She is an award-winning journalist with an entrepreneurial spirit and worked as a journalist covering technology, innovation, environmental issues, politics, health etc. Nikki Attkisson has also worked on product development, content strategy, and editorial management for numerous media companies. She began her career at local news stations and worked as a reporter in national newspapers.

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