Internet Scams

EBay is a great auction and sales website where users can buy and sell new and used items. There are many great deals to be found on eBay. While most sellers are legitimate and trustworthy, you...

Few things are more needlessly embarrassing than being the victim of Internet bank fraud. And yet the number of people victimized by such frauds is increasing. Though there are things you can do...

Intelius.com is a website that offers services such as a people search, reverse phone lookup and employee screening. The cost of Intelius searches depend on the service used. As of 2009, the price...

The Internet is a vast, infinite universe where people can pretend to be you, and you might not know about it for months or years. Identity thieves are plentiful, and anyone, no matter who they...

According to the FBI, 45 percent of Internet fraud involved online auctions,19 percent consisted of undelivered merchandise or a fraudulent payment, and about 5 percent was check fraud. The link...

Many Internet users pay utility bills and credit cards online. They do holiday shopping to avoid the crowds, and even buy furniture and cars online. Every financial transaction requires banking...

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 206,884 internet crimes were reported in 2007, with losses exceeding $240 million. One of the most common means of perpetrating an internet crime...

Online fraud takes many forms on websites and in chat rooms or emails. Perhaps you received an email from a person claiming to be from a well-known organization like a bank and she is requesting...

Phishing scam emails and websites are very common. In most versions, the text explains an urgent situation and offers a great deal of money if you act immediately. Clicking a link sends you to a...

There are several varieties of stimulus check fraud that you should know about. The scam can come in the form of an email, a phone call or an official looking letter. Here are the details and how...

PayPal is an online service that acts as a liaison between merchants and sellers so they can exchange currency without giving out their financial information to one another. Although using PayPal...

Fraudulent emails are prevalent, and many people have received this type of unsolicited message. Fraudsters can misrepresent themselves by pretending to be a financial organization, such as a...

With million of consumers using the Internet, fraudulent emails are circulating more and more. Various agencies monitor these fraudulent emails and receive reports of such emails from consumers...

Cyber crime is an international issue, depriving online users of billions of dollars a year. Whether using traditional techniques, employing malicious software, using the Internet as a platform...

Anyone who uses the Internet has seen multiple ads to take paid surveys and make hundreds or thousands of dollars a month doing it. These claims may have piqued your curiosity, but there are some...

Every day you probably find dozens of spam emails clogging your inbox. Among them you may see warnings that you must contact your bank to prevent your account from being frozen or that you must...

The Internet is a useful and convenient tool, but it is also a venue for con artists to scam people out money and personal financial information. If you've spent time surfing the Internet, you're...

Check-cashing and money order-cashing scams are everywhere on the Internet right now. Chances are good that you will run into one of these scams within the next few months, but you can avoid being...

MyWebeSearch is a toolbar that you can download for your web browser. It allows users to search anywhere from the web using popular search engines such as Google, Yahoo, LookSmart and Ask.com.

Scams are common on the Internet, even on sites as prominent as Yahoo! Autos. Yahoo! Autos allows you to browse auto listings from the comfort of your home. You are provided with basic details and...

For more than 15 years, advertisers and software developers have engaged in a running war over pop-up ads designed to get the attention of Internet users. By 1995, Popup Killer became the...

Many computer users fall prey to hackers and the crimes they perpetrate on unsuspecting individuals and companies. If a crime occurs in your home or business, it's not difficult to report the...

Phishing scams have cost Internet users billions of dollars a year ($3.2 billion in the U.S. in 2007 alone, according to a survey by Garner Inc.), but the savvy e-mailer can avoid them. What does...

For years, using the Internet for purchases was thought to be pretty risky business. But with the tremendous growth of sites like eBay, Amazon and Craigslist, consumers are finding the Internet to...

A Digital Certificate is an electronic card, or the digital equivalent of an identification card, that certifies online transactions, e-commerce and other authentications on the Internet. A...

According to the Internet Crime Report prepared by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in 2007, Internet fraud resulted in the loss of "$239.09 million with a median dollar loss of $680.00 per...

Internet banking or electronic banking allows customers to access their accounts at any time from any computer or smart phone. This banking style has a lot of advantages, including 24-hour account...

Among the plethora of Internet risks, scams and attacks is an old favorite among unscrupulous web operators. By hijacking the browser start page of an unsuspecting Internet surfer, an...

Online money making scams have been around for many years. The promise of a quick buck for little to no effort has lured many an eager person into sending in money or giving up personal...

Craigslist offers a free, convenient way to buy and sell merchandise. Unfortunately, it can be a hunting ground for scammers who prey on uniformed sellers. If you're planning to post a for-sale ad...

Sweepstakes can be an excellent marketing tool, beneficial to both sponsors and entrants. However, scammers have developed ways to exploit sweepstakes contests to swindle hard-earned money from...

It sounds too good to be true: Get paid to shop. While there are legitimate secret shopper organizations, many online offers are a scam. If you fall for them, at best, you might lose a small fee...

Almost everyone dreams of winning the lottery, and online scammers take advantage of this wishful thinking to rip off people. If you are notified via email or postal mail that you've won a...

Hacking has evolved considerably since the early days of the Internet. Today, the hacker economy is a highly organized marketplace where tech-savvy criminals can buy and sell stolen credit card...

Phishing emails attempt to get you to give personal details such as your social security number, bank account number, PIN number and other information that could lead to identity theft. They are...

These days everything can be done online including auctions. From the comfort of your own home, you can bid on items or sell your property through these virtual auctions. Items that never could...

The Internet is rampant with work-from-home and small business opportunities. After much consideration and research, if you find a website to help you start your own company that you are...

Even though it is usually safe and convenient to handle your personal and financial transactions on the Internet, you should still be continually aware of anyone who is attempting to defraud you...

The scam starts with an email offering: a free gift of a laptop computer, a hot-selling toy for your child or a 50-dollar gift certificate if you complete an online survey. Usually, you never...

Internet fraud and computer scams are happening every day. Many people fall prey to computer fraud and Internet scams that cost both citizens and the government millions of dollars each year. You...

Internet fraud is a lucrative business that at one point managed to swindle $526 million from American consumers and businesses in one year. Escrow and shipping scams are just a variation of this...

A phishing scam is a fraudulent email that looks legitimate and claims to originate from a reputable institution. It's designed to lure you into disclosing personal information, which often...

There are a lot of Internet activities that are unscrupulous. Phishing, kiting and cybersquatting are three of the more frequently seen scams that are harming Internet users. In addition, there's...

The Blockbuster coupon scam is a problem for both consumers and the Blockbuster company. Customers regularly arrive at their local Blockbuster and attempt to honor a fake coupon printed off of the...

WinReanimator is malware, or something meant to harm your computer that deceptively poses as a helper. This program interferes with the normal operation of your computer and will slow it down as...

Recently, people started going online for more than just news and sending emails. They went online to build social networks, participate in virtual societies, share music, manage their finances...

If you're a prankster and would like to pull a trick on your computer-literate friends, then you can create a fake and harmless virus and email it to them. The easiest harmless viruses you can...

Buying a new pet on the Internet is never a good idea. In addition to unscrupulous dealers and puppy mills/brokers selling their “stock” to unsuspecting buyers—online scammers use elaborate...

With identity theft growing at a staggering rate, all "official" emails must be treated with due caution. The IRS, for example, only uses email to answer questions about their website with...