tech sectiontech sectionAs the Internet has become a more prominent place to conduct business, scammers also have updated their act to fleece you out of money. Since the web can be largely anonymous, scammers take advantage of this to dupe potential marks. However, with the right smarts, you can spot a scammer on the Internet a long way off.
Snopes.com states that a version of the current "Nigerian Scam" has been around, even in letter form, since at least the 1920s, when it was called the "Spanish Prisoner Scam." The basic idea is that someone contacts you requesting money to cover the cost of an emergency or requesting you to act as a go-between for transferring funds. Most people are aware of these types of scams by now, so the scammers have become much more adept at disguising who they really are. Watch for warning signs that you're talking to a Nigerian scammer.
Many people have been victims of Nigerian advance-fee scams, sometimes called 419 fraud after the section of the Nigerian Criminal Code dealing with these kinds of schemes. Nigerian scams are a variation on a very old swindle. The scammer offers you a share in some large amount of money in exchange for helping transfer the funds to a bank outside of Nigeria. They tell a very dramatic and complicated story designed to play on your emotions. Eventually the scammer persuade you to send him money along with your ID and banking information.
Everyday you likely check your online mailbox and recognize the person or business that sent the email. Avid email users should be aware of phishing scams. Phishing is when a scam artist sends a message to trick you into providing your personal information. The scam artists then use that information to steal your identity and your money. There are ways to protect yourself against phishing scams online that are easy and should be done by everyone.
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