Scourge of Internet Fraud
Internet fraud is a broad-based term that boils down to daylight robbery on the world wide web. Thieves rob strangers by manipulating their victim’s greed, their desire for bargains, and their natural curiosity. If it sounds too good to you, our advice is to do nothing. If you are unable to resist temptation offered by a stranger, then here are a few of the commonest tricks you should watch out for.
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Bargains on the internet – You stumble over something for sale you always wanted, but finally can afford. The seller requests a reasonable deposit. After you pay, they are gone forever.
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Requests for Donations – It is never easy to resist begging letters for worthy causes. Two versions are common. In one, the recipient pockets 90%. The other is a complete scam. Ask yourself the question. Why approach you?
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Work from Home Schemes – You receive an offer to earn thousands of dollars on the internet, in exchange for a small training fee. It sounds reasonable. You pay. They tell you to place the same advertisement.
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Credit Card Quicksand – Stay away from websites offering magic potions, and healthcare products at bargain prices. Like porn sites, they actually want your card details. In the process, they collect your personal demographics too.
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Ticket Sales – Every time a soccer world cup or the Olympic games comes around, ticket touts appear in newspapers and on the internet. They get you as far as the gates before officials turn you back. You watch on television.
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The Bank Calls – You receive an email from your bank or other service provider advising that your account is corrupted, and asking for your personal details and pin. Incredibly, people fall for this in large numbers every day.
It is seldom possible to recover funds stolen this way. These are not the only strategies that crooks employ. They open accounts for the single purpose of robbing people, blitz the web, make their money, close the account and then vanish. The only way to tackle this problem is to collaborate with each other. Report all scams and serious suspicions to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Scam Watch website. Together, we can do so much more.
By far the biggest threat facing us on the internet is malware. In the simplest terms, the internet fraudster convinces you to make contact, and uses the opportunity to download spyware to your computer. They are then free to infect everybody else in your address book, and collect your passwords.
Modern malware is largely undetectable by many antivirus programs, and can sit there for years reporting everything you do. If you notice a small credit on your bank account take care. Someone is watching what you do next. A debit may be coming. The dwell-time between this happening and your bank reporting it, can be deadly.
Our advice is simple. Transfer your funds away from that account and then close it. After that, call us. With your consent, a member of our antifraud squad can access your computer remotely and cleanse it. Time and tide tarry for no one.
