How does online scam happen? Where to go for help? How to avoid becoming a victim of such online scammers? You will learn about this and much more by reading this article.
Internet - opportunities for communication and fraud
Modern society lives in the era of technology. Smartphones, laptops, computers and other electronic gadgets of users are connected via the Internet. These are great opportunities to be mobile, to always be in touch with family and friends, unlimited access to information.
However, this is a great opportunity for unscrupulous people to get access to personal information of users, their accounts in social networks and money using fraud. How not to become a victim of fraud on the Internet, where to go to a person if he still fell for these tricks?
Ways to cheat on the web
Everyone, young and old, knows what the Internet is. And already a considerable number of people have faced fraud on the Internet. People dishonest in their hands do not doze off and are developing more and more new ways of deceiving the trusting users of the World Wide Web. There are many fraud options. Here is a brief overview of the most popular ones:
- hacking accounts in order to obtain personal information and use the account itself;
- sending unsolicited spam emails to e-mail;
- downloading virus programs while downloading;
- fraud using fake payment systems;
- cheating through sales of non-existent goods;
- extorting money through announcements of “unhappy sick children”;
- cheating using a dating site.
This is not an exhaustive list of online cheating methods. But all of them are built on human weaknesses and trust, on the desire to make money quickly, without investing anything, and even on inattention and lack of vigilance. How to avoid becoming a victim of scammers, how to protect yourself from annoying incidents, and where to go? More on this later.
Music, movies and homework
Now we will talk about one type of fraud on the Internet. Where to go for help will be described below. It would seem that there’s such a thing - to download a movie you like, music to a smartphone, or finished homework from the Internet? But not so simple.
This is one way to send a virus to your computer, which will subsequently block it. To allegedly unlock on a black monitor, you will be asked to pay a certain amount for the specified details. You should not hurry to send the necessary amount. Scammers do not have feedback with a blocked device. Naturally, the payment will go into the pocket of attackers.
If a person is the victim of such fraud on the Internet, where to go?
Unlock and clean the device from the virus will help a competent programmer or specialist in the service department for the repair of computer equipment.
There are more innocuous file fraud methods. One unpleasant bonus is attached to these elements - a hidden program. Through this program, scammers use someone else’s device for cyber attacks. The virus program can replace normal advertising and attract users to questionable sites that ignore self-respecting search engines. Protection against this is the installation of an antivirus. This software recognizes such traps and warns of danger. It is advisable not to ignore them.
Social networks
Odnoklassniki, Facebook, Twitter, VKontakte - a large field of activity for fraudsters. The question again arises: why do intruders need personal data or a user account? The ultimate goal is extortion and obtaining money in dishonest ways.
Hacking an account is a very entertaining task for a hacker. Login and password can be stolen by sending a fake website or intriguing advertisement with a proposal to enter a login and password. From such fakes, data goes to crackers. Sometimes hackers choose a creative approach and guess, more precisely, pick up the cipher for the account. For this purpose, registering somewhere, the password and login should be thought up reliable, use numbers, letters and signs.
Fraudsters can write on behalf of the user to his friends asking for help with small amounts of money. They can extort money in exchange for unlocking an account. Even if the amount received in this way, at first glance, is small, you can’t turn a blind eye to this. It should be remembered what extent fraud takes in the end. The Criminal Code of Russia provides an article for fraud on the Internet. This type of fraud is equivalent to ordinary fraud.
Help to terminally ill
A special type of Internet fraud is using human compassion for terminally ill people. An announcement is posted that it is urgently necessary to raise funds to make an operation, to pay for expensive treatment and so on. Announcements are made on behalf of organizations that collect donations, details and phone numbers are indicated.
Do not rush to help. No charitable organization actually collects donations in this way - this is the main difference between online scammers and real funds that provide assistance.
Payment systems. Hunt for usernames and passwords
Phishing - from the English word fishing ("fishing"). With the help of fake sites, bright, alluring advertising, people are lured to some recursions, offering to leave a password and login from a real account on social networks or online banking.
How to protect yourself from such attacks? You should not go to your online bank through the links of other people's unfamiliar sites. It is safer to use a direct link to a bank resource.
Email Spam
Everyone is already used to emails about the sudden death of the childless billionaire N and an unknown virtue who wants to share his money. To do this, you just need to provide your data, pay for the services of a lawyer. Of course, there are no millions, no lawyer, much less a good uncle. A gullible person, having made such a contribution, will no longer receive his funds back and will not be able to contact the indicated numbers and email addresses. You should not respond to these messages, give any data, and even more so pay the proposed amount.
Online shopping
A popular method of tricking honest Internet users is through online stores. A fake website sells discounted goods. The buyer is invited to make a partial or full prepayment, after which he will receive the goods of interest to him. In this case, the buyer will not see the goods. Or he will receive, but not at all what he was counting on. Self-respecting sites do not trade on a prepaid basis! Purchases are paid upon receipt and after inspection of the parcel. You should not make purchases on the Internet on sites that ask for prepayment. These are scammers.
Where to go in case of online fraud?
Do not be afraid of online scammers. Do not think that their actions will go unpunished. Having lost your money, suffered from online fraud, where to go? This issue is dealt with by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, department “K”. As with regular fraud, you should file an application with the local office. The sooner this is done, the greater the chance that justice will prevail.
It is necessary to indicate as much data as possible known about scammers: websites, contact numbers, email addresses, details where the payment was sent.
The article for Internet fraud in the Criminal Code of Russia No. 159 equates Internet fraud with ordinary fraud and provides for quite real punishments:
- deprivation of liberty;
- fines;
- forced labor;
- temporary arrest;
- correctional work.
Tips for users to avoid future problems.
Internet users should be vigilant. Do not trust yellow advertising, which offers products for quick weight loss, instant recovery, etc.
Behind such ads may be hackers who wish to take possession of personal information. You can not specify usernames, passwords, bank card information on unfamiliar sites or transfer them to dubious persons. When downloading information from the Web, you should refuse to download if you are asked to enter a phone number, email address and personal data. Antivirus will protect your computer from malware and prevent its blocking. Using proven websites for online shopping will prevent moral and material damage.