Before the internet, scams were different. Fooling people was much more of a challenge. Most scams took place face to face, some in writing. As such, they were much more difficult to achieve. Sadly the internet is a great place to try your luck. There's an ever increasing number and quality of scams waiting to catch out the unwary. And there are still enough gullible people around, completely new to the web, who don't understand how to spot scams and fraudsters.
Marcus Evans' Daniel Leu comments, “Some of the scams we've come across recently are extremely clever. Bank scams in particular can be very convincing. The graphics and branding are replicated perfectly, the colours are correct, the site works exactly as a genuine online banking site would... but it's a complete fraud.”
However there are a few key things you can check. Spelling is one of them. Scammers frequently let themselves down by using inaccurate spelling and grammar when operating a scam event (http://www.marcusevanscongress.com/
“There's a whole load of good advice available about how to spot and avoid scams” adds Daniel Leu. “But scammers, hackers and fraudsters are like chameleons. The moment the good guys find a way of spoiling their game, they change their approach and start fresh.”
Fake pharmaceuticals are expensive as well as potentially extremely dangerous. Unscrupulous companies email millions of people at a time offering scarce or expensive cancer drugs and other key products at discounted prices. Vulnerable people who fall for these scams can lose much more than their money. Because fake drugs can be lethal, pharmaceuticals are the last thing you should consider buying online from an unknown source.
“Fraud is a massive and growing problem” concludes Daniel Leu. “Marcus Evans (http://www.marcusevans.com/
Overall, common sense is your most valuable weapon. As a general rule, if an offer seems too good to be true it probably is. If someone you've never heard of wants to give you large amounts of money, ask yourself why. If you haven't entered a lottery, how can you possibly have won it? If a person from a troubled third world country is asking for your help to shift vast sums out of their country into a foreign bank account, take a step back and apply common sense... why have they come to you?
If you're the least bit uncertain, don't even open suspicious emails. Doing so can activate bits of code that are designed to strip sensitive financial information – passwords and such - from your computer without you knowing a thing about it.
Information for Editors
Marcus Evans employs more than 3500 people in almost 40 countries. They deliver intelligence and business products across a wide range of commercial sectors including Capital Markets, Life Sciences, Defence, Healthcare, Information technology and Legal.
• http://www.marcusevanscongress.com/
• http://www.marcusevans.com/
• danielleu@
• Daniel Leu
• 020 3002 3000
