Various scams occur online and can steal your personal information, money, or even your identity. These online frauds use the latest technology and can be difficult to spot. To protect yourself, avoid clicking on links or opening attachments from strangers. If you think an email or text may be a scam, take the time to research it and make a call to confirm the legitimacy of the information. To learn more, visit Scamrisk website.

Criminals use scare tactics and a sense of urgency to get you to act quickly and give out information. For example, they might imply that your bank account has suspicious activity or that you’ve been a victim of a phishing attack. They might also impersonate government agencies like the IRS or U.S. Customs to threaten you with arrest, deportation, or cancellation of your Social Security number.

If you’re considering an investment or buying a product, take the time to do your research. Read reviews and ask questions. Remember, it’s easier to prevent fraud than fix the damage after a scam.

Online frauds can include fake sweepstakes or lottery prizes, bogus business opportunities, and fraudulent online dating sites. You should never share your financial information with a stranger or send a wire transfer.

Scammers have adapted their techniques to target specific industries and the latest news. For example, scammers have used Amazon’s announcement of a new headquarters in Virginia to target jobseekers. Other examples of common online scams are spoofed emails and phishing attacks, where crooks pretend to be a company you trust in order to gather your information. They can then use it to steal your identity, access your bank accounts, or drain your cryptocurrency wallet.

Investment Scams

Investment scams involve fraudulent schemes that trick you into parting with your money by claiming you will make high returns on investments such as shares, mortgage or real estate. They often operate from overseas and may claim that they do not need an Australian Financial Services licence or that they are approved by a legitimate government regulator or affiliated with a genuine company. They will usually encourage you to invest a small amount initially and then convince you to top up your investments. These scams can also be a form of affinity fraud, targeting members of groups such as age, ethnicity or religion.

Securities fraud costs Americans billions of dollars every year, state securities regulators estimate. The types of investments that swindlers target include broadly marketed promissory notes, bogus prime bank schemes and risky viatical settlements, which are interests in the life insurance policies of terminally ill people. Swindlers are also using the Internet to “pump and dump” thinly traded stocks, sell bogus offshore “prime bank” investments and publicize pyramid schemes.

Another type of investment scam involves fraudulent cryptocurrency investments, which are based on the value of crypto tokens or coins. These are often marketed on social media platforms and can be very appealing to investors due to their perceived high growth potential. However, these types of investments are not regulated in Australia and you do not have any protection if you lose money.

It is important to keep in mind that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Fraudsters will try to lure you in by presenting themselves as expert advisors with impressive credentials, fancy offices and cars, or by claiming that they are “selective” about the clients they accept.

Business Scams

While many scams are targeted at private individuals and consumers, some criminals specifically target businesses of all sizes and types. Business fraud includes a wide range of dishonest activities, from fake invoices to impersonating government agencies or utilities. Scams can cost businesses tens to millions of dollars. Small local businesses and start-ups may be more vulnerable to such schemes because they often lack the in-house resources, reporting arrangements and cyber security support of larger organisations.

One of the most common business scams involves bogus invoices, often for goods or services that the company uses – such as stationery, generic printer cartridges and cleaning products. The crooks hope that the person responsible for paying invoices will assume that these are legitimate and will pay the bill without checking the legitimacy of the claim.

Another variant of this scam is for a business to agree to place an advert in a bogus trade directory or on a bogus online portal. The crooks often falsely claim that they have been commissioned by a genuine supplier or publisher and can provide contact details to back up their story.

In some cases, scammers pretend to be government officials and threaten legal action or power cutoffs if the business does not pay alleged taxes, bills or fees. They also often demand payment for workplace compliance posters that are freely available from federal and state labour departments.

The best way to protect your business from such scams is to have an effective and well-documented fraud and risk management system, update all office computers with anti-virus software, change passwords regularly, and back up important data. You should also keep up to date with the latest cyber-crime threats, including business email compromise (BEC). Be suspicious of any request that seems too good to be true and independently verify the validity of incoming enquiries.

Crypto Scams

Crypto scams involve all types of fraudulent activity in relation to virtual currencies. Some are straight-up hacks: fraudsters use phishing to gain access to private keys for cryptocurrency wallets; these are used to steal funds from the digital wallets. Others involve fraudulent sales pitches for IRS-approved individual retirement accounts in cryptocurrencies; or phony crypto exchanges that lure victims into sending their cryptocurrency to the scammers’ digital wallets. In many cases, scammers gain the trust of their victims by posing as trusted entities (government agencies, well-known businesses, tech support people, community members, work colleagues and friends).

In investment crypto scams, crooks promote non-fungible tokens or coins that they know to be worthless. They use a rug pull technique, gradually increasing the value of investments to lure victims and steal their money. These schemes are often backed by heavy marketing: online advertising, social media campaigns, paid influencers and other promotional activities.

Another common crypto scam involves bogus jobs that require the victim to set up multiple bank and crypto accounts and trade on behalf of a fake or impersonated financial services firm or investment advisor. These are generally high-risk and can result in significant losses for the victim.

Always be suspicious of requests for payment in crypto, whether from an online romantic partner, a job recruiter or a fake financial services firm. Also, be wary of social media posts or celebrity endorsements that promote a crypto project. If you do decide to invest, take the time to research the product and company. Search for the project or crypto exchange name on Google and read reviews and complaints before investing. It is also a good idea to document all interactions with a suspicious entity, as this will help you with any future efforts to recover your funds.

Network Marketing Scams

In a world where work-from-home opportunities have gained popularity, individuals seek the promise of financial freedom and flexibility. Unfortunately, scammers exploit this desire by luring individuals to their fraudulent schemes. Often, these schemes involve multi-level marketing, where participants are encouraged to recruit other members in order to earn money. Whether through false promises of high commissions, pay-to-play schemes, inventory loading, or falsified income testimonials, these scams defraud countless individuals and leave them with shattered dreams and financial losses. Moreover, unscrupulous companies provide little training or support for their associates and focus more on collecting fees and recruitment than actual product sales.

Additionally, some network marketing scams are a form of pump-and-dump, where a stock or crypto asset is promoted to drive inflows, only to drop as the value is pumped out by scammers who sell at a loss. While these scams are prevalent in the industry, there are legitimate direct selling and network marketing companies that operate legally and offer valuable products.