Online scams? How do I avoid them?

 

 

What are online scams? How do I avoid them?

Unfortunately, because anyone can access the web, it's not just nice people who you will encounter online. There are many people who try to trick you into giving over confidential information so that they can steal from you. It is an unfortunate reality, but when you're using the internet, you have to be on your guard. However you shouldn't let this discourage you from using the web or even purchasing products on the web. You just have to be mindful of what you're doing and skeptical of what you read on the internet. A good rule of thumb: If it really seems just too good to be true, it may well be!

Using your credit card online:

Your credit card is usually the simplest and safest way to pay online as false charges can be disputed. That being said it's important that you take precautions any time you give out your credit card information. Never give credit card information out over email as it is not secure, only enter it into a proper secure online form. You can see whether a web page is secure by the little padlock that will appear either in the status bar in the bottom right of your browser or next to the web address at the top.
Also the web address with change from 'http' to 'https'. If you don't see this, don't buy or check why it's not showing. Finally, make sure that you check your credit card bill every month. If charges appear that you don't recognize, chase them up with your credit card company immediately. Most of the time false charges can be recovered.

Five most frequent online scams:

Auction Fraud:

Auction fraud is one of the most common internet scams and occurs when you buy something from a marketplace site like eBay, make the payment, but never receive the item. Chasing down the seller often proves fruitless and wastes more time and money.
HOW TO AVOID:
Be careful when buying anything online. If the price of an item just seems way too low, you need to look in to things a bit more closely. Look at sellers feedback on their eBay or auction profile. Do they get good feedback? Do they have a lot of negative comments? Do they sell lots of items all the time? Use these factors to decide whether the person selling the item is reputable. For example don't buy from anyone who doesn't have any feedback or a feedback rating of less than 5

Phishing Scams:

A phishing scam is when you receive an email requesting that you urgently update your account information for your bank account or other financial site. The link on the email takes you to a fake site that looks like your banks, but is really a front that will steal your account information and then your money! Watch this Common Craft video for a more in-depth explanation: