Introduction:
Hey Scam Warriors! The 3 online scams that we will be discussing in this post have caused financial and emotional damage to more than a million people. Lisa is one of them. She was 68 when her husband passed away at the start of the COVID pandemic. After her husband’s demise, the former nurse went online to find others going through the same grief. Instead of support, she found scammers.
Lisa got involved in an online relationship. Without wasting much time, her new “friend” started asking for money. He was always in need of funds for his child’s school expenses, to pay for internet access, and for medical emergencies. This went on for a couple of months when Lisa’s daughter Christine, stepped in sensing something fishy. When she checked Lisa’s account statements, she discovered that Lisa had already sent $120,000 to the scammer.
Every year thousands of people like Lisa end up sending their years of savings to online scammers in different kinds of scam scenarios. Today’s blog is important as it discusses online scams that cause maximum damage to innocent people, targeting millions of victims, and looting billions of dollars. By understanding these three scams you can better protect yourself and your loved ones from future scam attacks:
1. Government Imposter scams:
As the name suggests, the scam scenarios where scammers impersonate officials from government agencies to con people by leveraging their trust and authority are known as government imposter scams. There is no defined number of variations of government imposter scams as they can be applied to all government agencies but there are 5 government imposter scams that are reported the highest, target the highest numbers of victims, and cause the maximum amount of damage these are:
- IRS Scams
- SSN Scam
- Police Department Scams
- Government Grant Scams
- US Customs and Border Protection scams
IRS Scam is one of the oldest and most notorious kinds of scams where fraudsters impersonate officers of the Internal Revenue Service and call people with a script designed to scare them and extort money in the name of tax collection. The script states that the victim has unpaid taxes on his/her name which looks like a willful misrepresentation of information making the victim a primary suspect in a case of tax evasion and tax fraud. To avoid legal actions scammers provide victims a last chance to pay their taxes in the form of government bonds which is just a made-up name for gift cards.
SSN Scam was discovered after the IRS scam. When the IRS started gaining popularity amongst victims the scammers needed something new so they chose SSN. In this scam, the scammers impersonate officers of the Social Security Administration and call victims telling them that they have found an abandoned car with drugs and other illegal substances in their name. Once the victims are scared of the allegations and show intent to avoid arrest the scammers provide them with an out-of-court settlement offer which basically leads to paying money to the scammers with gift cards and cryptocurrency.
Police department scams have different variations. Instead of just scaring victims with arrest warrants and fake allegations they also ask money for donations for the betterment of safety infrastructure and other things.
Government grant scam is different from all the other types of government imposter scams as instead of preying on the fear of victims they prey on their greed. In this scam, the victim generally gets a call, text, or email stating that they have been chosen for a government grant amounting up to a significantly big amount. Excited victims don’t check the details and, in a hurry, to claim the grant end up paying upfront fees to scammers in gift cards losing their money.
US Customs and Border Protection Scam is slightly similar to SSN scams and is executed with a twist. Scammers impersonate officers from USCBP and tell victims that they have intercepted a package in their name. This package contains drugs and other illegal substances and victims are threatened with an arrest warrant. To resolve this matter without getting arrested they are presented with an out-of-court settlement offer in which money is demanded in form of gift cards and cryptocurrencies.
2. Dating and Romance Scams:
These kinds of scams are more lethal than others as they not only cause financial damage to the victims but also plays with their feelings and emotions. Victims after the scams are left heartbroken and face emotional and psychological trauma with financial losses. There are multiple categories of dating and romance scams but these 6 are the most popular and devastating.
- Military romance scams
- Intimate Activity/ Sextortion Scams
- Fake dating site scams
- Code verification scams
- Malware scams
- Photo scams
Military romance scams as the name suggests are related to the military. In these scams, the scammers use the identity of a military person on social media and dating sites and they generally tell their victims that they are deployed in a far-off location. They build emotional connections with their victims only to exploit them in the future to gain financial benefits.
Intimate activity scams also known as sextortion scams can be termed as the most lethal online scam as it is responsible for causing more than 20 minors to take their own life. Young boys in their teens get messages on their social media profiles from attractive young girls who are scammers using fake profiles. They honey-trap young boys into sending them their compromising photographs and then start blackmailing them for money. Just the thought of the pictures getting released of public domain scare the victims so much that they are forced to take their own lives to save themselves from embarrassment.
Fake dating site scams are more like tech and romance scams having a baby together. Scammers create dating websites to collect personal and financial data of the victims. When people go to this site they are asked for information that usually is not required for signup processes like Social Security number, credit/debit card details, copy of driver’s license, etc. These details are later on used by scammers to extract money.
Code verification scams are generally the misuse of One-time passwords to gain access to victim’s accounts. The victim gets a phone call, text message, or email claiming that his/her account is terminated due to suspicious activities, click on the link to reactivate your profile. Later scammers try to change the victim’s account passwords like bank account passwords, social media account passwords, or online shopping account passwords. To confirm the password change victim is sent a one-time password by his account service which he/she ends up giving to the scammers giving up control of his/her account.
Malware scams refer to the installation of malware on the victim’s device. A scammer generally when is not able to gain money from his/her victim by using emotions end up installing malware on their devices to steal their personal information. These malware act as keyloggers and record every key that the victim presses on their device and send it to the scammer. With this keylogger information, they can easily gain access to the victim’s bank accounts, online shopping accounts, and social media accounts.
Photo scams are like a soft version of intimate activity scams. In this scam, the scammer asks the victim to send their personal details in return for intimate photos. The scammer either uses this personal data for fraudulent activities or sells it on the dark web. The intention is to exploit the victim for financial gain.
3. Tech Support Scams
Tech support scams are one of the oldest kinds of online scams where scammers pose as legitimate technical support representatives from well-known companies, such as Microsoft, Apple, or Geek Squad. They typically use phone calls, pop-up messages, or emails to deceive individuals into believing that their computer has a serious issue, such as a virus or malware infection and then they charge money to fix it.
In tech Support Scams once the scammers have the victim’s attention, they try to convince them to provide remote access to their computer under the guise of fixing the problem. Alternatively, they may direct the victim to download malicious software or visit a fake website designed to steal personal or financial information.
In some cases, the scammers demand payment for their supposed technical support services, often using scare tactics or urgency to pressure the victim into complying. They may claim that failure to act immediately will result in severe consequences, such as data loss or legal action. Tech support scams also like the above scams have different types. Here are 4 most common and prevalent types of tech support scams:
- Lookalike websites Scam.
- Pop-up Scam.
- Cold calling tech support Scam.
- BSOD Scam.
Lookalike website scams refer to scam where scammers create fake websites that resemble trusted brands to capture the victim’s data. It is similar to fake website scam which we covered earlier in this post in online dating scams but the implications of lookalike website scams in tech support are much broader. Scammers may create a fake Amazon gift card website during Christmas or the festive season and offer big discounts on gift cards. The sale of gifts cards are comparatively high in this season and people are on a shopping spree. If they go to this lookalike website of Amazon created by hackers any information they put on the checkout page like credit/debit card details, name, CVV number, address, etc. will be sent to the hackers.
Pop-up scams are the second kind of tech scams. The concept behind this is simple. Scammers create a fake pop-up advertisement claiming that there is a problem with your device. This fake pop-up is then deployed on websites that have big traffic, especially from elder people. As elder people are less friendly with technology, they are always the soft target.
Then the scammers use pictures and logos of companies that have huge trust values like Microsoft, Apple, etc. Fake logos are easy to create but play a crucial role in authenticating the message delivered by the pop-up. Then they use this advertisement to make people call a particular number and ask for money to fix a tech problem that never existed in the first place.
Cold calling scam is the old school tech scam which is very effective. The beauty of this scam is it does not use any tech tricks like in the above two scams but a golden script that reels in the prospect. The efficiency of this scam lies in its simplicity and a virus trick. So, follow this one carefully.
The scammer first chooses a legit company name to call you like Microsoft, Google, Bing, windows, Comcast, Verizon, etc. Once the name is locked, they will cold call you out of the blue telling you that they are receiving “security threats” or “error signals” or “trojan warning” from your device, basically anything that triggers a fear emotion. Then they will show you some errors and warnings on your computer and project them as viruses. Then they will charge you money to remove them.
BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH scam is a more advanced tech scam where scammers and social engineers use technology to disable your access to your computer. Your keyboard and mouse stop working and even if you restart the computer the situation does not change and you are left with no other option other than calling the number displayed on the screen.
BSOD is a genuine Microsoft error, but scammers have created a BSOD scam using it. They try to send you a malicious file and once the malicious file executes, it creates a fake BSOD experience by hiding the cursor and disabling Task Manager, both of which create the impression that the system is not responding. It also displays a message that instructs you to call them back, like:
“If you would like to resolve the issue, please reach out to our support team immediately at 1-800-418-XXXX.”
5 steps to prevent online scams and protect your finances:
- Educate Yourself: Learn about common tech support scam tactics, such as unsolicited phone calls, pop-up messages, and emails claiming to be from reputable companies. Awareness is your first line of defense against scams.
- Verify Caller Identity: If you receive an unexpected call from someone claiming to be from tech support, ask for their name, company, and contact information. Then, independently verify their identity by contacting the company using a trusted phone number or website. Legitimate tech support providers will be happy to verify their identity.
- Don’t Trust Unsolicited Messages: Be cautious of unsolicited pop-up messages or emails warning you about supposed technical issues on your computer. Don’t click on any links or download any attachments in these messages, as they may contain malware or lead to fake tech support websites.
- Never Give Remote Access: Never give control of your computer to someone you don’t know or trust, especially if they contact you unexpectedly. Legitimate tech support providers won’t ask for remote access unless you initiate the request for help.
- Protect Personal Information: Avoid sharing sensitive information, such as passwords or financial details, with unsolicited callers or pop-up messages. Scammers may use this information to commit identity theft or financial fraud.
Conclusion:
By staying informed and trusting our instincts, we can outsmart even the sneakiest scammers. So next time you spot a suspicious email or unexpected call, don’t panic, obtain information from the right channel, and do not allow remote access to your device. While dealing with romance scammers remember that they do not care about your feelings and emotions they are only interested in your money. If they refuse to show up on a video call, avoid meeting in person, and frequently make money requests just terminate all communications with them. Together by spreading awareness and education about online scams, we can create a safer online experience for everyone. We will see you in the next post till then, stay sharp, stay safe, and share this article with people you care about.
