Have you ever wondered what kind of person would deliberately scam innocent people out of their money on the internet? These people thrive thanks to the invisibility of the Internet. They have the ability to easily hide their tracks, disappear quickly and easily, and are rarely caught by authorities. There are two kinds.
The first is ambitious and proud of what he is doing. These are the ones who are clever and skilled scammers. They are excited about his “genius” and feel that the job of creating a scam is reason enough for the money they make from it. They look at every possible angle to avoid being obviously illegal. Right there is a clue that they know what they are doing is wrong and yet they go after it with justifications. They believe that if someone buys into the scam or, as they prefer, the “money system”, they have no reason to complain. They convince themselves that the opportunity is there, even when they know that only one percent or less of the people who invest money will actually make money. These people thrive on the faceless, impersonal Internet. They don’t know the people they are scamming and they don’t care to know them. It makes it much easier to take someone’s money if you don’t see the actual person taking a loss.
The above type naturally creates a subtype con. This is a person who has bought a monetary system and in order to make at least enough to cover their “investment” in the business, they need to advertise the business and get more people involved. These people often end up paying much more money in advertising than they gave the business to begin with and very few get their money back. It has been said that only about 1% of the people who invest money in a monetary system make money out of it.
The second type of scammer is much more vicious and more personal. They try to obtain personal information from their victims. They can contact them to gain trust. These people hope to establish some contact so that their victim completes a banking transaction. They usually have a money order or (fake) checks that they want the person to deposit and then request a portion of it back. Then the check bounces and the person has lost their own money, in some cases quite a bit. Whether desperate or just antisocial, these types of people are fully aware of what they are doing and have no awareness of what they are doing.
To avoid Internet scams, always follow these rules:
Never reply to emails stating that you have won a prize, lottery or inheritance.
Never click on a link in an email that says you need to update your information or provide personal account numbers. Your bank, Paypal, email, and other sites never ask you to provide this information via a link in an email. If you click the link, they may have a very cool fake site that you think is real. They take your information and they take your money.
Check out any internet business before investing your money in it, especially if the business claims that you will make a huge income in a very short period of time. Information is easy to find by simply doing a simple search on scams and the name of the company.
Do not accept jobs via email invitation that require you to work as an “Accountant” or “Accounts Receivable” and request that you deposit checks for them and return the funds. This is a scam, no legitimate business invites strangers to make deposits for them.
Don’t answer emails from desperate millionaires who will give you a percentage of the money if you complete a money transfer for them. They have no money and they want to take your money.
There are ways to earn money online honestly and for those methods, it takes work and patience. Writing, blogging, mystery shopping from legitimate companies, and taking surveys are all better ways to make money when you have the right resources. Don’t give in to the get-rich-quick schemes that abound on the Internet.