5. Travel Scams
Nowadays, scammers also use social media to trick you. Just by posting seemingly innocent, but alluring photos on sites like Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, they deceive even the savviest of travelers.
Upon clicking the image–which actually promises you a free trip or plane tickets–you will be prompted to either complete a survey rife with personal information requests or open your computer up to secretly malicious software.
It’s crucial to check if the social media page you’re on is actually an accredited account! Take into account that all major airlines and travel sites will have their social media handles on their respective web pages. Don’t be fooled by a fake Twitter account that seems to be that of a big airline like JetBlue.
Number 6 will give you no relief whatsoever…..
25 thoughts on “8 Online Scams People Are Falling for Right Now”
It would be helpful to know how to report scam emails. I used two listed on the internet and both bounced back as unknown
All offers are a scam. No one will ever send u anything or give you $$ through email. Use every email from the unknown as entertainment. Lol. Any common address report it to spoof @ whatever bank etc it is. Prob won’t stop it but u did what u could do. Report it
There’s a new scam out there. This one really made me feel like an idiot. LinkedIn, I’m a member, as are several thousands of people. I was approached by a fellow offering me a job. This job would be for data entry, 7- hours a week and paid $1000 weekly. Also, payday would be weekly. Ok sounds good so far. They send me the application I fill it out and sent it back. Then I am told to use the company account to pay off my credit cards. Okaaaay. I do this. Then I am asked to go to Best Buy and purchase 2 specific apple laptops. Ok. Then before going home, I am asked to send them in to have the proprietary software put on. Ok. Guess what, I have not gotten the laptops back and they reversed the payment. Not only do I not get the laptops, I also got charged for them. Sooo, I am now out $6000 + dollars and am pretty pissed off. Beware, people. If it sounds too good to be true it generally is. I’m a disabled veteran who could not afford something like this and really feel pretty stupid.
Where is your common sense?
Excellent information. One that you didn’t include and I (almost) fell for. You receive an email from an E-tailer you use regularly, confirming your order of something expensive. You, of course, did not order such a thing. On the email is a line that says “…if this is not your order, or have questions…” or something to that effect, you are given a number to call. DO NOT call that number! It puts you in touch with the scammers, who will try to get you to let them into your computer remotely or sell you software to make your computer invulnerable. You could lose everything! Call the E-tailer at a number you know is genuine and report the attempted fraud. [You may or may not want to publish this, but the E-tailer in question was Amazon. They tried the same thing on me as Norton, but I recognized his voice and told him so. Funky emails have stopped]
I to have received the same two scams as James. The emails from Amazon and Norton. I get them all the time. It is ridiculous how many scams are out there.
what about companies asking to do auto refinancing at a lower interest and lower your payments?
Sounds legit – You will probably lower your monthly payment, but you will be starting over to repay your loan. Overall, your monthly payment will be less, but the total amount to repay will be greater. Depending on your situation (i.e., pay less per month or pay more over time), one will be better than the other for you. Also, watch out for processing fees that they may try to add for doing this service. Good luck.
The best information email I have ever read. Publish it every three months. I have been approached in enter two of the listed scams. I find it fun to play with them but never get sucked in.
Perhaps we may want to let these scammers know that if they are caught that death is what awaits them, an then let’s see how many want to continue.
My other half got fished with a fake PayPal email we caught it when we posted a couple things on eBay when all of a sudden there was a pair of jet skis posted to his account he never answered another email without checking with me first. We were lucky though that it didn’t cost us anything
I didn’t yet fall on this scam, keep getting scam calls every single day from different numbers from all over the US, about expiring my car warranty and respond immediately before they close my file, I tried few times to know what is going on my car warranty, I spoke to the agent which car you are talking about ( I owned 3-4 cars) they don’t even know any of my cars brand name or anything and tried to get info about my car and scam me, the conversation ends up on using bad words. Most of the time they hang up and tried from different numbers, sometimes if I am in a good mood I will answer and fry them up, but they never stop.
Block all the numbers immediately from anyone who calls, and you know they are scammers !!
I have told these people that my kids have taken my keys away. It worked, calls stopped.
Extremely helpful
This may be similar to one below. I recently ran into this. I was offered a job interview at a company in my field. They asked me for a Skype interview. Everything went along smoothly like a regular interview. The recruiter said they were interested and then said they had been given the ok to hire me.
We went forward with some details ( luckily no banking or social security info) and then the hiring manager said I needed to send over 600.00 so they could send me a computer and I could get started right away. They wanted me to zelle pay to a private email. I got suspicious and started googling this type of scam. It is quite common. There is no job and they just take your 600.00 and disappear. Actually, when they asked for the 600.00, I felt something suspicious. This was a big company and they would not need my money to purchase equipment. I stalled and said I needed a written contract to run by my attorney. They sent me some hastily put-together documents (complete with typos and bad grammar). I kept stalling and eventually stopped talking to them.
Those scammers kept after me for days, asking when I was going to send the money so I could get to work. I guess they eventually gave up. This was on a freelance writing site where you apply for projects. Apparently, when the job is long term, the pay is above average and the interview is on skype, it is a scam. The site I was using had at least 30% of these “jobs” listed at any given time.
A good rule….Never call a number from an email with a company logo which a scammer can easily cut and paste.
i was the victim of number 6. Oh they seemed so so nice and so very credible and helpful…Nope…took money from my bank!!!!!! Bank did reimburse me ….but it was very hard to get that reimbursement…..
Sad they prey on older vulnerable and trusting peoplel…But…since when are thieves nice.>>>????
I live in Australia and I have been inundated with emails can this be stopped please
Another scam this African lady is telling people her father died and left her money but she has to be married before she can get the money she’s even got a fake lawyer saying the same thing asking you for your parent’s information then tell you to send 75.00 to process the marriage certificate I tried to tell a friend it was a scam
There is no free lunch i.e., why do idiots think of all the people in the world they picked lucky you to receive their fortune??? I am sorry but many people who fall for these scams are greedy fools.
Started with what’s up text messages offering online part time job. Doing surveys on apps & movies, initially with paid training in platforms paid in commissions each item of 30-40 per sets. Once it started, your account with them will grow from commissions & interests until you grt negative balance and you need to deposit money in crypto to proceed and get your huge balance only to find out that they will put restrictions to deposit more funds. Unsure if you still can get that money.
I keep getting emails saying I owe the IRS back taxes and they can help me reduce them or remove them. I have delt with the IRS for over 65 years and they aren’t bashful about telling me I owe them money. The scammer gives me a telephone number to call. I ignore the email and delete it every time it appears.
I was scammed with false promises by using APPLE GIFT CARDS this past summer.
What about all the puppy scams? Wanting Apple gift cards.