Or is it an offer you almost can’t refuse? Stop, wait a minute and assess.
Research has shown that scams don’t take the most complex forms. In fact, recent studies show that the most successful scammers tend to craft their bait to mimic simple means to entice unsuspecting users to commit to their traps.
The utmost question on anyone’s mind: “What’s the worst that could happen?” Well, imagine a law-abiding citizen parts with hard earned money on the command of an alleged official. Sounds too far-fetched? This was the exact case of an 80-year old woman who fell prey to an impersonator and parted with over SGD$800,00/- in the last quarter of 2019.
In the same year, Facebook received an overwhelming number of reports concerning duplicate accounts created, whose sole purpose was to defraud known contacts of the original profile holder. All it took was a couple of screenshots of their profile photos and the messenger app to contact others and make small financial requests under the guise of a friend.
The scope for scammers is a far-reaching as their imagination, which is to say it is limitless. While it is impossible to avoid being party to transactions in out daily lives, there are ways to minimise risk:
1. Do Your Research
If something sounds too good to be true, verify. Cross-reference your findings across multiples sources. Look for reviews or any posts concerning the authenticity of the offer.
2. Ask and You Should Receive
During the course of the transactions, do not hesitate to request for valid ID or documentary proof of their claims. Scammers who assume the identity of another or impersonate officials will not anticipate a request for verification and may be deterred from pursuing you as a target. Ask questions. Always.
3. Spot the Mistakes
It is almost a pattern of scammers to lack consistency and congruency when crafting their traps. Look out for suspicious URLs, grammatical or typographical errors in the interfaces you use. In conversations, do the same. The infamous Pakistani Minister Nawaz Sharif was pinned down in corruption charges which boiled down to typographical inconsistencies in his paperwork – so keep a keen eye out for such errors.
JMS ROGERS(TM) stands by its mission to recover broken promises. Stay safe and have a good week ahead.
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