4 Convincing Online Scams You Might Actually Fall For in 2020

Online Scams are all around us. We see them all the time in our Internet travels, but are there any out there that are so convincing that people actually fall for them? The answer is yes, there are several scams that many people fall victim to every day, not because they’re stupid, but just because the scammers have refined these scams and made them very convincing.

Scammers are constantly updating tried and true scams of old and adapting them for the Internet.

Here Are Several Internet-based Scams That You Might Actually Fall For:

The Ammyy Tech Support Scam

One of the most prevalent scams out in the wild today is known as ‘The Ammyy Scam’. The Ammyy scam is named after the Ammyy remote administration tool that the scammer typically tries to convince you to install on your computer so they can take control of it.

This scam is one of the most widespread and prevalent scams in the world today. Millions of people have received calls from scammers purporting to be from “windows tech support”. Alerting potential victims that “something is wrong with your computer” and it is “sending us errors”.

The “technician” (scammer) has the victim perform several commands on their computer which purportedly shows these errors, in reality these errors are nothing significant and are present on just about everyone’s computer.  Once the scammer has gained the victim’s trust they will attempt to have the user visit a website to download the Ammyy tool (or a similar tool) and then provide the scammer with a code generated by the tool that will allow them to remotely control the users computer which will give them access to steal information, install malware, etc.

The scammers will usually go one step further and try and convince the victim to pay for fake antivirus software, pay for a “fix”, etc. So not only do they break into your computer and install malware and potentially steal personal information, they also have the nerve to steal your money as well.

You would think that no one would fall for such as scam but tens of thousands of people have been falling for it hook, line, and sinker.

Online Dating Site Scams

Scammers pray on all kinds of people, including those who are looking for love online. The latest scams to hit the net are just a new twist on an old scam. Scammers pretend to be real people looking for love, but instead try to lure victims away from the dating site to scam sites where they can steal their credit card information or other data of use.

Dating sites such as Tinder, Match.com, OK Cupid, and Plenty Of Fish are popular targets for online dating scammers.

Online Job ID Theft and Reshipment Scams

Sharing information with potential employers who might turn out to be identity thieves is something that is a potential risk for anyone looking for a job online. As a job seeker you are often ask a lot of very personal information. In this context, we are used to providing details to total strangers and we really don’t think twice about it in many cases because the hope is that this information will help potential employers know more about us so they’ll want o hire us.

Scammers take full advantage of this mental preconditioning and use it to their advantage to extract personal information from us which they can then use for identity theft purposes.

Other types of jobs scams include reshipment scams. Reshipment scams are where a scammer will convince a victim to receive stolen merchandise or merchandise purchased with stolen credit card numbers at their address. The scammer will then direct them to reship this merchandise to the scammers address of choice. This victim acts as a middle man making it harder for authorities to track destinations of the stolen goods.

Scammers may say that this is part of the job, or is a “condition of employment”. They’ll do their best to convince the victim that its all legit and part of the application process. They’ll also promise huge salaries or bonuses, neither of which ever appear.

Ransomware Scams

Ransomware is malware that encrypts the data on your hard drive and holds it literally for ransom. Scammers will set a countdown timer and you are told to pay up or your data will remain encrypted forever. Fortunately there may be help available in the form of software that can get rid of ransomware and possibly bring your data back from its clutches, without you having to pay the ransom.

Read more about – How to hack your Android device without rooting It

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