Online Frauds

Online scams/fraud is a type of cybercrime or deception which makes use of the Internet and could involve hiding information or providing incorrect information to trick victims out of money, property, and inheritance. These scams are getting very common nowadays.

Here are some stats representing the percentage of people tricked by the scamsters in India :-

Consumers in India experienced a fairly high online fraud encounter rate of 69% in the past year, according to the Microsoft 2021 Global Tech Support Scam Research Report. Further, 31% of Indians lost money through a scam—the highest globally which was 23% in 2018. Usually, the age group is between 24 to 37 in India who gets scammed.

Let's talk about the most common online scams that an internet user can come across and how can you avoid being a target of the same. 

1. Phishing /email scams :- 

- It is a fraudulent activity done on anybody by impersonating oneself as a trustworthy entity in online banking or other forms of digital banking processes.

- This is done to extract sensitive and personal data that can be used in many wrong ways which may include extracting your money from your bank account 

- Phishing can happen over a phone, email, over social media sites, matrimonial portals etc with various approaches and strategies which can be avoided with proper awareness. 

2. Online shopping frauds /coupon scams:-

-In this type of scam, the scamsters usually makes a fake shopping portal that sells products at a very cheap price. Once the item is purchased and the payment is made online, the product is never delivered to the consumer. 

-In some cases, they'll provide you with some fake shopping coupons to insist you make an online payment at the time of placing an order. 

3. Bank loan or credit card scams:-

-You might have come across tons of messages offering bank loans/ home loans/ business loans at a very cheap interest rate which are already approved by the bank. After you get convinced by their fraud messages, the scamster asks for the processing fees after which they'll never contact you. This is just another way of scamming innocent people and robe their hard-earned money. 

4. Online dating scams:-

-These scams happen on social media websites such as Facebook, Instagram, tinder etc. The scamster can be a male or a female. 

-In some cases, they might insist you do some unpleasant activity and record you without getting you to know and later blackmail you and extort money from you. 

-They might create some fake emotional story and ask for money which you'll never get back. 

5. Fake employment opportunity scams/make money fast scams:-

-In India freshly graduated youth is desperately looking out for jobs and easily fall a victim to scamsters.

-These scamsters will offer you a non-existing job and will promise to provide a good amount of salary. And ask for your personal information and your bank details which they might use in some illegal activity. 

6. Lottery scams:-

A lottery scam is a type of scam in which you get a mail, phone call or text message stating that you won a lottery/jackpot. And to get that money in your bank account you need to pay processing fees which is compulsory. Most people end up paying this amount out of greed. 

Some ways to protect yourself from getting scammed online:- 

1. Avoid giving out your personal information or bank details to any online stranger. 

2. Shop from trusted sites only. 

3. Avoid sending money to any stranger you meet online.

4. Set strong passwords which are not easy to crack. 

5. Block unwanted calls and texts messages.  

6. Don't open any random link you see in your inbox. 

7. Use verified apps only. 

8. Make yourself and others aware of these scams.

In case you get trapped in any of the online scams you can always go to https://cybercrime.gov.in/ and file a complaint. 

Or contact your local police authorities.

STAY SMART & STAY SATARK !

Blog By : Aastha Jain