Fraud
By: Kason Kreis
Emails
Have you ever gotten emails stating that you must give your credit card information to your credit card company or it might be temporarily void? Those are fraud emails, that are trying to give you personal information. Do not let these people fool you, and be smart about what you do.
Types of Fraud
Phishing/Smishing
These are fake emails, from people that want you to give personal information to them so they can use it for their own personal gain. When in doubt, don't reply to them personal information, and it is always safer to not reply to them at all. Companies know that there are people out there trying to get your personal information, so they won't try to get it from you through email. Use common sense when handling with your own confidential information.
Retail/Auction Fraud
This involves buying something on the internet, but then giving you something you didn't order, or not giving it in the condition that it was described as. This is something that happens all the time, and most of the time there is a solution. Sometimes there isn't an easy solution, but this situation can be avoided very easily. You should never order stuff from a website that you haven't tried out, especially if it is not very well known. Also, check customer ratings about third-party sellers, to see if you product will come in alright.
Definitely make sure it isn't something like this, when it could be counterfeited.
Work at home
These are just ads or spams that tell you that you could get money from the internet, from working at home for about two hours with this "special kit," that can get you around 12,000 dollars a month. These are lies. Do not be fooled by this kind of stuff. Even if it seems real, like it looks legit in the picture below, do not be tricked easily.
Stay away from fraud
Some tips from not falling for fraud is to not respond to emails with personal information, and it is even better to not reply to anyone you don't know at all. Research a little on these types of things, especially the retailers from the internet, possibly look at customer ratings, and find out how the "work at home" has really worked out. Finally, if it is too good to be true, IT IS.