Online scams are growing rapidly as the internet expands into every aspect of society. Their victims are often people unfamiliar with the basics of

cybersecurity. So how can Entrepreneur entrepreneurs recognize online scam tactics and avoid them, especially when they can cause massive financial losses that may lead

إلى الإفلاس..

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Phishing

Phishing is one of the most common forms of online fraud. It has had devastating consequences for its victims, most notably Hillary Clinton’s loss in the race for

the U.S. presidency to Donald Trump in the 2016 election, following a hack of her campaign.

Phishing aims to deceive users and trick them into handing over their passwords to scammers without realizing it, in order to obtain their

personal information, such as credit card details and Social Security numbers. This is often done through professional-looking emails that claim to be from

شركات موثوقة.

More than 100,000 phishing attempts are reported worldwide each month. Recently, phishing has been weaponized with varying degrees of sophistication using technology.

Impersonation scams—so don’t believe messages from anyone claiming to be someone you know or a celebrity.

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I offer an online scam

With the dawn of the internet in the 1990s and the advent of email services, online scams became more common. They began with messages

from people claiming to be Nigerian princes. These messages typically featured a wealthy Nigerian prince (or investor or government official) offering you an opportunity to make a profit

مالية هائلة.

The trick was to tempt you into paying a small amount upfront or handing over your bank account details and other personal information so the transfer could be made.

Of course, you’d lose your “principal” and never receive a single riyal in return. This scam has persisted ever since, evolving and raising millions

through fraud.

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احتيال التذاكر

Another type of fraud is ticket fraud, in which consumers are tricked into buying fake tickets to sporting events, concerts, and more. Scammers typically

target major events expected to see extremely high ticket demand, taking advantage of the surge in interest.

The tickets they send customers often contain fake barcodes or are duplicates of legitimate tickets. In other cases, the user

doesn’t receive any ticket at all after paying.

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Impersonating celebrities

Some scammers impersonate celebrities and contact their fans to deceive them. Last January, YouTube star Philip DeFranco had to warn his 6 million subscribers about a scam like this. In a video on his channel, he said: “If you receive a message from me or from

الماضي- إلى تحذير المشتركين البالغ عددهم 6 ملايين شخص من عملية احتيال كهذه؛ إذ قال في مقطع فيديو عبر قناته: “إذا تلقيت رسالة مني أو من

If another YouTube creator’s offer sounds something like this, someone is very likely trying to scam you.”

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أسلوب معاكس

Earlier this year, scammer Wendy Murdoch—who claimed to be a businessperson and investor—used email addresses and other convincing tactics to

trick social media stars into booking their own trips to Indonesia and paying fees for fake permits as part of the scam. Among the

victims were influencers and travel photographers, who lost thousands of dollars.

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Ransomware

Some online scams involve trying to extort money from victims through what’s known as a “ransomware attack.” Hackers install malware on a

computer or computer system that restricts the owner’s access to their files. They are then asked to pay to have those files released, often

Bitcoin.

In 2018, the city of Atlanta was hit by a ransomware attack and refused to pay the ransom. Recovering from the attack cost the city more than $2.6 million.

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3 حيل جديدة

Other scams have also started to gain traction recently, such as:

1. Taking advantage of people’s generosity by soliciting donations through crowdfunding platforms for fake causes.

2. Fake cryptocurrency investment schemes.

3. Manipulating news stories to make users more likely to fall victim to fraud.

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Decoy attack traps

Ransomware scams exploit victims’ sense of security and privacy. In some cases, scammers claim in an email that they have

hacked the victim’s webcam while they were watching pornographic content. They then begin extorting them, demanding a ransom or threatening to “send the footage to all of the victim’s contacts,”

when in fact it is nothing more than a threat—they have nothing.