How To Avoid Scams Online

Learning how to avoid scams online take common sense, caution, and skeptic towards anything that come across as sketchy. As technology constantly advances, so do scams and scammers who dupe millions each day with their deceiving tactics while remaining anonymous. Protect yourself against fraud and keep on guard at all times. Never give any personal information without knowing who you are giving this information to.  Also remember that f it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
 

1. Job scams. While employment is at its highest, people are scramming around to find work wherever they can and most scammers feel its time to take advantage for people misfortunes. One of the ways to avoid scams online is to look for job ads on popular ad websites and be aware of poorly written employment postings, ntroductions such as Sir/Madam or any post requesting your name, home address, telephone number or even PayPal account to "send" money. Always be cautious as most of these ads comes from other countries asking to send money either in advance for work that is yet to be done. Also be aware of anything that asks you to send a portion of cash via wire transfer or if you are quickly hired once you respond to their ad. Be sure to watch out for job postings asking you to pay a fee before getting hired. Sadly most of these are so-called work at home jobs and you will never receive one once you pay the "fee". All of these scam jobs have consequences.
2. Email scams. Similar to the online job frauds, these are a dime a dozen. You will receive a letter, usually in your junk inbox, claiming that you have inherited money from a rich deceased relative and have been offered to transfer money to your account. Another one is winning ridiculous amount of money through the lottery and informing you to claim your prize. These scams are unsolicited emails and if you cannot recall sending these people your email address and participating in any type of contest/lottery, it is a high chance to be a scam. Most famously known as Nigerian scams, the first thing to do is automatically delete those unwanted emails from scammers looking for someone to sucker in and get into trouble.
3. Identity fraud scams. This type of fraud works similar to Nigerian scams. You will get an email from a so-called legitimate business requesting that you urgently log into your account, verify your personal information, such as your social security number, and eventually the site will use this information against you. They are also known as phishing scams, using spoof websites that are copies of real ones. Ignore these emails and always take caution if the website is unsecured–chances are it is a fake so hackers are ready to take action for identity theft.
4. Always be alert. Aside from the three scams listed, there are others to watch out for, buying and selling item through online ads, online dating scams, and others that looks suspicious should not be approached or should be approached with great caution. Do your research and take the time to find out if it is genuine.