Report Phishing Websites When Donating To Charities

Online donations to charities have become common so that philanthropic contributions of people can reach global donors as well as enable projects for socio-economic development in faraway developing nations. The problem of phishing websites has not spared the even voluntary sector and thrives by rerouting donations. By and large, the modus operandi of phishing charity sites includes:

• Identification of target segment and sending phishing emails

The scammers target the working class, who so often resort to charity donations, the reasons being a regular gesture of humanity from their monthly paychecks and the purpose of income tax exemption. This is why scammers are abuzz with activity during the tax season, when busy employees do not bother to report phishing websites, even if they come across the same.

• Diverting donors to click on phishing links

Donors must be alert when reading unsolicited requests from charities, that they have never heard of. They must not hesitate to report phishing websites, in case they are lured to click on links that may land them in fake web pages. These fake websites are only platform to steal sensitive and credential information of the donors, like bank accounts, PINs and passwords. The innocent donors not only lose the amount donated, but end up exposing their bank accounts to financial fraud.

• Misrepresentation of famous charities

Scammers understand that charity donations are based on trust and confidence. If they misrepresent the names, logos and even rating status of famous charities, it will be easier to lure donor traffic to phishing web pages. The scammers are shrewd enough to fill their phishing websites with apparently authentic images and videos of suffering people and development projects of the charity.

• How to report phishing websites of fake charities

Complaints can be directed to law enforcers, much alike reporting phishing websites regularly. In addition to this, there are watchdog organizations in the third sector like Charity Navigator, that maintain a strict vigil over the authenticity of charities. Reporting phishing websites to these organizations is worthwhile both as a proactive and reactive measure. It is advised to stop all further communications with the charity and get a fraud alert placed on financial reports. All passwords and usernames need to be changed with formal communication to banks to block, if possible, any money-in-transit in case of wire transfers.

• Report phishing websites if the charity web pages are insecure

Always ensure that charity websites are visited by typing the name of the website in the URL bar and not by clicking on unsafe links that may be sent by way of phishing mails. Donors must conduct basic due diligence like going through donor reviews, looking out for trust badges from rating organizations and the track record of the charity in terms of impact created on the society. Donors must look out for signs that confirm the physical existence of charities, even in case of online donations and must report phishing websites. Postal address and a landline telephone number etc. are examples of this. When your browser warns you of unsafe websites, it is better not to proceed with donation and to report phishing websites.

 

Report Dating Scams Misrepresenting Military Personnel

Out of the various types of conning games practiced by online romance scammers, faking the identity of military personnel has gained much popularity, necessitating immediate efforts by the victims to report dating scams. The factors working in favor of these romance scammers are:

• Women find it a matter of pride to enter into a relationship with military service men.
• The scammers promise marriage and an affluent lifestyle upon marrying them.
• The scammers tend to earn the sympathy of women under the pretext they are homesick and yearn for love and affection which they may not find in their workplaces.
• The photographs used in dating scams are picture perfect, well-built army officers in immaculate uniforms, obviously faked.

Report dating scams if the partner evades questions on employment

It can very well amount to a reason to report dating scams, if your all-eligible military partner online chooses to be exceedingly tight lipped with practical questions relating to his:

• Military exposure, work tenure
• Work achievements in military
• Friends or any family members who may be employed in military
• Refusal to share official contact details

Report dating scams if financial requests are made

The online partner from military, having getting innocent ladies hooked onto seemingly lasting relationships, and then come out with solid requests for money which may include:

• Payments to be made to his family members, who may be located in the victim’s country (the scammer’s aide, planted on purpose), because wire transfer is not possible from remote areas where military personnel work from.
• Upon sudden injury or disablement, the scammer is indisposed and has to remain in rest to recuperate. He needs financial assistance during the period.
• Requests to transfer funds for travel expenses, communication expenses.

These fake military officials are seasoned scammers who know how to reroute money across multifarious channels and it is very difficult to recover lost funds. It will be worthwhile to report dating scams before the situation gets out of control.

Report dating scams if the scammer wriggles out of face to face meetings online

It is common logic that if the military serviceman, who has no difficulty in subscribing to an online dating site and chats regularly, he should not have difficulty in coming forward for a live video chat.

• If the online romance partner cites security reasons for not able to make Skype video calls, it creates suspicion.
• If the person avoids writing or sending letters by post, even if the facility to send letters home is very well available for all military personnel, then it is one of the moments to report dating scams.
• If the military partner is hesitant to share his social media links, it is time to be alert. Nowadays, much alike normal people, military personnel are also active on social media. It will be useful to check interactions with friends and relatives.

Due to the growing notoriousness in online military romance scams, many online platforms are publishing list of fake military profiles on the public domain. It is advisable to leaf through these lists and find out the possibility of an impending dating scam.

Ways of Dealing with Different Categories of Phishing Scams

Due to the increase in the frequency, intensity, sophistication and diversity of phishing scams, it has become pertinent for individuals, small and large organizations to detect some of the most innovative phishing scams for keeping themselves protected. The following six are the most commonly used phishing scams.

1. Deceptive Phishing

Through emails, the scammers impersonate a legitimate company and steal personal information or log-in credentials of victims. These, usually contain threats or urgency to scare the users to click on a link, which ultimately leads to a fake website. Check the grammar or spelling errors of the mail.

2. Spear Phishing

It is one of the phishing scams in which the scammers attack specific name, position, contact number, company or other information to trick the recipient that they have a connection with the sender of the message. The victim clicks on a malicious URL and hands over personal data. Social media like Linkedin etc are common places for such kinds of phishing scams. Preventive measures would be not to publish sensitive corporate information on social media.

3. CEO Fraud or Whaling Attack

The scammers target a ‘big fish’ such as top executives or even the CEO, mainly because such high ranking executives do not participate in Security Awareness Training, along with their employees. The scammer impersonates an executive and makes wrong use of the executive’s email, authorizing fraudulent wire transfers to a financial institution of his choice.

4. Pharming

As a deviation to the traditional mean of ‘baiting’, the scammers resort to Pharming which is a method that is coined from Domain Name System (DNS) cache poisoning. The DNS is used by the naming system of the Internet for converting alphabetical website names to numerical IP addresses, in order to locate computer devices and services. The Pharmer attacks a DNS server and the IP address, associated with an alphabetical name of website. In this way, the scammer redirects a user to a malicious website of the scammer’s choice, even if the victim enters in the correct name of the website. As remedial measures, enter the login credentials only on sites, protected by HTTPS and use anti-virus software

5. Dropbox Phishing

Phishing scams are no more limited to baiting the victims. Instead, specialized means are adopted to attack emails according to an individual company or service. The target is Dropbox which is used by millions of people for access, back up and share their files. The experts of phishing scams entice users to enter their login credentials on a fake Dropbox sign-in page that is hosted on Dropbox itself. As remedial measures, use two-step verification (2DV) on your accounts.

6. Google Doc Phishing

Google Drive supports documents, photos, spreadsheets, presentations or the entire websites. Scammers abuse these services for creating a webpage that resembles the Google account login and thus obtains the credentials of the users. As a remedial measure users should use the two-step verification or 2SV for protecting themselves from such threat. They can get this feature by sending SMS message or Google Authenticator app.

With the development of anti-phishing measures scammers are resorting to yet more innovative techniques to be always a step forward. Hence anti-phishing measures should be an ongoing process for security conscious organizations.

How To Detect And Report Dating Scams?

Finding love for free on the internet? You could be heading into the net of a romance scammer or an advance fee fraud online instead! As romance scams are increasing in number, being penniless and heartbroken due to some cybercriminals machinations is not the only problem, so is losing your life and identity. Crime syndicates online use social media and social networking as well as dating sites to strike and steal your sensitive information. But you can even lose your life. There have been cases of romance scammers luring people to remote places, killing them and assuming their identity. So, when it comes to romance frauds, make sure you report dating scams. You could be saving more than just money. But how do you know when you have met Mr. Wrong (as opposed to Mr. Right)?

#1 Notice What’s Wrong

Caught in the emotions of being in love, many vulnerable and gullible victims overlook factors like the type of discrepancies or mismatches. Prolific romance scammers use the same messages and same styles to communicate with others. They are generic so that they can trick a lot of people at the same time. This is the first sign you need to report dating scams. They are so generic that you can even find out what they write by matching it with other sites or communications online. Some scammers  are so lazy, they lift and copy paste text to lure people. Consider the language of the person as well. Poor grammar, misspellings, typos and errors indicating an uneducated person when the individual is claiming to be a doctorate is a real indication the fat is in the fire ( and you are in the frying pan). But luckily, there is something you can do about this. Reporting dating scams is important and save yourself from a fate that could actually be death.

#2 Don’t Turn Your Online Scammer Into A Real Hero

Emotions can cloud the judgement and this holds true for romance scams as well. When you are caught in the trap, love can blinden you to simple facts such as the lack of verification, the obvious attempts to pump you with money and more. In fact, the scammer relies on this and this is why he or she is using romance as a medium to try and ensnare you. Remember the Sandra Bullock starrer, The Net where she trusts a romance scammer who turns out to steal her identity and threaten her life? Well, movies can and do become real and sometimes, truth can even be stranger than fiction. Online scams can be detected using photo or facial recognition software and matches online to catch when a conman is in place and ready to exploit you. Instead of wedding bells, alarm bells should be ringing when you choose to connect with a stranger online. Never let your guard down. In fact, if your intuition tells you that things look too good to be true, they probably are and you need to think about reporting dating scams pronto.

#3 Check The Hard Evidence

Signs that you are trapped in a scammer’s net includes mismatches in what they are claiming online and an online search will reveal many lies of scammers online. You need to be searching specifically for the details that they have shared with you. Confirm whether they are using an online telephone directory or a site to get contact details of another person. Using a pen name for their evil scams, these two faced individuals are the worst thing about the online world. Don’t let these scammers into your heart and home. Trust the evidence and report dating scams, rather than facing a life of penury, misery or (worse) an untimely death! Use online fraud detection software and place fraud alerts online to report dating scams. Don’t leave off the action till it’s too late. Reporting dating scams provides good results and saves you from heartbreak, financial ruin and even death.

Phishing Websites Scams and How They Steal Your Identity

It looks like every week; some new fraudster is discovering new ways in which he can con people. The most common scam running on internet today is phishing. Phishers are known to lay their bait in the form of email that lures the public and tricks them into giving up their personal information. They are also known to develop phishing websites that look similar to websites of major organizations.

The criminals who are involved in phishing are more interested in stealing the victims’ identities which gives them access to their names and resources. Earlier the phishing websites scams were loosely performed, but today the scams have become more complex and have managed to fool computer experts. Familiarize yourself with all the methodologies used by the phishers and make the companies aware that their logos, name and reputations are being misused to steal from innocent people.

The aim of the phishers is to lead people to the phishing websites where they trick people into divulging their personal information such as credit card numbers, username, passwords, social security number, etc. Usually, the phisher will send out mass email under the false pretence of a major retailer or bank. Through this email, they will try to convince you that there has been some kind of crisis, due to which the company requires your personal information for some reason. Sometimes they also threaten that their accounts will be closed if their requests are not met with.

For instance, a phisher will imitate the identity of a major bank and send out mass email that claims there has been a security breach in the firm. The email will instruct you to click on the provided URL and submit your personal data for verification purposes. It will then say, if verification is not done your account will be put on hold. When you click on the link, you will be directed to a website that looks similar to the bank’s actual website, where you will have to fill in your personal details. Those people who are not aware of how phishing websites scams take place will get tricked into providing their information and will later find out they have been a victim of identity theft.

There are ways in which you can ensure that you do not fall prey to such phishing websites scams. Most respectable organizations will not ask you for your personal information over the internet. If you ever receive such request via email, be wary. It is advisable that you directly call the company that you are supposed to deal with. The email that you have received might contain a phone number, but it is likely that this phone call will connect you with someone who is involved in the scam. Find the contact information of the company in your phone book or on your recent statement.

You can then call up the company and ask if the request is legitimate. If you are convinced that this request is genuine then provide them with the information. However, if the request was not authorized by the company then let them know that a scam is being done in their name. Don’t let these phishing websites scams fool you into sharing your personal information over internet. Beware!

How to Report a Scammer in Facebook

Scammers continue to prowl popular social media sites in search for potential victims for their latest fraudulent schemes. They constantly change their tactics and social manipulation strategies to victimize as many users as possible. They also enjoy the fact that not too many victims and users are motivated to report a scammer. With this, they continue with their illegal activities on the Web and in these social media platforms undeterred.

Many users in these social media sites, even those who have been victimized by fraudsters, don’t know how to report a scammer in these Web platforms. That’s expected, especially considering that many of these social media companies don’t usually respond to email support tickets and the like. They just simply ask users to post in their public Q & A pages, though through this process, users need to wait indefinitely for others to respond to their questions or comment to their answers.

That’s also one of the main reasons why fraudsters and organized crime groups continue to target unsuspecting users of these social media sites for their latest online scams and Web crimes. After all, there’s a massive ready pool of victims waiting for them to con them out of their hard-earned cash, steal their private information and cause serious trouble for them. Since many of their victims don’t know how to report a scammer in these social platforms, they usually get away scott-free with their Web crimes.

Facebook is infamous for doing this – They don’t respond to email tickets. All you get is an auto-generated response. However, they do provide tools that you can readily use to report a scammer, contrary to the belief of other users.

With this, to make your daily social media experience more secure and private, found below are some ways that you can do to report a scammer in Facebook. Just keep in mind that preventive measures are always better than defensive techniques in terms of protecting yourself against Web scams and online crimes. As the saying goes – An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

How to Report a Scammer in Facebook

If you want to report a post with illegal, unacceptable content, then there’s a link near the post that allows you to report it. For example, if you see an advertised post in your news feed about a money scam, a fake job offer or a bogus investment opportunity, then you can report the post by clicking this link and going through the quick and easy steps to complete and send your report. When you report a scammer this way in Facebook, then the user might be blocked by Facebook from having an account in this social media platform, or from using their advertising network.

Another way that you can do in Facebook to report a scammer is by going to the profile page of the fraudster. There’s a link near the profile photo of the account owner. You can click this link and follow the succeeding steps provided by Facebook to report the crook.

There’s also a link in Facebook Messenger to report a scammer. You can use this link whenever you receive phishing messages with suspicious content and links. You can even block the user from sending other messages to you in the future, or from calling you through the voice chat features of Facebook Messenger.

Remember these things each time you visit Facebook, and you’ll be able to help make this social media platform a safer place to hang out when you report a scammer each time you encounter a potential scam post in this online community. Also sign up at BigScammers.Com to learn more updates about the latest variants of the many online scams in popular social media platforms today.

How to Report a Scam in Australia

Knowing where to go when you want to report a scam is important information that every citizen should learn. Like many countries, Australia is also a constant target of different forms of scams which is causing huge amounts of losses to both their consumer and business sectors. In order to address this growing problem, various government agencies and platforms have been developed so victims who want to report fraud can easily reach out and give information regarding the scam that they wish to complain about.

Scams come in different forms and can affect different types of business and individuals. It does not discriminate based on age or gender; they simply grab every opportunity that they can to exploit other people’s resources. Many of these scams can cause serious damage if you are not careful and the only way that you can protect yourself is by keeping informed and by knowing how to report a scam. To give you some idea on how to report a scam, you may check out the details below;

How to Report a Scam in Australia

• Report Buying or Selling Scams

To report a scam on buying or selling both on and offline you may go to Scamwatch. Scamwatch was primarily developed to help keep businesses and individuals updated about the latest scams in the market.  The Scamwatch is managed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in partner with Australian Consumer Fraud Taskforce (ACFT). All the information reported at Scamwatch is utilized by these two agencies to identify the latest threats in the market. Once these threats have been identified the ACCC and ACFT will work closely with the relevant industries to create necessary protective measures that will prevent these malicious schemes from causing any further damage.

• Report Identity Fraud Scams

To report a scam pertaining to identity fraud, you may access various agencies. One of the agencies that you can go to is ACORN or Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network. ACORN is a government agency designed to provide online reporting platform for victims of cybercrime. All reports submitted to their website are carefully evaluated by their scam experts. Scam experts decide based on certain categories if the report can and should be forwarded to the law enforcement agency for follow up investigation. Once your report has been forwarded to the law enforcers, it is now up to them to coordinate with you. Another agency that you can report identity fraud to is the IDCARE. IDCARE offers national identity & cyber support service to victims of identity fraud from Australia and New Zealand. All you have to do is fill up their request form so you can access their service. Once the IDCARE receives your request, you will be given free service from their Identity & Cyber Security Counsellors and Analysts. These are trained experts who helped thousands of identity fraud victims recover their identity and reduce the negative effects of the said scam.

The details provided will come in handy when you want to report a scam similar to the ones mentioned above.

Beware of Online Scams Targeted at the Younger Generation

Many fraudsters and organized crime syndicates that previously victimized users in their senior years are now targeting a younger generation of users for their online scams in the USA, Canada, Australia and the UK this year. This was recently announced by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), ActionFraud (the UK’s national online crime reporting center), Competition Bureau of Canada and RSA FraudAction among other cyber security specialists and online privacy experts.

A lot of organized crime groups and solo fraudsters are trying to integrate more effective social manipulation tactics and schemes into their online scams. This is one of the main reasons behind their shift of focus to this younger generation of users, according to some cyber security analysts. That’s because younger users tend to spend more time in online social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and others. This provides criminal enterprises with a large ready pool of potential victims.

To reduce your chances of falling for these online scams, you should first learn about the newest forms of cyber fraud today that are mainly targeted at younger users. This will allow you to quickly recognize potential scams and identify the most suitable ways for you to steer clear from these Web crimes. To help you out – Here are some of the most prevalent types of Internet fraud this year:

Common Types of Online Scams in 2017

1. Ransomware & Tech Support Fraud – These online scams are targeted at both younger users and those in their senior years. That’s because a lot of younger users tend to heavily rely on their mobile devices and computers for their day-to-day activities, while many senior users aren’t usually familiar with technical stuff, thereby making them susceptible to technical Internet fraud.

These online scams involve two main components. These include a distribution system for malicious applications and a group of scammers posing as tech support agents of popular household tech brands like Microsoft, Apple, Google and Facebook among others.

This distribution system is usually a set of websites, online tools, popular applications and digital content like movies and songs that have been tampered and injected with malicious code. These are published and shared all over the Internet. Once a user installs or downloads these infected materials, a pop-up message box will display in the screens of their compromised devices each time they open their Web browsers. That’s the first phase of these online scams.

These pop-up messages are integrated with scare rhetoric and fake urgency claims. They are designed to force users into calling a phone number to request for tech support services from qualified agents of popular tech companies. What most of them don’t know is that these are scammers just posing as tech support specialists who are working directly for the authors of these malicious applications. This is the second phase of these online scams, and unsuspecting users are forced to pay a hefty sum of money in exchange for removing the malicious application in their devices.

2. Online Dating Fraud – Another type of extortion scheme on the Web, these online scams are designed to trick users into engaging in intimate conversations with scammers who pose as legitimate users of popular dating sites and apps. These are targeted at both younger users and middle-aged married men and women.

Once unsuspecting users have been baited by these online scams, the authors of these fraudulent Internet dating schemes threaten to publish recordings and snapshots of their chat conversations all over the Internet. Some threaten to directly send these materials to their parents, lovers, other relatives, employer and friends. Of course, they’re asking for money in exchange for their silence.

However, many users who have fallen for these online scams claim that these materials were still published on the Web and sent to their family, employers and friends even after they’ve complied with the ransom demand. This gives better leverage to the scammer in terms of asking more money, according to some cyber security specialists.

These are the two most prevalent online scams that are targeted at younger generations this 2017. You can be instantly updated about new forms of Internet fraud when you sign up at BigScammers.Com. You’ll receive these fraud alerts straight in your email inbox, which gives you the opportunity to quickly recognize and stay away from similar scams on the Web.

Common Types of Online Fraud in the USA This Year

Online fraud continues to evolve and keep at pace with the changing habits of users and their day-to-day activities on the Web. Scammers and organized crime groups know that they need to make their tactics and schemes more suitable to the current habits, devices, software programs and activities of their intended victims, in order to lure more unsuspecting users to their cyber traps.

For example, when large numbers of people around the globe started using mobile devices and hanging out in the mobile Web, scammers designed their tactics and schemes for committing online fraud to target the most popular mobile devices, apps and operating system (OS) versions. In addition, when social media platforms became a craze across massive groups of users worldwide, fraudsters designed their malicious technologies, fake offers, promotional materials and tactics to best suit their target victims in the most widely used social media sites and apps.

If you regularly use your mobile device to hang out in your favorite social media platforms like Facebook, InstaGram and Twitter among others, then you must educate yourself about the newest types of online fraud that are targeted at these social media sites and apps. You also need to update yourself about the current tactics and schemes that are being used by fraudsters and organized criminal groups now for their Web scams, malware distribution operations and the like.

When you sign up at BigScammers.Com, you’ll get alerts and updates whenever a victim posts a Web scam complaint or files a Web crime report in the user-generated content repository of this Internet community. You’ll also get helpful comments, pieces of advice, tips and guides to avoid online fraud, which are shared by cyber security experts and online privacy specialists in this Web platform.

This can allow you to recognize certain tactics, schemes and materials on the Web that could potentially be components of online fraud. You’ll be able to avoid these Web scams before it’s too late. To start you out on the right foot, here are some of the most prevalent online scams as recently reported by many users worldwide in BigScammers.Com:

Most Prevalent Types of Online Fraud This Year

1. Phishing Scams – According to RSA FraudAction, 120 new phishing attacks were created and sent out each hour on average last year. Out of these 120 phishing attacks, 60% were targeted at American users, and 60% also came within certain states and cities in the USA. This online fraud is mainly designed to commit identity theft by tricking victims into giving away their sensitive details, personal information, financial account credentials and other confidential documents.

2. Tech Support Scams – A variant of ransomware, this online fraud is mainly an extortion scheme that’s designed to scare users into paying considerable amounts of money for fake tech support subscription services. Scammers pose as official tech support agents of household tech company brands like Microsoft, Google, Apple and Facebook among others. Their target victims call them when they see the pop-up messages that are displayed in the screens of their compromised devices each time they open their Web browsers.

This happens when malicious applications infect the user’s device. These are distributed by the authors of this online fraud all over the Internet, mostly in illegitimate content download platforms with copyrighted products and through tampered versions of popular software products. Fake websites that look exactly like popular websites are also used to carry out these malware infections – These fake sites are injected with covert auto download functions.

These are some of the most prevalent types of online fraud today in the USA. Check out BigScammers.Com to learn more.