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Popular Internet Identity Theft
Scams
There are a number of ways identity theft
occurs. A thief may steal your mail or dig through your
trash. They might find a lost wallet or purse. They could
even hack into a company computer to get the information.
With the internet quickly becoming a large source of
business, shopping, and communication, thieves are
finding more and more ways to get your information.
Internet scams are a major source of identity theft.
Everyday unsuspecting people get conned out of personal
information. If you want to avoid becoming a victim, then
read this list of the most popular internet
scams.
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Nigerian Scam- This scam takes on
many forms. The person involved is usually
from a foreign country and needs you to
transfer a large amount of money into your
bank account. They say that if you’ll do this,
you can keep a certain amount of the money as
profit. This scam is still circulating because
it works. Several people have lost thousands
of dollars from this scam. Don’t trust anyone
who emails you asking to move, hold, or loan
them money. It’s always a scam.
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Lottery/Sweepstakes Scam- The lottery
scam involves you getting an email from
someone, usually impersonating a foreign
government employee. They’ll tell you that you
have won the Canadian lottery. All you have to
do is verify your information and collect your
winnings. Any reputable lottery is not going
to send you notification that you’ve won a
large sum of money by email. The sweepstake
scam is also an email sent to you by an
impersonator. They will even use the names of
well known companies like Shell gas stations
to try to fool you. As with the lottery,
they’ll say you won a sweepstakes and you need
to verify your information. As a rule, if you
haven’t entered the lottery or sweepstakes,
you can’t win, so do not reply to these scams
at all.
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Free Gift Scam- These scammers may
send you an email or even place an ad on a
website. They’ll offer you a free gift and all
you have to do is pay the shipping. You give
them your credit card information for the
shipping to supposedly get the gift. Of course
the gift never gets shipped, and you lose a
lot more money than the shipping costs. A
reputable company offering a free gift will
never require you to enter your credit card
information to receive it.
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Help Wanted Ad Scam- Identity thieves
will often post ads on help wanted sites. They
will post a fake job offer in order to get an
application for you. This application will
include your name, address, and other personal
information they can use. Some applications
will also require that you give them your SSN
for a credit check. Do not ever put this on an
application. You can just state that you’ll
give it in person.
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Phishing Scam- This scam is where
you’ll be contacted by a supposed company to
update your account. Identity thieves have
used names like PayPal and eBay to get
information from people. They will send you an
email stating that they need to update the
information on your account. They may even
send you to a realistic looking website to do
so. If you ever have a question about this,
contact the company directly to ask if this is
something they do. Often times, reputable
companies will list scams involving their name
on the website.
Every day, new scams are being created. The best
rule of thumb is to not give any personal information to
a company that you didn’t contact yourself. There is no
company that is going to contact you and ask for your SSN
or other details. Make sure you never reply to these
emails or click on the links. If you do come across a
scam you can contact the Internet Crime Complaint Center
and let them know. You should also try to warn people
that you know about common scams so they can protect them
selves.
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