The web is much like the real world. There are good guys and bad guys. Some want to help you and others want to give you a hard time. The only difference, on the web you are shrouded to protect yourself from who you really are, therefore people are not always what they seem to be. Protect yourself from the scam artists running around.
Use your common sense when approaching any strangers online. It is fine to have your defenses up, but you don't have to be obnoxious about it either since being a snob can turn away those who may be out to help you.
If someone makes a claim or offer that sounds outrageous or too good to be true, be cautious! Ask for proof that can be verified. Do not give out your real name, address, phone number, social security number, birthdate or any personal info until you are sure of the person on the other end. Use a search engine to check out any facts that can be verified or compared. Check with the BBB Online to be sure a company is not filled with complaints.
One of the biggest scams going around now is the Nigerian Embassy letter. Basically, they claim they have millions of dollars in Nigeria and they need your help in getting the money out. If you help them, they will give you a large reward - BUT FIRST - you need to give them your name, address, bank information and so on. Bottom line, they will drain your bank account and you will never hear from them again.
Microsoft, Pepsi, Apple, IBM, Budweiser and other companies have been wrongly attached to this following scam. You get an email that claims one of these companies are testing email software and YOU can help the process by forwarding the email to as many people as possible. When the letter gets back to them, they will reward you with money or free products. THINK ABOUT IT!! These are huge companies with much better and cost effective ways to test software. This email is merely a prank to see how many gullible people are out there. Sooner or later, some pranksters will see all the names and email addresses and you will quickly end up on spam lists.
090ISP is a big rip off that was hot last year. If you got an offer for it in your e-mail, disregard the message. You will only end up paying $72 to pay for a domain name which you will never own on a site that is not functional and incapable of making any money that you do not own. In other words, you pay them for nothing in return - literally!
While not a scam, something dangerous is always floating around in the e-mail. The latest one running around claims to want your opinion, just open the attachement. DON'T DO IT!! You will be opening up a worm which will damage your computer.
Be sure to have virus protection software running on your computer. Do not open up attachments to your e-mail unless you both know the person who sent it AND were expecting something from them. [Some virus/worms only appear to be sent from a friend, but it merely copied your friend's address book to send you the e-mail.]
More scams will be added later, so keep checking back for new scams. Another good source to kill these scams is Hoax Kill.
