1. Never send money via telegraphic transfer to someone you don't
know personally
Facilities such as Western Union are untraceable. They are designed to send
money to people you know personally, such as family and friends. If you
unwittingly send one to a scammer, you will never see your money again.
2. Emails can be easily faked, are untraceable and generally don't
require any form of ID to acquire.
Beware of name@yahoo.com, hotmail.com,
btinternet.com etc. or other general domain email addresses. They require no
proof of identity to establish and should NOT be regarded as a valid identity
without further assurance.
3. Telephone numbersbeginning 070 can be routed to anywhere in the
world!
Though they look like mobile numbers, they are designated for "Personal
numbering", allowing calls to be routed to almost any other number including
international numbers. They can be used for a genuine purpose, for instance
where an advertiser does not wish their home number to appear in a newspaper but
this also makes them ideal for fraudsters.
Always ask for a fixed landline
number or at least a mobile number if you are looking for a genuine
transaction.
4. Cheques never actually clear!
Even after funds have appeared in your account, the money can be recalled
years later if the cheque is stolen or fraudulent. This is the basis of the most
common and most frequently successful scam. Often referred to as the overpayment
scam because the first request is for a 'cleared' overpayment to be returned by
Western Union. If you are suckered into this the next request is for the return
of all funds because of a change of heart or family disaster. Don't do it. It is
your money not theirs that is being requested!
5. Read emails very carefully, often you can tell from their first
email that someone is a scammer.
There are often many clues/giveaways in there. They will often misspell
common English names and/or mistakenly put a surname as the Christian name or
vice versa. Sometimes they get the item wrong eg. 'your motorbike' when you are
selling a caravan. It is also common for a respondent to ask you for the 'Final
Price' of your item - a sure sign
that theyare sending the same generic
email to many people. Suspect any email that offers to buy an expensive item
'sight unseen'. Beware any email where the level of literacy/English/punctuation
changes dramatically after the first response. In some places scammers can buy
a generic first response but then have to do the rest themselves.
6. Expect tantrums or guilt trips if you don't play it their
way.
There is no need to feel threatened or guilty, they are almost certainly
based outside the
and are only trying to scare you into going along with the
scam. This is especially true of Dating Site scams. They will play with any
emotion to get your money.
7. Don't let temptation/tempting offers cloud your
judgement
The old saying has never been truer - If something sounds too good to be
true, it usually is!
Source: http://netcred.co.uk |