Most people can’t imagine their lives without the internet these days, but with the benefits such technology brings, it also provides scammers with more opportunities to fool people into parting with thousands of dollars or personal information.

To help you not become an unfortunate scam victim, I’m going to explain some of the most popular scams out there and how to protect yourself.

3 Common types of scams

1. Online shopping/auction scams

When on an online shopping/auction site, certain scammers may sell products that are not actually what is being advertised (such as a cheap imitation) but charge you a large amount that you believe is reasonable. This leads to the product you receive being of poor quality or it’s not sent at all.

2. Online dating scams

One of the most lucrative scams, online dating scams involve a scammer placing a personal ad on a legitimate dating website to lure in unfortunate victims. They’ll typically “fall in love” with their victims quickly and then create an excuse to ask for money from the victims such as, “My daughter is ill and I can’t afford the hospital bills.”

3. ‘Nigerian 419’ scams

These scams are upfront payment or money transfer scams. The reason they’re known as ‘Nigerian 419’ scams is because they originated from Nigeria. The 419 refers to the laws that outlaw such practices in Nigeria. However, these scams can happen in any country.

The victim will receive an email from someone who is willing to offer a "large monetary reward" if the victim helps them transfer some locked-up money by providing an upfront payment or money transfer. Ultimately the victim will lose all the money they provided to the scammers.

General steps to protecting yourself

Regardless of the type of scam, these following rules can be applied to all of them to protect yourself from becoming a victim.

• General rule of thumb - if it’s too good to be true, it probably is
• If you’re buying a product from someone, check their seller reputation. Don’t buy items from questionable sites
• Don’t provide details such as your credit card information to any site or anyone that you are suspicious of
• If you receive an email from an unknown source and it looks like spam, don’t open it. Mark it as spam and delete it
• Under no circumstances should you ever provide a complete stranger or someone you don't truly know with any information that could allow them to steal money or your identity from you
• If you find out something is a scam before you’ve shared any sensitive information, report the scam and separate yourself from the situation
• No matter how much an online dating scammer begs and pleads for you to send money, don’t believe them - it is part of their strategy to try and manipulate your emotions
• A stranger that says you can get a whole lot of money from transferring money for them is lying

When all is said and done, scammers are typically after any information that will allow them to steal money off you. So keep those details safe. Sites such as SCAMwatch provide in depth information on a large number of different scams and how to protect yourself.

Have any scam stories or tips for people to protect themselves? Share in the comments below.

* Image sources:

• chanpipat / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
• nuttakit / FreeDigitalPhotos.net