Scams are increasing at an exponential rate as con artists come up with new ways to lure people into falling for their scams. Scammers do go with their traditional ways, but as the youth are aware of most of the old tips and tricks, now they target the older generation more.
Still, they have many new ways to make the younger generation fall for scams. The con artists play smartly and understand the users properly; they target the youth on social media with various honey traps, and as the younger generation cannot differentiate between fraud and legitimacy, they fancy their chances and give it a try and eventually end up being defrauded.
But if you are defrauded and your money is stolen, you can seek help and try to get your funds back. There are law enforcement firms, which are governmental bodies, that will assist you in recovering your funds, and there are firms like fund recovery firms that provide financial fund recovery services with higher priorities. Let’s get into the article further and understand more about financial scams.
7 common financial scams
1. Ponzi
Ponzi scams are one of the most traditional scams; scammers will come with such a big project that investors start believing and investing anything they ask for. Scammers here ask investors for a particular amount and guarantee them higher returns. They even pay some of the returns to the investors with the money of old investors, thus gaining the trust of old investors.
Slowly, the con artist will collect a good amount of funds and shut down the project. The scammer will fly off with all the investors’ funds and will vanish in no time. In such a scam, recovering your funds becomes difficult as scammers plan each step and it becomes tough to track them.
2. Phishing scam
In phishing scams, in which people are made to give all their valuable information. People are tricked by the scammers as they make a look-alike website or just a front end that looks so legit compared to any financial website that anyone can fall for that scam.
People receive multiple emails from their banks or some other financial institute raising some issues, but that is actually sent by some con artist. The email will panic the user and make him click on the link to resolve the issue, and by clicking the link, there are chances that malicious software will get installed in your phone.
Apart from that, the link will redirect you to a phony website, which will look legit and ask you to fill out all the details. In this way, users unintentionally divulge all their personal information, including sometimes their bank information, falling victim to the scam on their own.
3. Romance scam
A romance scam occurs more often, as the con artist will pose as a proper businessperson or an employee from a well-known company in a good position. These are not gender-based scams; scammers can pretend to be female or male on social media to dupe anyone.
Scammers in the romance scam play for a longer period of time, building trust and convincing the victim that the con artist is caring and generous. They will make numerous excuses to meet physically, and once trust has been established, they will ask for money while claiming to be in an emergency situation.
4. Identity theft
Identity theft is a serious crime going on; people face huge losses, and even financial institutions are looted because of the identity theft. A con artist steals personal details, including your social security number and your card details.
They pose as you in front of your bank, and if they have access to your account, they will alter all the ways in which you communicate with your bank. In order to prevent you from receiving any information from the bank, the con artist will change the email address, phone number, and any backup source.
If you observe anything suspicious, like you are not receiving any emails from your bank or there are some extra accounts in your credit report, immediately report it to law enforcement.
5. Credit card scam
Credit card scams are a common practice among con artists. You have heard of wallets being stolen or cards getting stolen; scammers use credit cards instantly to wipe out all the money until you realize all your funds are gone. A con artist generally needs your card details to hack it and wipe out all the funds.
They may open multiple credit card accounts in your name or take out multiple loans and use the entire amount. If the loans are not paid, the bank will be after you.
6. Giveaway Scams
Giveaway scams are another honey trap scam to lure people and steal all of their personal details and funds. On social media, the con artists heavily market their giveaways or contests to attract a younger audience; they make it so obvious that anyone can win such contests or be a part of giveaways, and as the user enters their personal details, every bit of information is sold on the dark web to scam people.
Giveaways will attract you by quoting prices like millions of dollars or sports cars, but it’s just to lure people and make them fall for the scams.
7. Fake Charities
Fake charities have been going on for ages, and at a certain stage, it is impossible to stop such scams because these scammers make people donate funds by rushing them to make quick decisions or by emotionally blackmailing them. At that time, people generally don’t have time to rethink and double-check the charity.
Sometimes these fake charities send you a thank-you card and a statement about the donation you provided a year ago or so, which makes you believe that you are affiliated with some charitable organization and makes you donate some money. If by any chance you promise some money to them, they will instantly provide you with all the details through which you can send them funds, including wire transfers and gift cards. If you don’t transfer at your promised date, they will come to your place to receive the funds.
What can fund recovery services do for you?
Fund recovery companies can help the victim track down the criminal and recover his or her funds. They will assist you until your work is done and help you with every possible fraudulent activity. They are professionals in this field, so they have various tactics to track down the con artist.
When you file a complaint, if the fund recovery organization is a private one, they will contact and cooperate with law enforcement or the local police professionally, sharing all relevant information with them. They have various teams to investigate the fund recovery case.
They will take all necessary measures and keep you updated about the case, and after catching the con artist, the court can give you justice as theft is a punishable crime. But if you don’t cross-check the fund recovery properly, it could turn out to be another scam, and you may lose more money.
Cessation
Winding up the article, please be aware of these scams. We are a part of the digital world now, and scammers utilize every bit of technology to dupe people. These people are working in a more sophisticated manner to look more legit, so you have to be vigilant and try to avoid such honey traps to stay away from scams. If you observe anything suspicious, report it immediately to law enforcement.
