The Internet community ... Is it a scammer's paradise?
By Esoteric1
@Esoteric1 (863)
Canada
April 18, 2008 10:44am CST
The Internet can be a dangerous place, and there are more and more ways to be scammed while using it. Many have lost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Some have lost their homes and or property, and others still have lost their families or even their life as a result of being the victim of a fraud ed or a scam. The scams are numerous and diverse in their methods. To name a few there are page jacking, phising, some paid to sites for taking surveys or surfing the net or reading emails. A lot of MLM's are scams even if you do get paid as most of the people at the bottom do not. Or maybe you received an email from a Nigerian prince you've never heard of? Like I said they are too many to name or number them all ... What I want to know is have you or anyone that you know been scammed on the internet? Do you fear being scammed? What do you do to protect yourself?
1 person likes this
5 responses
@zweeb82 (5653)
• Malaysia
21 Apr 08
Well, when I 1st started selling on eBay, I was helping a friend to sell off his cellphone. It was priced at RM600++. I think I received a letter from a Nigerian that said he needed it urgently & he would pay me triple if I would send it to him a.s.a.p. Well, being a rookie seller.....OF COURSE I READ THROUGH THE RULES. HAhaha!~ My nature is as such - cautious & thank God I'm not greedy. I checked out the forums & read that people got scammed & all that. Then I received another exact same email in a few days time ;) I reported to eBay & got those 2 guys kicked out. I've received lotterys / lucky draw / lotto emails & all those sorts. Even from so clled "Microsoft as well, haha. Well, being the cheeky me I sent in some particulars & also asked Microsoft about whether they had these kinds of competition. Well, I 'm from Malaysia & these crooks even call up from Holland, or whatever country - you name it they have it. There was once I received an email that said I won 2.2 Million Euros. But the catch was I must pay a bla bla bla fee for the lawyers 2 procedd & they even called me. Crazy fellas. I told them to deduct it from my total amount since I won so much. Duh, they couldn't do that. Well, I played along & let them call a few more times & waste their $$ on international calls, haha :Þ
@Esoteric1 (863)
• Canada
24 Apr 08
I am glad that you did not fall for these ploys and tactics. I like how you handled the on saying you won 2.2 million euros, I wish I could have heard your conversation sounds like it would have been funny to hear there desperation to try to get you to deal with them. I especially like that you made them waste their money in long distance, Hope they had a good long distance plan lol, serves em right.
They called twice trying to coax me. I guess the plan was to even get that amount of $$ is enough to cover their phone call charges - well that got nothing from me & I guess they gave up
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
19 Apr 08
no I have never been scammed, I alway go by the motto, if it sounds to good to be true it usually is. As you know I also check to see if a company emails me, if there are any complaints about that company.
However having said all that my first book was published by an iffy publisher at best so even though it is not a scam it is still borderline.
1 person likes this
@Esoteric1 (863)
• Canada
21 Apr 08
Good way to live! and yeah that publisher was fishy to say the least, I'm sure you could have sold more books than you were credited for selling. Oh well , live and learn ... thanks for the response.
@stephcjh (38473)
• United States
22 Sep 08
I think the internet community is full of scammers. there are very few legit sites on the internet anymore. It is awful but it is the truth.
@Esoteric1 (863)
• Canada
21 Apr 08
That is so true, there are risks with any technological advancement we can think of. guess there is a down side and an up side to everything.
@Chispa514 (871)
• Montreal, Quebec
19 May 08
To protect myself I never register for websites under my real name. I always use my nickname, that helps a little bit. The only time I ever register using my real name is for something like Paypal or Ebay, you know, sites I know that I can trust. Most of the time, when i'm talking to strangers on one of my IM programs, I don't tell them my real name untill I've been talking to them for awhile and feel like I can trust them, and even then, I never give out my last name.
