Online Scams and How to Avoid Them

Chapter one: The charity con artist.

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Emily a dental student just concluded her project and was waiting to do her school clearance, so she could get her certificate. One day, while surfing the net, she came across a medical outreach from a charity organization. There objective was to give free medical aid to students and road traffic workers. So they drop their “links and number” for voluntary donation.

Emily, saw this as a learning opportunity and quickly called them. They initially refused but Emily was persistent and it paid off. They told her to come a day before the outreach for the screening exercise. When she arrived she noticed something was off about the place but before she could react it was already too late. She was forced at gun point to transfer all she has in her bank and then collected her phone.

She ran to the nearest station to report what had happened but by the time the police got there, they had left. The police did some little digging with the “donation link”, only to find out that the story those scammers copied was from a legitimate charity page owned by @huzaifanaveed1 and their “donation link” was a fraud to dupe innocent people of their money.

Chapter 2: Online market scam.

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Is been a month, Emily has been able to raise money for a new phone because it has really been frustrating for her this past few weeks. Thank God for her laptop, it really helped out during her school clearance. One evening, while scrolling through her favorite online marketplace, one of the latest iPhone caught her attention. The offer was half the price.

She was so excited, that it got the best of her and without thinking, she hastily clicked "Buy Now." For two weeks, she hadn’t received her order and became suspicious. She tried placing a call through to the seller but it wasn’t reachable. she’d fallen again for a classic online marketplace scam. For 3 months she has been crying her eyes out. Out of pity her dad bought her a phone on her birthday.

(Lesson learned: Always check seller reviews and ratings before making a purchase)

Chapter 3: Advance Fee Fraud/ job scam

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Emily was so broke and was tired of asking her parents for money, so she decided to go for job hunting. She got in contact with a friend, who gave her a site for remote jobs. Skeptical due to her previous experience, she finally applied and received a job offer to resume work in a week time with a mouthwatering salary. However, the company required a "processing fee" upfront.

Something felt off, but the promise of a dream job clouded her judgment. She thought of how she could raise this money. Then a crazy idea crossed her mind. She pretended to be very sick in front of her parents and demanded money for treatment. As soon as they gave her the money, she transferred it to her employers and that was the last time she heard from them. Emily fainted for real this time and she was rushed to the hospital by her parents.

(Lesson learnt: no genuine company will ask you to pay for upfront before giving you a job. Verify job offers by researching the company and contacting them directly)

Chapter 4: The Phishing links

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Emily was surprised to see herself in the hospital taking drip. The doctor told her she was rushed to the hospital by her parents as a result of high blood pressure. Next to her was also a Brian. Luckily, he’s a tech expert, who happened to be on bed rest as well. They became friends and she told him, the ordeal she has been passing through and the real reason she collapsed. Brian promised to get her a job and he came true to his word.

Months later, Emily and Brian became close friends, and he educated her on the different scam techniques online. One morning, Emily received a distress email from her bank, warning her of an unauthorized transaction and insisting she click the link provided in the email to stop it. Just before clicking, a thought stopped her. She recollected Brian’s advice about “phishing link”, and hurriedly called her account officer. They assured her, that her account was safe and they never sent her any mail. Emily narrowly escaped this time.

Chapter 5: Romance Scam

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Emily have developed soft spot for Brian but he was too engrossed with his work to even notice it. She decided to chat up with a guy who has a striking resemblance of her crush, Chris brown. The guy has been in her inbox for a long time but her phobia for the internet won’t make her respond to him. Well, they got talking and she fell in love with him, giving Brian less attention. Brian checked up on the guy, out of jealousy and told Emily that her crush is a fraudster, she didn’t believe. It didn’t take long, when her supposed Chris brown got into financial challenges and was asking her for a loan.

She wanted to help the new love of her life but her mind kept recollecting stories of romance scam and demanded to do a video call with him , he declined, coming up with unnecessary excuses and that triggered a red flag. She called to tell Brian everything. Brian took her phone to his boss @michaelangelo3, a tech guru. Michael Angelo was able to track the guys location and real number. Emily took the information to the police and they instructed her to play along by sending him the loan. So, they could have evidence to nail him.

She did as instructed and as expected, he blocked her. Unfortunately, the guy had met his match. Brian and Emily alongside with the police raided the con artist house and arrested 20 of this internet fraud syndicate. The first guy who stole her phone was among them.

Conclusion

Emily’s encounter with internet fraudsters made her a tech savvy and very vigilant in order to bring down more crime syndicates.
She shared her stories with family and friends, emphasizing on these key points:

• Always be mindful how you share personal information.
• Always verify mail, links, phone calls, job offers, to know how authentic and genuine they are.
• Report scams.