For the June installment of my 21 In ’21 series, I’ve got a list of 21 scams you may or may not have read about before. Not the typical fare you’d expect from my outdoor office as I enjoy this first day of summer.
However, like in 21 In ’21: Blogs To Discover, 21 in ’21: Instagram Accounts To ❤, 21 in ’21: Delightful Reads, and 21 in ’21: May Flowers, I’ve set out this year to publish a post on the 21st of each month that lists 21 of my top recommendations/favorites/ideas as they relate to that month’s topic. Limiting the list to 21 might seem restrictive in some cases (and I might sneak in a couple extra if necessary) or excessive in others but I like to think of it as an ice-breaker exercise. Or a conversation starter regarding scams to avoid that you’ve read or heard about recently.
Generally speaking, a scam is a dishonest scheme or fraud intended to get something of value from an unsuspecting person. While con artists have often been romanticized in movies as modern-day Robinhoods, the truth of the matter is that those with the most modest of means are usually the most vulnerable to scams. It’s as easy to be suspicious of everyone as it is to believe that people have only the best of intentions. Knowing the hallmark signs of scams and what red flags to look for can save you a lot of grief (and money, too).
I’ve touched on the topic of scams in a couple of previous posts and in both, the scams were related to Instagram. In the first one, Instagram: Guidelines For Safety, I shared about an Instagrammer who had lost her account to a hacker in an email phishing scam. Romance scams were the focus in the second post, Instagram: A Cautionary Tale About Scams. Besides email phishing scams and preying on the lovelorn, the social engagement that’s integral to Instagram makes the platform a fraudster’s playground. According to this article on Yahoo Finance, other types of scams on IG to watch for are;
Fake brand accounts
Offers of free followers/likes
Money flipping/investment opportunities
Fake giveaways
Bogus invitations for brand collaborations
Worthless courses
DM phishing
Phony claims of brand ambassadorship
Quite a list so far, don’t you agree? And those are just the ones you might come across on Instagram. Modern technology has made it even easier than ever for scammers to get people to send them money or unknowingly divulge personal information that can be used to access accounts. With the internet, scams are high-profit low investment enterprises that don’t require any direct communication to be effective.
As detailed in an article on Investopedia.com, many scams tapped into common concerns related to current social and/or financial issues. Included among these are;
COVID-19 online scams
Disaster relief scams
Tech support scams
Fake antivirus software
Travel insurance scams
Grandparent scams
Advance fee scams
Pre-approved notice
Debt relief/credit repair scams
Lottery scam
Fake check/money transfer
Fictitious shopping websites
Another well-known scam making the rounds is the extortion email. You know, the one where the author claims to have your email password and has implanted a virus on your computer that has given them access to your naughty porn site viewing. Also, they recorded as you watched videos and pleasured yourself. The email, which can look like it was sent from your account (it wasn’t), includes a demand for payment in cryptocurrency to avoid the embarrassment of having the recording sent to the family and friends in your contacts. To be honest, I was a bit shook when I came across the first of these emails. But, a dozen or so later, I just laugh as I send them to the trash folder.
If you’ve counted up the scams listed so far, I’ve already hit 21 but there are still more that you’ll want to avoid. A few of the ones on the FBI website page on Common Scams and Crimes that I haven’t listed yet are credit card fraud, healthcare fraud, bogus cosmetics/”anti-aging” products, and ATM skimmers.
So how can you protect yourself and your pocketbook? Firstly, take any contact or unsolicited offer with a grain of salt and do some research. Remember that the internet is not the enemy, the scammers are; it can be your best ally. For example, this past weekend I got an email from a person that themselves as a marketing representative from an Italian watch company. The email was addressed to me by name and seemed well written so I was intrigued enough to look up the company. (I always do a search for a company’s website rather than click on any links in an email.) Sure enough, one of the suggested searches was “[company name] scams”. I found several reports of the company only offers its “brand representatives” a discount to buy its watches. This is a “collaboration” offer I’ll be declining.
What else can you do? I encourage you to look at the websites I’ve noted as references in this post because they have a lot of tips on how to recognize a scam and suggestions on how to protect yourself. It is smart to take the time to look carefully at messages for anything that looks odd like spelling or grammar errors, weird requests, and feigned urgency. Avoid clicking on any link from a sender you don’t know and be extremely wary of vague and generic messages or requests for sensitive information. If you’re still unsure, run it past a trusted friend or family to get their opinion before you take any action. These are just a few ways to limit your vulnerability. Most importantly, there’s no shame in verifying the authenticity of anyone trying to contact you.
Wrapping up on the subject of scams to avoid, were there any on my list that you hadn’t heard of before? Have you heard of any others that I didn’t include above? And, one last question … how are you doing now that five months and 21 days have already passed in 2021?
Stay well and let’s keep in touch! Subscribe, tweet, follow, friend, pin … all options are available. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
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Note: This is an unsponsored post; however, some or all of the links to clothing items are associated with an affiliate program where I earned a few cents for each click.
20 Comments
I keep getting scamming phonecalls. I do not answer any numbers I do not know. Sometimes they leave messages telling me someone has been using my PPS number and I need to phone them back. I ignore.
Hilda, scamming phone calls are so annoying. I also don’t answer calls from numbers I don’t recognize. In fact, I use the setting on my smartphone that sends calls from numbers not in my contacts directly to voicemail.
I’ve heard of most of these. I get the IRS scam calls as well as the there’s a warrant for your arrest about once or twice a year too.
http://www.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com
Mirelle, I get those phone calls too. They are also a little unsettling at first but now I have calls that are not in my contact list sent directly to voicemail.
This is such a great post! Thanks for putting this together and sharing! I know I’ve gotten quite a few texts about Covid relief funds that I ‘have yet to claim.’ Insert eye roll. It’s sad how many people prey on others.
Laura, isn’t just amazing what people will do to make money off the fear of others?
Thanks for sharing about these 21 scams! Really helpful. Wonderful Post! Have a great day!
Rampdiary | Fineartandyou | Beautyandfashionfreaks
You’re welcome. I’m glad that you liked the post.
Great post, Rena! I have been getting repeated emails saying that my account was charged for my annual Norton Antivirus protection to the tune of like $400 or something. The first one made me check my bank account but I never clicked any links in the email, of course! Then I started getting a few of the same email every week and now I laugh as I send it to the trash folder. Another one I get often is that Paypal has locked my account until I pay a fee. I used to report them to Paypal all the time, but it got tedious and annoying. Now I just trash those invoices as well. Another one I get is confirmation of huge Amazon purchases that I never made. Again, I don’t click on anything and there are no unauthorized purchases in my Amazon account. So those are all ones to look out for as well and never click the links in the messages!
Shelbee
http://www.shelbeeontheedge.com
Shelbee, ya I didn’t even get to all the obviously spammy emails. I have a couple of email accounts for different purposes which helps to limit and isolate the junk.
I do think the scams have risen lately. I guess a sign of more desperate times. We get phone calls from the ‘tax office’ threatening to take us to court. Which is not how it would work if the ATO was going to launch an investigation into you. It still makes my heart race every time I get it. But you just hang up…#AnythingGoes
Lydia, with all the internet-based scams, I didn’t get a chance to cover the phone-based ones but the basics are similar, aren’t they? Spammy phone calls certainly are super annoying.
Lots of these going around these days, way too many or variants to count. Our home phone is basically a telemarketer/scam caller answering machine!! I haven’t answered that phone or even looked at the caller ID in years!! Hubby insists we keep it in case our cell phones suddenly don’t work…go figure! Thanks so much for linking up with me at the Unlimited Link Party 29. Pinned!
Dee, my husband convinced me to not install a landline when we move to our last home about 7 years ago. I was very skeptical about only having our cell phones but it worked out ok. Most of the calls on the old home phone had been telemarketers anyway.
There seems to be more scams now since the start of the pandemic – maybe because people have been at home more and shopping online more. I almost got caught out by one a few months ago – a caller pretending to be from my credit card company said someone had tried to buy a Louis Vuitton bag on my account and they needed a code to stop the transaction. Stupidly I read out the code sent via SMS because I was busy at work and about to go on air with the evening news programme. I immediately rang the number on my card and got it stopped but that caused problems when I needed to hire a car that weekend because they wouldn’t accept a bank card. It makes me so mad that these people cause so much distress and inconvenience!
Emma xxx
http://www.style-splash.com
Emma, I’m so sorry to hear that you had to go through that. I think that scammers count on catching people at a busy time when they’ll be distracted and more likely to react quickly rather than cautiously. I think that the grandparent scams are the worst of the lot because they truly prey on peoples fears.
YOu’ve compiled a list of such valuable info. The list is so long! I too check out the websites (if they even have one) wen I get an email like that- I never ever open the link. Thanks for this post!
I keep getting so many scams too. From emails to phone call. Great post to raise awareness. Thanks for linking up to Creative Mondays #CreativeMondaysLinkUp
There is also crazy Amazon scams going on lately. Horrible. Thanks for this post.
I was glad when we decided not to install a landline phone in our new house – I mean we have the internet through it but we don’t have a phone plugged in, everyone just contacts us on our mobiles. It means we aren’t immune to scams, but it does mean that we get far less. My phone tells me when a number is a possible scam too although not always when it first rings – it can be frustrating but it’s at the point now where if they don’t answer the first time I say hello I know it’s a scammer waiting to check it’s not voicemail before they launch into their thing and so I hang up and block!
Thanks so much for joining the #WeekdayWearLinkup! Hope you are having a good weekend 🙂 Going to be a fun day here!
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