Three Online Scams You Must Be Aware Of In 2023
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The internet is great for many reasons but there are also plenty of issues with it. One of those issues is internet scams. They are something that has been on the internet for many years and they are becoming more common.
The current issues regarding the cost of living crisis, it is causing more people to fall for these scams, which results in them losing money. Let’s look at some of the most common internet scams and how to avoid them.
Holiday Booking Scams
Holiday booking scams have seen an increase in recent years due to it being so easy to book a holiday online. Now, you rarely need to see a travel agent as you can book your flights and accommodation using booking.com, hotels.com, AirBnB, SkyScanner and much more. Companies also have their websites where you can book these holidays as well.
Despite the internet making it easier to book a holiday, it is also much easier to get scammed when booking a holiday. Fake advertisements are everywhere and all you need to do is click an advert that isn’t from a legitimate company and book with them. It is so easy to fall for these types of adverts. We advise you not to book through the advert and go to the website directly to avoid being scammed.
Fake Debt Advice
Another scam that you must be wary of is fake debt help. During the current financial crisis, many people are close to debt or already in debt. If you are one of those who is struggling financially and someone has offered you help, you shouldn’t fall for it. It would likely be a scam and you could end up in further trouble.
What these scammers will do is they will reach out to you, offering to work with those whom you are in debt with. However, they will ask for an upfront payment before they start to “reduce your debt” when actually, they will never look to reduce your debt and instead take your money and leave with it.
Investment Scams
Investment scams have become increasingly popular during the cost of living crisis. Scammers have noticed that people are trying to get richer to help pay their rising costs of bills. What they will do is falsely advertise a stock or encourage people to purchase cryptocurrency.
The issue is that many people are unsure how the crypto world works. Scammers will commit this crime by asking you to invest in a stock or crypto coin. That will then increase the share price of that stock or crypto coin. Once enough people have done this, they will then take their investment out so they profit, similar to the GameStop stock scam back in 2021.
Scammers will also ask you to invest in a company which is up for an ICO. They offer you a stake in the company with your investment, claiming that the price of the coin will increase significantly. If you fall for this, you will likely have to look for an investment fraud lawyer to help retrieve some of your losses, if they can retrieve them.
