The majority of Internet scammers today see their victims as dumb and greedy people. But the question is, are people really falling victim to internet scams only because they are dumb and greedy?
You can share your thoughts about that in the comment box below. But before that, let us discuss three other most common reasons why many fall victim to internet scammers.
If you adhere to what you are about to read now, you will definitely become a hard nut to crack by internet scammers.
Ignorance is never an excuse for you to be called dumb by someone who stole from you. What you are about to read is not a piece of information to hoard, but one you should share with as many people as possible. Share this blog with friends and family to support us.
The following are common reasons why many fall victims to internet scammers today;
1. Over Trust of Information Source
One thing many fail to realize is that internet scammers also run ads. And that the most trusted of your friends can also be scammed and used as bait for you.
Many have this belief that because the information came from a particular area or person, it must be genuine and should go through no further verification.
Always remember these: that you heard about it from your local radio station doesn’t mean it is genuine.
Also, because a celebrity you love so much or your pastor talked about it on his or her wall online doesn’t mean it is genuine too. It might just be a paid advertisement or that they may have been scammed too.
Because your friend sent you a message about it doesn’t also make it genuine.
And that the email came to your inbox like your bank mail doesn’t mean it is genuine either.
That they have a registered business name or a cooperative bank account doesn’t also mean they are genuine.
Learn to verify the information you get from every source before you give it your financial commitment or give your personal details. Don’t be gullible to information.
Remember, we have so many open-source intelligence tools today. A lot can be known about you and your family through the posts you make on social media.
Don’t be quick to trust those that give you factual information about you or your relatives over the wire. You may be the one that shared the information they are giving you.
Double verification is one way you can unmask internet scammers on social media in the case of information over trust.
2. Ignorance of How to Handle “What-If” State
One thing internet scammers do well is tap into your personal emotions like fear and escalate it so that you won’t have time to fear or scrutinize them.
The first state an internet scammer will enjoy putting you in is in the what-if state. This is a state where your thoughts will go in the direction of; what if what they are saying is true? Or what if they are genuine and you will miss this opportunity?
Let’s assume you received a call from a strange number that your brother or sister is involved in a motor accident (God forbid) and some thousands of dollars are needed for urgent treatment.
The caller is now demanding that if you don’t send the money in the next 20minutes for the doctors to commence treatment, that your relative will die.
Now if you are smart enough, you might drop the call and try to call your brother or sister’s phone number first to confirm. And what if by chance your relatives’ phone line is not connecting?
What will you do? You can share your views on the comment box.
You can now see how they have succeeded in pushing you towards the what-if state smoothly. Your main fear now is no longer whether the caller is genuine or not, but now whether your relative will survive or not. They have increased your fear of not wanting to lose your relative, thereby discarding your fear of them.
Now, let’s assume another scenario where you found a date online and, within some period of you knowing each other, he or she came up with an emergency need that requires urgent attention financially.
Now, he or she is now updating you on how terrible his situations are becoming and how urgent your help is needed.
Therefore, you are now put into an emotional blackmail where your “what if” is growing stronger every second. You will now feel like, What if he or she genuinely needs your help? Or what if you end up losing him for not fulfilling this simple request? What if? What if?.
As your what-if grows, your tendency to fall into the tricks also becomes stronger. This is because you are no longer judging the scammer, but now yourself.
How to handle what-if State
Knowing how to handle your what-if state is a good way to handle internet scams. The first way to handle this is by slowing down the transaction process. This is by learning how to break deadlines with a promise to fulfill the demand.
One weapon internet scammers use is urgency. When it is too urgent, learn to promise fulfillment of the demand but not at the actual time.
Promise to fulfill their demands some minutes, hours, days, or weeks ahead of the stipulated time depending on the situation and observe the caller’s reaction.
If there is a reconsideration of the urgency by the caller, then that is your first red signal. But if there is a failure to accept your time extension, then ignore the situation and decide to miss the deadline time given.
If you receive another call immediately after the deadline time given, then that is another red signal. It shows your caller is deliberately sitting on your case. Then flee for your life.
To be free from internet scammers, you have to guard your emotions. As it is one tool mostly used to work against you.
3. Lack of Observation
Many have been scammed using fake bank alert images or phishing emails. Others with fake photos and accounts.
We are in the era of Photoshop and Deepfake, where images and videos can be turned into whatever we want. Don’t believe every picture or video you see without giving it a second thought.
One of scammers major weapons is urgency, and because of that, they are not always careful about details.
If you are able to observe well and compare details, you will definitely find flaws.
Once you identify a flaw, either a misspelling or change in name on links, be careful. Or you find disjointed storytelling, flee too.
Learn to slow yourself down before making investment decisions online. Once there is much urgency, or is too good to be true and little room for consideration, avoid it.
