Brief Introduction
What are Internet Scams? How do they hurt us? Do they have an affect on society or on individuals? The easy definition to Internet Scams is basically taking advantage of someone, whether its identity theft through stealing personal information regarding their National ID or their credit card etc. It is found everywhere in the world. The reason why it is so common is due to the society's rapid change in interaction and social life. Everything in life whether its business or social life, it requires the internet in some form. Many people are prone to internet scams due to the internet. The internet is a vast network that exchanges a wide range of information. It connects all PC's to each other which makes it easier for scams to occur.
Forms and Examples
Forms of internet scams vary. One form is Purchase Frauds. Purchase Frauds require the bank account along with the details of the account (codes). Some people are also worried about giving their security number to hotels, travel planners, and many more. Their security numbers are usually found on the back of their credit card (3-digit number). This, in return, would give the person involved the ability to use the credit card for any online transactions. There is a big difference between a scam and an internet scam. A perfect example of a scam is the Ponzi Scheme which "is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to its investors from their own money or the money paid by subsequent investors, rather than from profit earned by the individual or organization running the operation." A real example of Internet Scams is the Nigerian Scam, AKA the 419.
We all received emails from a wealthy unknown person from Nigeria regarding a small unskilled task that the victim would do. In return, the victim would get a "large payments". There is a common scam in which a woman in Africa wanted to put in millions of dollars into a "good church" after her husband had died. She would take the money of his estate and "invest it".People are prone to their senses and sometimes it gets the better of them. The task for the victims would include "endless legal and other fees" that must be paid. In which in return, they would offer a large cut. This does not happen and the more money you put in, the more they will try to take every single penny from your account.
Solutions
Many governments have moved swiftly to monitor these scams and it has been proven successful in most cases. The internet is so vast that it makes it almost impossible to track most scams, but as time progresses, its becoming more and more likely to stop due to improvements in anti-virus programs, browser detection, and tracking.
Opinion
I honestly believe that scams are easily detected from the majority of people. They are usually sent to the junk mail in most emails. The 419 is just the tip of the iceberg. Scams are now usually found on social websites due to the large advertisements. The more we learn about scams, our awareness will increase as a result. This, in return, would make a dramatic decrease in scam victims. We cannot stop it, but we can certainly avoid it.
For more information, visit the pages listed below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_fraud
http://www.scambusters.org
http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/scamsandidentitytheft/ss/top10inetscams.htm
What are Internet Scams? How do they hurt us? Do they have an affect on society or on individuals? The easy definition to Internet Scams is basically taking advantage of someone, whether its identity theft through stealing personal information regarding their National ID or their credit card etc. It is found everywhere in the world. The reason why it is so common is due to the society's rapid change in interaction and social life. Everything in life whether its business or social life, it requires the internet in some form. Many people are prone to internet scams due to the internet. The internet is a vast network that exchanges a wide range of information. It connects all PC's to each other which makes it easier for scams to occur.
Forms and Examples
Forms of internet scams vary. One form is Purchase Frauds. Purchase Frauds require the bank account along with the details of the account (codes). Some people are also worried about giving their security number to hotels, travel planners, and many more. Their security numbers are usually found on the back of their credit card (3-digit number). This, in return, would give the person involved the ability to use the credit card for any online transactions. There is a big difference between a scam and an internet scam. A perfect example of a scam is the Ponzi Scheme which "is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to its investors from their own money or the money paid by subsequent investors, rather than from profit earned by the individual or organization running the operation." A real example of Internet Scams is the Nigerian Scam, AKA the 419.
We all received emails from a wealthy unknown person from Nigeria regarding a small unskilled task that the victim would do. In return, the victim would get a "large payments". There is a common scam in which a woman in Africa wanted to put in millions of dollars into a "good church" after her husband had died. She would take the money of his estate and "invest it".People are prone to their senses and sometimes it gets the better of them. The task for the victims would include "endless legal and other fees" that must be paid. In which in return, they would offer a large cut. This does not happen and the more money you put in, the more they will try to take every single penny from your account.
Solutions
Many governments have moved swiftly to monitor these scams and it has been proven successful in most cases. The internet is so vast that it makes it almost impossible to track most scams, but as time progresses, its becoming more and more likely to stop due to improvements in anti-virus programs, browser detection, and tracking.
Opinion
I honestly believe that scams are easily detected from the majority of people. They are usually sent to the junk mail in most emails. The 419 is just the tip of the iceberg. Scams are now usually found on social websites due to the large advertisements. The more we learn about scams, our awareness will increase as a result. This, in return, would make a dramatic decrease in scam victims. We cannot stop it, but we can certainly avoid it.
For more information, visit the pages listed below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_fraud
http://www.scambusters.org
http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/scamsandidentitytheft/ss/top10inetscams.htm
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