The scam on the Internet is a type of fraud that anyone can face. The various tricks and illegal schemes that exist today on the World Wide Web, simply can not be counted. And even the fact that the Russian authorities have recently been trying to take control of the Internet space, alas, cannot completely protect you from scammers. According to official information, about 14 thousand crimes occur on the Internet per year. However, this is only 30% of all cases. Unfortunately, most of the robbed people are not in a hurry to contact the police.
I was deceived, let others fall
It so happened that we are not used to reporting crime to the police. Well, I got on a scam on the Internet, sent someone 5 thousand rubles. All the same, they will not be returned, so it makes no sense to contact law enforcement agencies. Thousands of our citizens think so. And some are even simply trite afraid to be ridiculed. As a result, only scammers will benefit from this. They see that for their actions punishment does not come, and their hands from this are untied even more.
At the same time, an unwritten law applies to our people: they robbed me, even if they deceive others, I'm not the only one such a sucker. While we adhere to this principle, Internet scammers will never stop and will only come up with new types of fraud and scams. Even if the prospect that the money will be returned to you is rather vague, it’s still worth writing a statement to the police . In this way, you can help other people not to be deceived, and the offender - quite possibly - will suffer a deserved punishment.
How to calculate a scammer?
Usually Internet criminals are sure to leave traces. Sometimes it’s not difficult to find a cheater. Of course, there are real pros who are almost impossible to calculate, but there are only a few of them. No need to think that in the Internet space it is pointless to fight for your rights. Many people start to panic after being scammed by Internet scammers. Where to go in this case? And to seek help, as has already been said, it is necessary in the police. For law enforcement officials, it makes no difference where the crime occurred: on offline space or on the Internet. Such acts are also subject to the Criminal Code.
The most common lures
Human nature is incorrigible - each of us has a thirst for easy money. But only one understands that without making an effort or investing serious capital, it is impossible to achieve big earnings. But, unfortunately, there are always those who think that offers from unknown individuals to break the jackpot, while doing virtually nothing at the same time - this is pure truth. And the easiest way to fool this category of people, of course, on the Internet. There are currently a million types of scams with the most intricate schemes. Internet fraudsters are becoming more sophisticated and more cautious every year, so it’s becoming more and more difficult for even the most reasonable person not to fall for their bait.
Let's try to give the most common methods of "divorce" on the World Wide Web.
- Online casinos.
- One-day sites.
- Magic wallets of Yandex.
- Nigerian letters.
- Scam to send money.
As already mentioned, there are much more ways to deflate a certain amount from the population, but these 5 are the most famous in our time. Recently, scams such as fraud at online auctions, employment services in international companies for money, etc. are also known.
What is our life? The game!
The Internet is strewn with various online casinos and slot machines, like stars. More than 85 thousand Russians are trying to win on such resources. Some even think that online casinos can be turned into a permanent job. But this is far from the case. Such Internet earnings are rather doubtful, if not fatal.
Yes, some people at first manage to win some 10-20 dollars in such casinos, but then they simply lose and go to a big minus. Do not fall for different lessons like: “How to cheat a casino” or “How to make money in a casino”. Understand that even if only 10% of the players won $ 100 per day, the casino would go bankrupt in a week. Their goal is to pump out as much money from you as possible, and that’s it! Do not trust any people who claim to earn up to $ 300 in online games. Usually such personalities are also part of the tricks of the casino. As a result, if such a person attracts people to a certain resource, he will receive dividends for each loss.
Dance, you letter from Nigeria!
Another rather stupid, but, oddly enough, effective scam on the Internet is the so-called Nigerian letters. According to statistics, every hundredth person falls on such a bait. This type of deception was named after the country where this bait was invented. Such a scam was used even before the advent of the Internet; ordinary letters were simply sent to the victims. And with the advent of the World Wide Web, scams generally began to grace. The essence of the "divorce" is this: you receive an email allegedly from the lawyer (wife, brother, children, etc.) of your deceased rich uncle. He allegedly left a huge inheritance, and bequeathed it to you. But there is one caveat: for sending this "huge" amount that the uncle left, you need to pay (the amounts can be very different). If a person pecks at such letters, then after sending the money, Nigerians, of course, disappear without a trace. The text of the letter may differ slightly, but its essence will still be that to receive money from uncle you need to pay postage. In any case, bypass this Internet earnings (and not even yours, of course).
One-Day Sites
Another insidious scheme is offers to place ads for a high fee. For example, you are sent a letter about unrealistic earnings due to advertising of a site. Usually scammers offer to register on their resource and then give various tasks. The work supposedly consists in the fact that you must place advertisements with advertising of some dubious site on 10 (or more) message boards on the Internet. For this, they offer decently - 1200 rubles or more for 10 ads. Then you guessed what was happening? A person who agrees to such an offer publishes information on 10 bulletin boards. As a result, the site administrators complain that, say, an unscrupulous customer has come across, no money was received from him. And then they promise that this will not happen again, they offer to do the work again, but for a big fee. Of course, if a person performs the task, then this site will disappear in the near future.
Thanks to gullible people, scammers are increasing traffic on the site. Such a scheme does not last long, but still for some time the villains make pretty good money with the help of such frauds.
Do you want to work? Pay!
Unfortunately, online cheating can be found at every turn. Probably, each of us met ads that suggested collecting pens at home, typing, packing cereals, etc. However, in order to continue working, people are asked to send a small amount of money first. They can ask for a tiny or not very small fee for anything: for parts, insurance against fraud on your part, collection for resumes, marketing costs, courier payment. The bottom line is that this is another "divorce", and not making money on the Internet. Incidentally, this scam was invented a long time ago, and almost every Russian and CIS citizen has already met it.
Magic wallet
Yandex magic wallets are perhaps the most common type of fraud. Sample text for such a proposal:
"Hello, do not think that this is a scam. You need to send 10 rubles (or more) for 7 wallets, and after sending money put your wallet at the end of the list and delete the top one, then send this message to a large number of message boards (how at least 200). If you don’t send the money to these purses, you won’t be able to insert your own, as the Yandex administrator can block you.
All this is pure scam and another hazy online income. Unfortunately, not everyone sees deception in such a tempting offer, and some still replenish villains' wallets. But as a result, they don’t get any crazy money.
Online Risky Shopping
Well, if you calculate the fraud about various offers, then you can earn. However, if you decide to make purchases over the Internet, it will be more difficult to protect yourself. Firstly, there are much fewer scammers among online stores, and secondly, it is almost impossible to recognize fraud by seeing the goods only through the monitor screen. Many online resources that are engaged in sales really conscientiously do their job, and often, thanks to online purchases, you can significantly save on many products. True, villains are also found in this segment. At the same time, cheating online stores can often still be recognized.
How can "throw" online stores?
- Option one is the most innocent. You see on the Internet advertising for a product at a very low price or just some rare thing. As a result, you go to the store’s website, and it turns out that such a product is not available. The purpose of such a trick is to make you switch to a scammers resource with the expectation that other things may interest you (of course, they are not so rare and cheap).
- Trade in gray goods. That is, such that it has not passed certification and is prohibited for sale.
- You pay money in advance. In this case, you become completely unprotected, especially if payment is made on Yandex.Wallet. The seller can send the goods with defects or even leave you with nothing, and all this is almost completely unpunished.
- Shopping for branded items. The seller praises his goods in all colors, and they just send you a fake. Unfortunately, it is impossible to determine the quality of the goods from a photograph alone.
How to avoid losses?
It’s difficult to calculate the deception of online stores, but if you turn on a sober mind, then this is quite realistic.
- You can protect yourself if you first study the site well. For example, the domain of a reputable store must exist for a long time from the moment of registration. The quality of the site itself is also important, it should have a lot of embedded pages and a minimum amount of extraneous advertising;
- a self-respecting store will have its own office and stationary outlets;
- an authoritative store will offer its services to legal entities, and for organizations to be able to make purchases from him, the businessman must have details, a seal, and statutory documents. If such papers do not exist with an online service, then it is not safe to make online purchases from it;
- the decisive criterion is price. Usually online stores sell goods no more than 15% cheaper than the market price of a thing. If the cost is noticeably underestimated, refuse to purchase. Remember: no businessman will work at a loss.
What to do if you are deceived?
Alas, it is unrealistic to insure yourself against 100% deception. If you sent money for the goods, but did not receive it, the algorithm is as follows:
- In no case do not delete the correspondence with the store. All data must be saved (amount, seller’s wallet number, transfer time).
- If you have any complaints about the seller, write a letter to his contact address. If the seller has a registered address, send the claim there. If you do not know him, then only electronic correspondence can become evidence. As a rule, unscrupulous online stores do not give their legal address. Fraudsters will be interested in ensuring that consumers know as little information about them as possible. If the answer to your letters does not follow - then you ran into villains.
- Write a statement to the Consumer Protection Board. Attach all available receipts to such a document. Do not forget to file a complaint with the police on the fact of fraud. The legislation, namely article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud) provides for punishment for all cases of fraud on the Internet. Therefore, do not forget that for a virtual crime the deceiver can face a very real term. If you are “thrown” into more than 500 rubles, law enforcement officers are required to open a criminal case.
- Do not think that attackers are very difficult to find, in fact they are very vulnerable. Firstly, all resources have their own domain, and it, in turn, is located on the hosting, which must have its own owner. It is he who can provide information about the owner of such a domain. In addition, after the scammers find out that they are very interested in the police, most of them try to solve the problems with the buyer peacefully.
Getting low-quality goods
Even if you didn’t get to the scam on the Internet, they can simply send you low-quality goods (or the wrong size, the wrong model, etc.). Some unscrupulous online resources begin to tell the customer tales that the law on consumer protection does not apply to virtual stores. But in fact, this is a blatant lie and reckoning on the legal ignorance of the buyer. But even despite this, nevertheless, before buying, study the conditions of purchase, payment and delivery of goods.
Regardless of whether it is a virtual store or not, the seller is responsible for:
- poor quality product;
- things with defects;
- the transfer of goods in the wrong quantity and in the wrong assortment.
If the product does not fit, then you can return it back within seven days. Therefore, a statement about the impossibility of a return is a hoax of online stores. At the same time, you can return the goods only on condition that its original appearance can be fully preserved. To return the purchase, the customer must write a statement. If factory defects are found, the consumer can return the item in up to 15 days. If the information on the procedure for returning the goods was not provided in writing to the buyer upon receipt of the goods, then he has the right to refuse the item for 3 months.
The main types of violations
The lion's share of violations in online trading is the failure to provide complete information about the goods, the timing of their delivery, exchange, payment method and price. 20% of offenses - failure to comply with the delivery time of goods. Owners of online shops “throw” about one in every 10 cases. Deception on the Internet (Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) is a serious crime for which they can be imprisoned for many years. Therefore, the severity of punishment often restrains many lovers of easy money, but not all.
What did we find out?
Despite the fact that the World Wide Web is just a mecca for crooks, it’s impossible to say that it’s impossible to make money on the Internet or to buy good things. If you do not go to the "Golden Mountains", then large losses are easy to avoid. Note:
- Making money on the Internet without investments in a matter of days is unrealistic. Without making an effort, you will not get the result either in reality or in the virtual world. At the same time, if once you have encountered fraud, this does not mean that it is unrealistic to make money on the Internet. If we discard the idea that you can have millions here without doing anything, then the Internet is a good place to make money.
- Online shopping is also a real opportunity to get on the scam. The online store also needs to be carefully analyzed. Find out as much as possible about him, the date of his registration and, if possible, his legal address. Do not buy at minuscule prices. If the product costs significantly less than the competition, it means you will receive a low-quality product or just give your money to scammers. It is advisable not to send money in advance. It is better to pay for the purchase by cash on delivery (especially large).
- Read reviews about the selected Internet resource, it is possible that he has long earned a notoriety, and now his clients are exclusively ignorant people. In a word, try to find out all the ins and outs about this type of earnings or online store.
- Do not let the situation go by its own if you have been deceived by online scammers. Where to go if you become a victim? Of course, to the police. If you’ve been circled around your finger in an online store, also write a statement to the Consumer Protection Board. The main thing - do not ignore this unpleasant situation. First, in this way you will only convince the crooks of their impunity. Secondly, there is always a chance that a fraudster will be found, and you can recover money and moral damage from him .
Summary
For all such fraud fraudsters face severe punishment (article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - fraud), so knock on all possible instances. The likelihood that the offender will be caught is always there. But even if you can’t get the money back, such a scam will definitely teach you about dubious online earnings and cheap goods with great caution. There will always be Internet scammers, it is simply impossible to provide a list of these individuals, since now there are more and more of them. Never lose your common sense and prudence, even if you will be offered millions of fees in 5 minutes of work, and only then it will be impossible to deceive you.