“Hello. I am a barrister in Nigeria working on behalf of Mr. X who recently passed away and left a very large fortune. We need your help…” Oh wait; you have already heard this one before. This was not specifically mentioned in the “Top Online Scams” infographic. However, the infographic refers to the categories of scams, not to the actual scams themselves. In this regard, the Nigerian (or other countries in Africa) scam can be considered a part of the “advance-fee loan scam” in that the emails request that you wire a few thousand dollars, after which the barrister will transfer millions of dollars to you. It may also be a part of the identity-theft scam in that the emails usually ask for personal information.
On the subject of identity theft, another common and specific scam is that of attachments. If you open the attachment then various malware and spyware can be activated, allowing the emailers to gather passwords, your contacts and virtually anything that they may want.
We think that the idea that runs through all of the categories of scams shown below is that of “if it sounds too good to be true then it usually is”. Do not be tempted by greed.
Likes: It is heartening to know that the Better Business Bureau can rectify many scams, especially if it originated through the media.
Dislikes: It feels incomplete. There ought to be a number of incidences and/or number of victims of each of the categories of scams.
Infographic by bbb.org