GDS International - Scam Prevention Online

It doesn't matter if you work at a multi million dollar law firm or a local IT company, when you're connect to the internet everyone is fair game as far as fraudsters are concerned. Constantly reinvented the phishing wheel, fraudster are forever finding new and even innovative way to scam innocent people from their hard earned.

The Telegraph compiled a list of the top ten scams we think everyone should be aware of.

1. Identity theft and phishing � The black market for financial data on individuals is well established. Criminals try to steal your personal data using different techniques; phishing, social networks, telesales, hacking into websites, setting up bogus websites etc. Dont share unnecessary personal data with websites. If they insist on your date of birth, post code etc. - don't use your real ones.

2. Viruses and spyware - They are everywhere. It is impossible to know if you are visiting an infected website. If you download a pdf, it may or may not be infected. If you view a YouTube video, watch a flash ad, they may infect your computer too.

3. Advance fee scams - Nigerian and lottery scams have also been around for years, but they still work. There maybe a hundred variations to these scams but they are all basically the same. They offer a large sum of money, but there is always a fee to pay before you get it.

4. Work at home and job scams - These scams have been around for years, but rising unemployment will mean that we expect more scams targeting vulnerable job seekers.

5. Fake or spoofed websites - Phishing, domain hi-jacking, posting in forums are just some of the ways criminals attract you to their fake sites. These bogus online retailers offer a great deal, or impossible to find items, to attract victims. They set up a site for a short time, then shut it down only to set up a new site and do it all over again.

6. Economy related scams - Loan and debt consolidation scams have been increasing throughout 2008. There will be new ones look out for, including repossession assistance and unemployment insurance.

7. Classified ads and auction scams - Scammers use local online classified ads, CraigsList etc. to find new victims. Then they contact sellers with fraud cheque scams, offering to buy something or rent a room.

They send a cheque for more money than agreed, with an excuse as why you should send the extra money back to them or their friend. The cheque is a fake and they hope you wire the money before you find out.

8. Holiday Scams - Can't afford a great holiday this year? Well the scammers know the credit crunch has hit the holiday budget. So, they areadvertising some incredible deals. Unfortunately, the deals aren't real.

9. Ticket Scams - We saw large scale ticket fraud with the Beijing Olympics. Criminals are producing counterfeit tickets for concerts, festivals, football games and other events. They sell them online via auction sites, classified ads or by setting up their own website.

10. Social Networking - A hot scam is sending messages that tell someone they are in a You Tube video or mentioned on Twitter. When they follow the link their computer gets compromised. Dating scams, hacked accounts, con-men that contact friends and family claiming they are in trouble and need money - these are some of the most popular scams we see with social networks. A quick look in my inbox reveals some of the scams I've been targeted with.

"Dear Email-User, We at Huangshi Dongbei global office likes to officially congratulate you for the draw that just held by our company which featured you as the second place winner of our yearly promotions. Your email address with MICROS ID ( VDT-37011-XLG-692TM-8WQ ) was luckily drawn to be this year winner of a Brand New 2008 X5 BMW and a cash prize of $970,000 United States Dollars. Provide..Full name..Address ...Phone...Sex..Country... Contact Email..chinaclaimoffice@yeah.net Agent Name..Chan Liu"

You may not understand why this mail came to you, Committee on Foreign payment,In Partnership with the European union had been having meetings with the Sec-Gen to the UNITED NATIONS Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, the United Nations in conjunction with World Bank Assisted Program & IMF have instructed Nigeria Government to build back the image of this country by paying all foreign Unpaid contractors, Inheritance Beneficiary's and Next-Of-Kins who got scammed in pursuit of their payments and those that got scammed by Nigerian through all kind of false business proposal etc. Note that a committees on this payment was set up by the federal executive council of Nigeria and have decided to pay each beneficiary the sum of $2.500,000USD (Two Million, Five Hundred Thousand United State Dolars Only) as the guild lines given to us by the United Nations.

Your name was brought to us by Nigeria Home Affairs Office as amongst 220 beneficiary in which the total amount of $2.500,000.00 USD (Two Million, Five Hundred Thousand United State Dolars Only) will be paid for each of you who are in this list to compensate you. You are advised to fill the verification form below for our immediate processing of your payment"

To protect your self against such activity scambusters recommends:

1. Always use common sense. If you have a gut feeling that something isn't legitimate, you're probably right.

2. Make sure the company has a phone number and physical address. Call the company back. Check with Information to see if the phone number actually belongs to that company.

3. Always ask for references and check them carefully. A reputable company will be pleased to send you additional information and give you as many references from satisfied customers as you want.

4. Ask on-line promoters where their company is incorporated. If you're suspicious, call that state's secretary of state and ask if the company is incorporated with them and if it has a current annual report on file.

5. Check with the state's Attorney General's Office to see if the company has a received a series of complaints.

6. Check with the National Fraud Information Center at: www.fraud.org or 1-800-876-7060. NFIC provides lots of valuable resources about telephone, mail, and online scams.

7. Always make sure that you get a strong guarantee. Ask the company what will happen if you want to return the product or service. You might even ask for references of people who have returned the product and received refunds.