Internet Scams: We Give You The Heads Up!

Don't get scammed online

With the internet phenomenon, not only do we have an explosion of portals and apps but also of many scam artistes utilising the internet as a platform to ply their trade.

Try advertising on portals such as mudah.my and you will not only get real buyers messaging you, but also many scammers. Here are a couple of scams that happen online:

SMS scams

Scammer texting sellers ask questions about the items for sale and for a response via email. The number that texts you is usually non-existent or seems to come from a faraway land. You should call the number that texted you. If you are unable to reach them, don't bother emailing them. This scam uses the sale as an opportunity to open a dialogue with you

Cash buyer scam

Yup ... cash is King and everyone gets caught up by it. Well, sometimes when they buyer offers cash in a flash you need to be cautious. There is a lot of phony money out there. The buyer will always try to purchase new items that are popular such as, say, an iPhone. The buyer hands counterfeit money to you and then resells the product at a discount.

This is how they get rid of the counterfeit money for legal tender. Talk about spreading the wealth!

Car sellers scammed

Put up your car for sale and you will receive interesting emails or texts. A typical scam is one is where a buyer offers to purchase vehicle and offers to pay via PayPal. Due to them being from overseas, inform you that they will organise and pay for a freight company to pick up the vehicle.

They will then claim an issue with paying the freight company, offer to pay you more and ask you to pay the freight cost into a Western Union account. The buyer then sends fake PayPal receipts to the seller, showing the extra funds. The seller is scammed after he has paid the funds into the account, later finding out that the original payment into PayPal was faked.

So what do we do? Firstly, realise that all transactions will always take the traditional route. Know your seller or, at the very least, have the seller or buyer properly identified.

Here are a couple of things to ponder about:

• Use your common sense: the offer may be a scam
• Never send money, or give credit card or online account details to anyone you do not know and trust
• Speak to the other party by telephone rather than just email and if the phone number is provided is not connected, treat this with suspicion
• When accepting an offer, insist on the buyer paying the correct amount

Till the next time ... Stay Safe Online!