Avoiding Scams Online
Dealing with scams online can be frustrating. When it comes to dealing with your finances, this is even more excruciating, as some of your financial independence will likely rely on how you handle your funds online. Here are some tips to avoid scams, and ensure that you are putting your money in the right places.
Scammers immediately try to assume control
Scammers try to take control of the conversation or hook you in with a message/email to have power over the outcome. Without that control, they can do nothing to you. Take your time and review the information being presented to you, and do it from an outside perspective if possible.
If you aren’t expecting, don’t give personal information
Never give out your personal information if you aren’t expecting to. There are very few formats where it’s necessary you immediately use your personal information for a call or update you weren’t prepared for.
This is also a great way to get a friend or outside party involved. Repeat back the information they are asking for to a friend to see if it makes sense to them. Often enough, in that brief information sharing, you are able to jointly come to a conclusion on whether or not the call is legitimate.
Limited payment methods
Consider how difficult it would be for whichever cause or issue they claim to have with you if there’s only one payment method. You can’t possibly expect everyone guilty of the problem to have the time of the call to all be able to pay the exact same way within that limited time frame.
The call to action is immediate
These calls usually try to instigate action on the phone. If it were really that important, they wouldn’t be contacting you in a single medium. Also, consider …
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