You Can Still Be Scammed! Over And Over!

A SCARSSCARS SCARS - Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc. A government registered crime victims' assistance & crime prevention nonprofit organization based in Miami, Florida, U.S.A. SCARS supports the victims of scams worldwide and through its partners in more than 60 countries around the world. Incorporated in 2015, its team has 30 years of continuous experience educating and supporting scam victims. Visit www.AgainstScams.org to learn more about SCARS. Insight

You Say You Can’t Be Scammed Again?

We Bet That You Can!

For decades we have been warning about scamsScams A Scam is a confidence trick - a crime -  is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust through deception. Scams or confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, irresponsibility, or greed and exploiting that. Researchers have defined confidence tricks as "a distinctive species of fraudulent conduct ... intending to further voluntary exchanges that are not mutually beneficial", as they "benefit con operators ('con men' - criminals) at the expense of their victims (the 'marks')". A scam is a crime even if no money was lost. of one nature or another, but what most scams have in common is Social EngineeringSocial Engineering Social engineering is the psychological manipulation of people into performing actions or divulging confidential information. It is used as a type of confidence trick for the purpose of information gathering, fraud, or system access, it differs from a traditional "con" in that it is often one of many steps in a more complex fraud scheme. It has also been defined as "any act that influences a person to take any action that may or may not be in their best interests."!

For Most Of You Who Have Been Romance Scammed You Sware It Will Never Happen Again, Right?

WANT TO BET?

It Takes More Than Wishful Thinking

It takes more than wishful thinking to stop yourself from being scammed. After all, it was wishful thinking (magical thinking) that got you scammed in the first place.

At the heart of almost all scams is Social Engineering – using the way you are wired to defeat you – over and over again.

It Starts With Learning – Have You Been Learning Or Reacting?

We appreciate that many people have no clue how things really work on the web. Just like a teen has no clue how to drive a car and not kill themselves – UNTIL they learn.

The Tragedy Is That Most People Do Not Learn To Use The Web Effectively

This is caused by a combination of reaction, inattention, a lack of interest, and an unawareness of how dangerous it can be.

Consider how this applies to something as simple as unsubscribing to an email that you signed up for. Most people have no idea that this is all automated, and that even if we wanted to, you control your own subscriptions (this is required by law & regulations now). When you get an email there is an Unsubscribe link required by law. All it usually takes is to click it! Yet most people send emails demanding removal.

We mention this because this is also how you were scammed!
You probably didn’t see what was right in front of you.
Instead, you reacted.

This Is Also Why MOST Victims Are Scammed Again!

For example, there is a typical Facebook social engineering scamScam A Scam is a confidence trick - a crime -  is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust through deception. Scams or confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, irresponsibility, or greed and exploiting that. Researchers have defined confidence tricks as "a distinctive species of fraudulent conduct ... intending to further voluntary exchanges that are not mutually beneficial", as they "benefit con operators ('con men' - criminals) at the expense of their victims (the 'marks')". A scam is a crime even if no money was lost. that says people are getting friend requests from you. Except if you really look, it is just a viral scam being shared forever by people not bothering to check what it actually means.

This Is A Perfect Example Of How You Are Still Being Manipulated

In this case, a bogus warning is claiming a duplicate friend request was received. The message also asks users to send this message to all of their friends.

You should never automatically send or SHARE these kinds of viral messages – ever!

If one of your friends had their profile CLONED and you see it, then the first thing is to report it to Facebook (or Instagram, whichever the case) as someone impersonating your friend. Then notify your friends and contacts. But if it is just some message or post that you saw, then why would you forward it along?

Cloning

Cloning is when a person’s profile is copied, as happens all the time in romance scams. Scammers clone real people’s profiles to impersonate them. Check out this post to learn what you need to know about profile cloning scams and how to protect from them – click here »

What Is The Point?

The point to this is that scam victims are scammed again and again, every time they respond to a social engineer hoax or fake message.

The message above is just one example of a hoax that has gone viral, nothing more than junk chain mail.

Except it is not.

IT IS A CAREFULLY CREATED SOCIAL ENGINEERING SCAM!

It is not asking for money, but it is taking your time and causing you to react. It doesn’t seem dangerous, but the next one could very well be very dangerous.

It is also doing something more – it is identifying YOU as someone that can be scammed. When posts are shared from dangerous sources the people who posted them can many times see who shared them. Now they know about you!

“I know people have actually been a victim of it, but this latest one just seems especially pointless, just getting people to copy and paste a message and spam it out to all their contacts,” said one user. Even Homeland Security says if you see it just ignore it. Sending it to friends only makes it worse.

The Real Point We Are Making

But here is the real point, if you fell for this, you fell for yet another scam.

Scammers gear their weapons to take advantage of your weakness and vulnerabilities. And this kind of thing will trip you up time after time until you stop reacting and start developing habits that keep you safe.

Thinking you can never be scammed again will not save you from future scams. Only changing your behaviorBehavior   Behavior / Behavioral Actions Otherwise known as habits, behavior or behavioral actions are strategies to help prevent online exploitation that target behavior, such as social engineering of victims. Changing your behavior is the ONLY effective means to reduce or prevent scams. will save you!

More Nonsense

Here Is Another Urban LegendUrban Legend Urban Legend An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend is a genre of modern folklore comprising stories circulated as true, especially on social media. These legends can be entertaining but often concern serious topics. They may also be confirmation of moral standards, or reflect prejudices, or be a way to make sense of societal anxieties. Urban legends are most often circulated orally but can be spread by any media, including newspapers, mobile news apps, e-mail, and social media. Some urban legends have passed through the years with only minor changes and seem impervious to exposure as untrue. Spreading That Accepting A Friend Request Gives A HackerHacker A computer hacker is a computer expert who uses their technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle, within a computerized system by non-standard means. Though the term hacker has become associated in popular culture with a security hacker – someone who utilizes their technical know-how of bugs or exploits to break into computer systems and access data which would otherwise be unavailable to them – hacking can also be utilized by legitimate figures in legal situations. For example, law enforcement agencies sometimes use hacking techniques in order to collect evidence on criminals and other malicious actors. This could include using anonymity tools (such as a VPN, or the dark web) to mask their identities online, posing as criminals themselves. Likewise, covert world agencies can employ hacking techniques in the legal conduct of their work. Oppositely, hacking and cyber-attacks are used extra- and illegally by law enforcement and security agencies (conducting warrantless activities), and employed by State actors as a weapon of both legal and illegal warfare. Access To Your Account!

According To SNOPES.com – it is totally bogus, but you don’t know because you never learned to use your online tools properly, and instead, you are still reacting.

The scam / hoax is:

Social Media Hacker Warning: Accepting a Facebook friend request from a stranger will provide hackers with access to your computer and online accounts.

Wrong, it does not present any such risk!

The examples are multiple variants of a long-running hoax, one which warns the readers not to allow contact from a particular person or group because dire consequences will result. The basic form of these hoax warnings are typically drawn from the following template:

Do not {read / open / respond to / join} an {e-mail / text message / friend request / } sent by {real name / e-mail address / screen name}!
If you do, {you / your computer / your Facebook account / everyone on your contact list / your children} will be in danger of falling victim to a {serial killer / computer virusVirus A computer program that can replicate itself and spread from computer to computer or file to file. It comes to life only when you take a specific action, such as running a particular program. / hacker / predator}.

Really?

These are but two of the countless socially engineering scams (and that IS the right word) that are constantly running around out there on social media.

Viral Messages May Be ScammerScammer A Scammer or Fraudster is someone that engages in deception to obtain money or achieve another objective. They are criminals that attempt to deceive a victim into sending more or performing some other activity that benefits the scammer. Lures

Have You Ever Considered That Some Of Them May Actually Be Lures To Find More Victims?

Meaning that they are like land mines, they wait for people to fall for them, and then they find you by seeing who it caught! Once they identify a target then they spring other scams on you until one of the hooks takes hold!

What Are We Trying To Say?

We are telling you that all of your wishful thinking and protestations about how you are never going to be scammed again is worth nothing UNLESS you back it up with actions.

What Actions?

• Constant learning about how the web / Facebook / and AppsApps Applications or Apps An application (software), commonly referred to as an ‘app’ is a program on a computer, tablet, mobile phone or device. Apps are designed for specific tasks, including checking the weather, accessing the internet, looking at photos, playing media, mobile banking, etc. Many apps can access the internet if needed and can be downloaded (used) either for a price or for free. Apps are a major point of vulnerability on all devices. Some are designed to be malicious, such as logging keystrokes or activity, and others can even transport malware. Always be careful about any app you are thinking about installing. work
• Restraint instead of Reaction – take time to examine what you see
• Thought – think it through – just assume everything is questionable until you make sure
• Trust no one – even though this can slow your recovery as a scam victim, it is safer and right now safety matters most
• Report what you find so others can help with spreading the word

In Conclusion

As the United States Department of Homeland SecurityDepartment of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department (under the President) responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terrorism, border security, immigration and customs, cybersecurity, and disaster prevention and management. suggests: STOP | THINK | CONNECT – meaning that when you see something your first instinct is to react; but instead stop, think about it, then if you are sure it is safe to connect!

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TAGS: SCARS, Information About Scams, Anti-Scam, Scams, Scammers, Fraudsters, Cybercrime, Crybercriminals, Romance Scams, Scam Victims, Online FraudFraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain (money or other assets), or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compensation) or criminal law (e.g., a fraud perpetrator may be prosecuted and imprisoned by governmental authorities), or it may cause no loss of money, property, or legal right but still be an element of another civil or criminal wrong. The purpose of fraud may be monetary gain or other benefits, for example by obtaining a passport, travel document, or driver's license, or mortgage fraud, where the perpetrator may attempt to qualify for a mortgage by way of false statements. A fraud can also be a hoax, which is a distinct concept that involves deliberate deception without the intention of gain or of materially damaging or depriving a victim., Online Crime Is Real Crime, Scam Avoidance, Married Scam Victims, Internet Infidelity, Scam Victim Divorce