KleefPhamily Media reports: Online? fraud? affects? 1.8 million? people? every? year,? costing? the? economy? E2.7 bn
Accordingto National Fraud Authority Research, January 2010.
Significantly? woman? spend? more? time? online,? 24.8 hours? per? month? compared? with? 22.9 hours? for? men.
The? new? research? was? supported? in? Ghana? by? IT? Foundation Ghana? ?from? consulting? psychologists? and? victims? of? scam? into? the ?typical? behavior,? came? to? a? conclusion? that? when? we? are? in? the? comfort? of? our? homes,? or? offices,? surrounded? by? the? familiar? news? on? internet? thus,? getting? an? e-mail? asking? for? personal? details? from? a? bank? or? from? a? friend? on? Facebook? may? not? seem? out? of? the? ordinary? or? raise? suspicions.
According? to? IT? Ghana? foundation Ghana? ?scammers? are? becoming? more? devious? in? how? they? target? victims? and? are? constantly? changing? their? attacks? to? reflect? what? people? expect? to? see? online? or? are? interested? in.? New? tricks? like? pharming? work? by? redirecting? your? web? browser-that? means? when? you? type? in? a? legitimate? web? address,? you? are? redirected? to? a? bogus? site? that? looks? genuine.
People? then? happily? type? in? their? personal? details? and? don?t? know? they? are? been? scammed? before? it?s? too? late.
In? a? survey? of? 800 U.S.A? households? half? of? which? reported? fraud,? 28? per-cent? of? women? said? they? had? been? victims? of? identity? fraud? compared? with? 21? percent? of? men
In? view? of? these? numerous? Researches,? IT? foundation Ghana ,? during? their? latest? research? also??? found? out? that? women? are? more? victims? of? fraud? because? women? seems? to? address? issues? earlier? than? men.
(1)PAY ATTENTION. When? you? start? talking? to? someone? on? the? internet, pay? particular? attention? to? the? messages? that? they? are? sending. Are? the? messages? answering? the? questions? that? you? are? asking? or? are? they? just? generic? messages? that? could? be? sent? to? anyone? with? just? one? minor? change? for? each ?the? name? Prolific? romance? scam? artists? will? generally? use? the? same? messages? for? everyone? that? they? are? trying? to? lure? in? as? victims? so? if? the? messages? are? too? general? for? your? liking, back? away? as? fast? as? you? can. They? are? so? generic? that? you? can? often? find? much? of? what? they? write? by? searching? on? Google . Even? on? profiles, the? text? can? be? copied? and? pasted? from? that? found? on? other? dating? sites.
*CONSIDER THE LANGUAGE THE PERSON IS USING. Poor? English? can? be? a? red? flag? signal? for? you? to? at? least? be? more? circumspect? until? you? know? more? about? this? person.? Many? of? the? scam? artists? come? from? countries? where? English? isn?t? the? first? language? and? their? command? of? it? in? writing? is? poor; bad? grammar? and? spelling? can? be? an? indicator? that? the? person? may? not? be? genuine.
* Are messages/emails even addressed to you?If? the? scam? is? generic,? even? your? name? might? get? messed? up? in? the? general? entrapment? process.? Look? for? the? wrong? name,? misspellings? of? your name? or other? personal? things.? Also? wary? of? anything? that? reads? like? a? news? or? magazine? story?it? probably? is? a? scam.
(2)Take? a? look? at? the? picture? that? the? person? is? using? on? the? profile.? Does this person look too good to be true?? This? might? just? be? the case?the? easiest? to? lure? in? victims? is? to? make? yourself? seem? as? attractive? as? possible? so? if? the? lady? or? man? that? you? are? talking? to? is? in? their? 40?s? but? the? picture? shows? a? person? barely? 25,? alarm? bells? should? most? definitely? be? ringing.
*Has? the? person? given? you? a? photo? or? is? there? one? on? the? profile?? If? so,? a? facial? recognition? or? photo? recognition? search? engine? such? as? Google?s? search? by ?image? Tin eye? to? see? if? it?s? one? of? kind? or? one? of? many. ??Scam? artists? often? pinch? photos? of? people? to? make? up? a? person? and? a? little? digging? can? quickly? reveals? this. Google? search? by? image? is? highly? effective? for? identifying? photos? used? by? scammers,especially? when? using? the? Chrome? browser? as? you? can? just? right? click? on? the? image? and? select? ? Search? Google? for? the? image?.
(3)See? if? the? internet? can? verify? that? this? person? is? real.? Do an online search for the person.? What returns do you get? Do? the? things? you? read? match? up? with? their? claims? For example, does their Facebook,Twitter,LinkedIn,etc. Account says what you expected?
To Be Continued?.
Story Written By: I.T FOUNDATION GHANA
