According to Wikipedia, Internet fraud is a type of fraud which makes use of the Internet. This type of fraud varies greatly and appears in many forms. It ranges from Email spam to online scams.

Internet fraud can occur even if partly based on the use of internet services and is mostly or completely based on the use of the internet.

Without much ado, here are the 6 top internet scams you should avoid in 2018



Online Lottery and Sweepstakes
These types of scams are mostly perpetrated via email marketing and on Facebook. These victims typically receive notifications that they have won a large amount of money or prize in a lottery or sweepstake; unsuspecting victims are then told to contact agents via email with their personal information.

In order to claim the supposed prize or money, victims are usually asked to pay all manner of processing, insurance costs, courier charges/ FedEx and ‘claimant fees’. While the process is ongoing, victims are often told to keep their winnings secret to prevent ‘double claiming’.

In order to seem legitimate, email lottery scammers often use the names of legitimate lottery organizations or other legitimate corporations/companies while these organizations are unaware their names are being used for these nefarious acts.

The Facebook variant of this scam occurs when Facebook accounts of legitimate Facebook accounts are cloned. The victim is usually contacted by a ‘friend’ who goes on to tell stories about receiving some money via a lottery on Facebook. The scheme typically follows the above and victims are made to contact agents who go on to charge never ending processing fees.

If you receive these types of emails, the best bet is to delete the emails and ignore attempts to establish contact. If on Facebook, immediately contact original owner of account via pre-gotten contact numbers, also report the cloned page so Facebook can have it shut down




Classified Ads Scam (OLX, Jiji , eBay etc)
This type of scam has to do with Classifieds websites; websites where items are listed for Sale or Swap. These ads can be put up by anyone making them dangerous.

In this type of scam, the Scammer puts up an item for sale at a low price compared to what is typically available on the market in order to lure a large number of people to the post. Scammer is usually out of town and promises to ship the item once the price and shipping fee is paid. Different excuses keep up until buyer realizes that he has been strung along the entire time. Victims are often left with no cash or item once these fees have been paid.

Another variant of this scam occurs when the buyer offers to pay for item using PayPal or other online means of transferring money. Fake confirmations of Payment are sent to victims who are then convinced to ship item with promises that payments will re

Always remember that if it is too good to be true, it often is. Transactions and inspections of items should also always be face to face in a safe, secure public area




Bank/ ATM Update Email Phishing Scam
This scam is usually perpetrated via phishing emails or text messages. Victims are sent messages from cloned emails and mobile numbers to update their accounts, Bank verification numbers, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) or personal details to avoid suspension or deactivation of account within a time frame.

Victims often react fast given the time frame of action sent along with the email or text message. Keying in your details often leads to the victims sending their account information.

When these emails and text messages are received, do not call back or respond using a number in said message, always call your bank’s official customer care number directly or visit the bank physically to update your banking information

Always avoid leaving your mobile numbers or contact details on public forums, websites and groups. Email and mobile phone harvesters can easily have a grasp of these emails and continually send scam messages to you, valid details are also sold in online criminal marketplaces.




Employment Scams
As much are there are many legitimate online job opportunities, many online job scams exist also to take advantage of job seekers in a variety of ways. Scammers may want to collect confidential information to further use for identity theft, to get you to cash fraudulent checks or to wire or send money, and to get you to pay for services or supplies. Often times, they may also trick job seekers into meeting at lonely locations and they can then be kidnapped for ransoms or sold into human trafficking camps.

Job scams can be posted on job sites like Jobberman and forums; some also trickle down from well-known social networking sites like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. In other cases, you may receive unsolicited email and text messages from companies you did not apply to.

It is important to exercise due diligence by checking out addresses , websites and names of companies who invite you to interviews to make sure everything checks out and is legit. Simply typing out name of the company with ‘scam’ at the back will show you experiences of other people who have attended such interviews. You can also go one step further by asking questions on large forums like Nairaland on Social media about the company

Typical signs of fake job scams include;

The salary details aren’t clear or properly outlined
You are told you have to pay for registration, processing fees or training
You’re offered a job without an application, formal interview, or discussion with the employer about terms and conditions associated with said job
You are promised high pay for little work done
Shady looking addresses in areas which are not typically used by other companies of comparative size.



Football Betting/ Fixed Match Betting
With the prevalence of Online football betting and the attendant proliferation of fake fixed match peddlers who want to make you part with your money, this had to make the list.

Fixed matches are matches whose outcomes have been manipulated by bookies or gamblers in order to make profit on insider information/outcomes which they would have known before kick off

The majority of fixed football matches scams work by way of the scammer offering you the Half Time/ Full Time result for a fee on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. These offers are fake of course and you will quickly get blocked after payment of their compulsory ‘Registration Fee’

A search using the keyword ‘#FixedMatch’ on Instagram quickly brought up more than 27,000 results which shows how common these scams are now




Lost Wallet/ Stranded Overseas Traveller Scam
These scams happen when email accounts of users are compromised and scam emails are sent to the contacts they communicate with the most.

Victims received an email saying friends are stranded outside the country and have lost passports and cell phones, and urgently needed money to settle hotel bills pending when they get back home.

The first thing you should do when you get this kind of email is to immediately notify original owner of email about the activities ongoing in his account. If you are the one affected, changes to passwords of the email account must be immediately made and messages should be sent to entire contact list notifying them about the scam and not to wire money to any one