Scammer is the IT term for " swindler" or in Filipino street lingo, "mandarambong"! I am writing this because scammers are like stones in the beach, you can't avoid stumbling on them while enjoying the sun:
Scammers lurk the internet games along with hackers.
Oh, I love online games specially RPG where players have interactions and spend money to thrive in the game. In this interaction that scammers take advantage of. Once you bite their bait, you will wake up with empty warehouse of your important weapons, items and cash. Scammers in RPG's work with hackers who has the know-how to steal your account. Sometimes, the scammer works alone, earning your trust, he enters the pilot relationship with you to level up and empower your account. Once there, he will steal your items and cash , or sell your account for a price and left you teary eyed in anger.
I used to get lots of piloting offers. But I always say No, cordially. Cordially because I don't want to be on the "hot spot" of scammers. There are times I befriend them so that they will exclude me from their list. And I usually succeed. I got saved from their bad intentions.
Scammers are in the social media.
Oh, Facebook has lots of these people! So as matching sites !The Linkedn is also not exempted from this. Some legal matching sites used filter and reporting buttons that its members can click to detect scammer profiles. The Christian Filipina is an example of this site with filter. But in other social sites like Facebook, scammers lurk around freely. It will need your strong discernment to spot them.
I have known girls in our area who fell victims to these people in what they called love scam. Love scam is common in social sites. Most of the victimizers are men. very few women engage in love scam. Love scammers look for women/men profile who are usually single , separated or divorced, with a good job, and whom they perceived to be lonely or some sort, and vulnerable. There are also love scammers who be friend married women who's husbands are working overseas, who cannot share judgement with the activities of their wives.
Honestly, I almost became a victim of a love scammer in Facebook. When I discovered that the person who
befriended me was a scammer, I confronted him. He denied of course but I didn't believe him, later on I learned that he added a friend of mine and befriended her with the same words he used at me. I warned my friend and he ended up deactivating his account. But a local girl in our town, fell to this trap. I learned she gave a lot sum of money to a love scammer in Facebook who promised to marry her. When the money was sent to the guy through Western Union, the account was deactivated and the guy was never heard of again. It was so bad I learned about it too late.
Scammers are in the streets.
They are usually a gang or a syndicated activity. If you will want to do some banking transaction or just trip walking along the Metro or Centro places, be aware of people who will ask your help about destinations, getting lost, or offering job or business opportunity in the street, I have known a relative who fell prey to this scammer an lost all her savings in exchange for a box full of newspaper strips! police call this "budol-budol".
Scammers are in the net offering business opportunities which are non existent but using the strategy "double your money" or "earn big dividends within one week " or so, enticing you to make investment on their business plan.
But in the advent of fast information through the web, many are still falling on the scamming cob webs. But how to detect if you're being lured to become its next victim is quite simple and common sense.
Scamming in Social Sites
1. If they add you as a friend in your account. Accept it but browse your new friend's profile. Love scammers now learned to add information about themselves that shows in the display box of their profile. These publicly displayed info are gender, birthday, place where they live (which is very important) and work experience list (which is the 2nd most important thing). Aside from this info, other "About" section is hidden. Photo albums are empty if not hidden. You will read the " Nothing To Show" notice. Look also at their friendlist, you will notice, if not " all women" are friends, 90% are women.
The usual job used by these people are being a soldier, most often of a high rank officer or a businessman. But I have a new friend on the list who uses being a shipyard owner. he knows that I know that he is a scammer.
2. A scammer's next move is to chat you immediately and send you emoticons of plenty of hearts, "be Mine" , "I miss you", "I love you", " I admire you" an all other emoticons that will entice you to chat with them and go back chatting with them again when you go online. By biting this emoticon technique, they have now the hunch that you are open to relationship. In one word, you are vulnerable!
Common sense tell us that its impossible to relate easily to someone who is a perfect stranger, and when the guy or girl on the other line said, he loves you and thinks to marry you... omg! don't be so naive to make "kilig"! You are biting a bait!
3. Check the grammar they are using when they chat you. Through their grammar,you can detect if they are truly the race they claim in their account info. It's so easy to detect if you are talking to an english or spanish speaking person or a ghanan or an indonesian. I guess, in this area, you will need to make further study. But since I work with people, both local and foreign, its easy for me to detect through grammar what race the person I am chatting with.
4. Insisting you and him/her be in a relationship. We all know that relationship is one factor that can make us not say "No" to demands or caring activities. Its a common sense that virtual relationships are nothing more than virtual. So once you are in a relationship, prepare yourself for demands from your new guy out there that you send him your pictures wearing this or that, or nothing at all. But because you are ignoring your instinct, you will send your most seductive picture in the chat box without you knowing that your pictures are being processed to be posted in paid porn sites, or for blackmailing purposes.
4. Or you will be asked to send your new guy/gal money because of so many reasons and afterwards you will get marry.
5. Once you detect them, you can block them if you know that you are a vulnerable. In my case, I have two thousand more friends in Facebook, and five of them are scammers. They know that I know that they are scammers and I don't delete them, I give them the benefit to deactivate their account or unfriend me..anyway, as they said, "pamparami yan sa friendlist". What I did is to change from "Public" to " Only Me" the privacy of my friends list so that they won't have access to my friends' profiles. But of course, I do my responsibility to report them.
Scammers in Business Sites
1. Like hackers, they disguise themselves in links like SEOs. I got victimized in this, posing as a forex trading site. When I checked out the company legality... there was none. Good thing, I only sent P400 ! But you know, P400 is relatively small, but it hurts! It hurts that I was doped! be careful in clicking links.
2. Asking you to invest in money to double your money, or big dividends in a short period of time but you have no idea how the business owners will make you money profit. But still, ask you which is mandatory to recruit other people or invest more to increase your profit. A business without a legit product is a scam. That's how the Securities and Exchange Commission define a scam.
3. A business with limited territorial license but operates outside the limits of their territory luring people to invest on them. An example is this 'gold" bar investment business whose business license is limited to countries in Europe only but not in the South East Asia. If you want to invest on businesses like this, go to their country and invest there so that your share power will be legitimate. License is very important.
Scammers in the Street
These are syndicated activity, with close contact with the criminal. Oh, scamming is a crime.
1. They ask for help. Common sense will tell you, of so many people walking on the streets, and the police standing around the corners, they chose you! Not because, you're a kind looking person but because they believe you have something they need --- money, and you look gullible.
2. They use little children to appeal to your emotion. But look around and looked at the eyes of the kid if its red, or tends to be sleepy. This kid might be drugged and you are standing before a syndicate members or victims also.
3. They will present you with barangay or municipal endorsement witch is as expected, photocopied. They must have borrowed a legit endorsement letter, did little changes and photocopied. These endorsement may be to give a financial assistance of any amount to a sick person, or a student who want to continue studying and you will be his/her scholarship sponsor. I met people like these. In the Philippines, this is very common. Whenever I encounter one, I will say, " I will refer you to the DSWD, let us go there." When I say this, the person will go away. Through their reaction you will know, you're talking to a phoney.
But What Must You Do?
1. Be informed. Use the easy to access data bank--- Google. Yeah, Google it! Let me give you a sample:
This is an example of a poser FB account. You can notice the " nothing to show" note on Photo and Friends section. All you can see in this account are profile pictures.
What I did, I made a picture search on google and found out that this picture belongs to a VP of a foundation helping AIDS victims, but being used in three separate accounts with three different names by someone.
When this account chat with me, the chatter's grammar resembled to that of an Indonesian trying to straighten out his tongue. How did I scared him off? When he asked about my college degree, I told him I have a major in psychology. End of conversation!
This is how to do a picture search.
Upload or insert the picture in the google camera icon, then click "search". Sites related to the picture will come out as results.
2. Manage your emotions. Don't be vulnerable. It's okay to be needing but it must be on the right place and the right time with the right person. Social Sites are not that safe, unless you have a real life connection with a person somewhere in the past, and reuniting happened in the social site.
4. When you're being demanded to shelve out some amount of money, small or big amount, you are into the scam trap. Stop communicating!
5. When you're being asked to give pictures of you wearing this or that, or naked , or just a profile pic,.... Stop! Don't forget that in a photoshop, nothing is impossible! And don't forget also that your pic can earn him/her money. When this arise... its best to block the person.
6. Don't be too greedy. Money is money and its so hard to earn it! Greed arise when you start to believe that you can double your money in such a short time without doing anything but their simple steps. And greed raises its hand when you begin to believe that your savings is not enough," I have to get his." It is still a good feeling to enjoy an amount out of your sweat.
Well, I guess, I have said enough. You can enjoy the social media and the street by being wise and alert.
Oh by the way, I give for Free my e-note upon request, by commenting here your email. Expect to receive the e-note within 6 hours, because our time varies in the time zone.
The e-note is a compilation of insights which has impacted me, and I personally share them with you if you want change in your life.
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