There are thousands of scams out there. Possibly millions. Whatever the number is, there are a lot, and somehow people still fall for scams all the time.
I don’t think a single day passes where I don’t receive a scam e-mail. I never open them up, but it makes me wonder how many people fall for scams, because there must be a reason why people keep trying to scam others – it must mean that they are successful at least some of the time.
If something sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. Also, if something doesn’t sound right to you, then proceed with caution.
Here are common scams that people fall for.
I get paid thousands of dollars each hour for sitting at home.
I see these scam comments all the time on websites. I hope no one ever falls for it. Do you actually think that someone pays someone thousands of dollars an hour just to sit at home and do nothing?
Logging into a website.
Occasionally you may receive an e-mail saying that your login information is at risk at that you need to log in to the website in order to fix it. Never do it! Legitimate websites almost NEVER ask you to login and fix it.
If you think something is wrong, then type in the website directly into your search bar instead of clicking the link in the email that you received. Sometimes these scammers set up websites that look exactly the same so that they can fool you into giving them your account information.
A prince needs money.
Almost everyone has received this email. A prince in another country is begging you for money and in exchange will give you millions of dollars for helping him out.
You won the lottery.
Please, don’t fall for this one. If you won a lottery, I’m sure you would know before a stranger e-mailed you.
A “friend” is stuck in a foreign country.
This is one that not everyone has seen yet, as it is uncommon. You may receive an e-mail from someone saying that they need money because they are stuck in a foreign country. If you think this actually may be real, why don’t you try contacting that person first. They probably aren’t even in that country.
You won a cruise!
This is an email that many people receive. Usually these come from something that you have signed up for, such as many wedding related companies (I won’t name names).
They say that you “won” a free cruise, but they often “forget” to tell you about all of the other things that you have to pay for. Also, usually these cruises are just one day night cruises that are disgustingly dirty, and they make you pay fees for each person, travel fees, food, tax, etc.
Have you ever fallen for a scam? How much money have you lost?