The different types of online scam.

[Wayne]

I was asked if I would add a brief description of the different types of online scam. This will cover the most popular ones.

Romance scam.

A scammer will make contact with their mark on a dating or social networking site. They will pretend to fall in love with the person, then one of two things will happen.
The first scenario is that they'll suddenly have some "crisis" that needs a person to help them out with money, such as being robbed, suddenly taking ill or having an accident that lands them in hospital and unable to pay their medical bills, having a problem with their pay or paperwork and being without money until it's cleared or any other thing the scammer can think of. In my time I've even had scammers ask for money for school fees and tampons, a request for money for ANYTHING is possible.
The other scenario involves them supposedly wanting to be with you, but being unable to afford the expenses involved. They will swear up and down that they love you and absolutley want to be with you. They promise to be with you if you pay for their passport, plane ticket or other documentation. When the time finally arrives for them to meet you, they'll either simply vanish or start playing the first scenario. "I was robbed on the way to the airport" or "I have to pay fees for the money/goods I'm bringing with me" are common excuses.
There are further variations that may actually involve meeting the person, but the ones covered above are the most common scenarios.

Overpayment scam.

This one is very simple. The scammer will find an item for sale and offer to buy it. Say the item is worth $1000. The scammer will send a check for the wrong amount and either ask for the difference to be sent back to them via money transfer or sent to a third party (either the scammer or an accomplice, knowing or unknowing) to pay fees such as delivery charges. The payment will be fake. Sometimes the scammer will receive the item, sometimes the "overpayment" is all they want. Mention of the accomplice above, brings us to the next scam.

"Mule" scam.

Let me paint a scenario for you. Scammer has two people on the line. He asks person 1 if they'll accept money he's owed for him and forward it on. Maybe he'll claim he can't get to a bank due to being in a foreign country, or that he's lost his credit cards after being robbed. He scams person 2 and gives them the bank details of person 1. When person 2 realises they've been scammed, the only details they have are of person 2.
Sometimes they will even enroll willing "Mules" to handle money or fake money orders for them in exchange for a percentage of the money.

Advance fee fraud.

Commonly known as the 419 scam and also the most common scam seen. In its most basic form, this one usually involves an email out of the blue offering you a share of a large amount of money. The scammer may play a bank or government official, or employee in a company that handles goods. Even soldiers are used for this scam, which is then often called a "Saddam's gold scam". To receive your part of the money, fees and bribes will need to be paid. There is of course no money and no official.

"Dying widow" scam.

A lady with no family and currently in the hospital with a terminal illness will ask you to use her money to aid those worse off. This is another example of an advance fee scam.

Hitman scam.

The scammer will email people, pretending to be a hitman who has been paid to kill them. All the person has to do in order to avoid being killed is pay the supposed hitman more than the person who put the hit on them. Of course there's no hitman or hit. It's nothing more than scare tactics.

Recovery scam.

A scammer will pretend to be an official body, and claim they have a/your scammer in custody and can send you back the money you lost to the scammer. They can and do pull this scam even if you haven't been scammed. Of course we're back to the advance fees again.

Phishing scam.

This one involves the scammer emailing a person pretending to be a bank, Paypal or email provider in most cases. A link is given to "verify your details", which will lead to a fake site that is made to look like an official one. The purpose of this is to gain access to your account details. Whenever you receive an email asking you to verify your details, always check it's genuine and never use links sent to you in emails. If you want to check, type in the website's address yourself. More on phishing can be found HERE.

[Wayne]

Puppy scammer.

Adverts are placed offering animals such as dogs and cats. A deposit is paid and no animal will ever turn up at your door as they don't exist.

Refugee scam.

The scammer claims to have run away from home after the death of their father. Often they claim that the father was killed, sometimes along with the rest of "her" family. As a result, they are now supposedly in a refugee camp in Senegal and have contacted you using the reverend's computer. The late father left "her" untold wealth that needs to be brought out of the country, and you just so happen to be the perfect person to do it. What you end up with is a cross between a romance scam and an advance fee scam.

Job scam.

This is a form of fake money order scam. This one one will have the scammer send you checks and ask you to cash them, send so much back to the supposed company and keep the rest as your fee. The checks are fake and the "company" is the scammer. The abovementioned "knowing mules" are one source of the checks being posted out, as the stamp from your local area makes it more believable. They can also be the person you send the money to, and will then send the money, minus their fee, back to the scammer.

Translation scam

In this one, the "lady" will claim to be using a translation company to translate the emails to you, but will at some point run out of funds. The "company" will then contact you asking to pay the fees. The women are fake, the company is fake and the emails you receive are scripted and sent out to anyone that pays.

Account flashing scam.

A scammer will supposedly put money in your account and ask you to send it to them. The scammer "flashes" your account - makes it appear that money is in there when it's not. This is often performed by cashing a fake/stolen check into your account or emptying a compromised bank account into yours. Checks can take months to fully clear, even though the money is put into your account. Once the fraud is detected, the scammer is long gone and you're being held liable for the money taken from your account and sent to the scammer.

Charity scam.

The scammer will pretend to be a genuine charity and ask for donations. They may even give links to genuine charity sites to make their scam appear more genuine. Any money sent never reaches the genuine charity, but goes into the scammer's pockets.

Fake lottery scam.

These pretend to be lotteries, often online ones, and will claim that you've won millions. To receive your money, there are of course fees to pay. Another variation of the advance fee fraud. If you haven't entered a lottery, you can't win one. Don't accept emails claiming your email address is what you won it using. It's bogus.

Grandchild scam.

The scammer will claim to be a person you know, and ask you to help them out of a difficult situation such as being stuck in a foreign country without any cash. Often the scammer will pretend to be a grandchild, hence the name, and will beg you not to tell their parents about it.

Pinay scam.

This is different to the normal romance scam as the person will be a female and will appear on webcam with you. Don't be fooled. These ladies are as mercenary as any of the other scammers, and not afraid to use their looks in order to steal from you. Scarily, some are not even female, but ladyboys. Be aware.

In closing.

The golden rules are these. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Also, never ever EVER send money to anyone who you've never physically met or who contacts you out of the blue and asks for money.