There is a lot to be said for familiarising yourself with different types of fraud. The more frauds you are aware of, the more likely it will be that you can defend and protect yourself against this style of fraud. These frauds are some of the most common and being aware of them may give you a better chance of avoiding being caught out.
Online Shopping
Online shopping has transformed the way that many of us live our lives, bringing a great deal of convenience to our lives. Depending on where you stay, online shopping may have opened up a wide range of options that helps you buy exactly what you are looking for. There is no denying that online shopping has made a lot of improvements to people’s lives but it would be wrong to say that that everything about online shopping has been positive or of benefit to people.
This is because there is a negative element to online shopping and some people will find themselves at risk of fraud. If you are entering your credit or debit card details, and your personal information, there will be a slight risk involved. The vast majority of online retailers use complex systems and work hard to keep details safe but there is no such thing as being 100% safe and if someone is able to obtain that information, they will be in a position where they can steal someone’s identity.
Auction sites are also very popular for online shoppers and these can represent a different type of risk. The vast majority of sellers on these sites are genuine but there will be some people looking to swindle people out of money, so it is best to have your wits about you when you are looking to shop online.
Advance Fee Frauds
This is a very popular style of fraud, and it can be a catch-all type of fraud that covers a particular style of fraudulent activity. The basic premise of an advance free fraud is that it requires you to have over a sum of money and it is expected that you will receive a larger sum of money in return at a later date.
The most well-known style of advance fee fraud is the Nigerian 419 scam. This is where you receive an email from someone claiming to be from Nigeria or from another country. The email offers you the chance to receive a lot of money into your account in order to assist people move money out of their country. You will be informed that you will be able to keep a good proportion of this money, but then there is always a fee to pay. If you pay this fee, you will be unlikely to hear from the fraudster again, unless they decide to try and claim more money from you.
You should never pay a fee or provide funds to other people in this sort of scenario. Other similar types of fraud may be where an alleged employer or recruitment company asks someone to pay a fee to carry out CV services, to provide preferential billing or to provide interview sessions and coaching. There are also regular complaints made about psychic scams which require a large amount of money to conclude a reading. The first half of the reading generally provides information of a warning nature, placing people into fear and convincing them to hand over more money to learn how their fate can be voided or it is of a positive nature, and then the person pays up to hear about the good news that is coming to them.
Application Fraud
With this style of fraud, you will find that fraudsters will take out financial products using your name. This type of crime will usually involve financial loans or contracts for mobile phones. If a fraudster can get his hands on documents like bank statements or utility bills, they will be able to find out personal information about you, which they can utilise to make an application in your name.
With more and more people being aware of fraudulent activity, there has been a larger focus on prosecuting people that commit fraud. Anyone that has committed a fraudulent act will find that there is a greater desire to punish them and that they need a better level of support and representation from their defence team. This is why it is best to call on a defence solicitor that is highly experienced and comfortable dealing with fraud.
Andrew Reilly is a freelance writer with a focus on news stories and consumer interest articles. He has been writing professionally for 9 years but has been writing for as long as he can care to remember. When Andrew isn’t sat behind a laptop or researching a story, he will be found watching a gig or a game of football.