As our work, study, business, personal and entertainment lives become more Internet-centric, we are also increasingly vulnerable to online scams. These days, it’s almost impossible to facilitate banking transactions, receive payments, complete work assignments, communicate and even enjoy the various entertainment opportunities that are offered without an Internet connection.
Thieves, scammers and con artists are also active on the Internet. Whereas these robbers once picked pockets, robbed banks and sold fake goods door to door, they can now all be found online, doing their best to steal people’s identities and trick individuals into sending their money to purchase fake goods and services and donate to bogus causes.
These scams become more and more sophisticated as the years pass. That’s why it’s important for our Vegas casino online consumers to stay abreast of the latest online scams. Regardless of whether you use the Internet to post on social media, deliver online lessons or play online casino games, it’s a good idea to take a few minutes to check out some of these latest rip-off schemes. We want you to be safe.
Biggest Scams of 2023 include:
OTP Bot Scam
Scammers have discovered the advantages of the robocall bot and are using it to connect with massive numbers of people in short periods of time with the goal of tricking them into giving up their passwords to their banking accounts, their social media accounts and other accounts where they store personal information.
The robocall dupes the victim into giving up his or her one-time password and the scammers then use that information to access and empty accounts.
The OTP Bot is capable of stealing one-time passwords for bank accounts, crypto wallets,, land-based bank accounts, Gmail accounts, Amazon and eBay accounts and more.
Targets will receive a text or robocall that appears to come from a bank that asks the individual to authorize a charge. To accept that charge, you are asked to enter an authorization code. That code is actually the bot that’s trying to log into your account. If the bot can obtain the code that the bank sends you, it can enter your account and proceed to complete transactions…..money that, of course, flows to the scammer.
Internet safety consultants remind users that they should never provide information or share share authentication codes in response to an unsolicited text or phone call, even if that text or phone call purports to come from an institution with which you are familiar (for instance, from your bank).
Student Loan Forgiveness
Hundreds of thousands of people have fallen into deep debt because of loans that they took out for their university studies. The issue of loan forgiveness is a huge issue in the news these days with many people waiting breathlessly to see if any kind of loan forgiveness program will be instituted by the U.S. government.
Scammers are well aware of these people’s desperation and are taking advantage of their hope by contacting them to suggest that they fill out applications through their bogus sites to apply to have their loans forgiven.
The scammers send their targeted victims phony applications which are then used to steal the applicants’ Social Security information, bank information and other private data. Some of these conmen contact the victims by phone and offer to help them “for a fee.”
The tremendous burden of student loan debt has created a population of desperate people who often are not savvy consumers as they try to reduce that burden.
The Department of Education offers a Student Aid Website where updated and accurate information about the forgiveness program’s status is archived. If anyone reaches out to you to “help you” negotiate your student loan or forgive your loan payments, check the website.
Phishing Scams
Phishing scams are some of the oldest and most popular types of cons on the Internet. They continue because they continue to be successful – just as soon as you’re certain that you know what to click on and what not to click on, a new phishing scam is introduced that confuses you more than ever.
With phishing scams , cybercriminals impersonate trustworthy entities (banks, services, government agencies, online stores) and send emails or messages on social media that are designed to trick you into clicking on a link.
Once you click on the link you may be asked to provide sensitive information like passwords, social security numbers, credit card numbers, etc or you may be led to a link that can infect your computer with viruses and malware.
It can be challenging to these websites since they often display professional logos and URLs similar to the real ones. In all cases, you should avoid clicking links and downloading attachments. Don’t share personal information or financial data unless it’s a site with which you are familiar. The site should have a secure connection (https://) and a security certificate.
Remember, an email that purports to come from a recognized company isn’t always legitimate – in 2023, the companies most-often targeted by scammers who sent out fake emails in their names were Microsoft and Wells Fargo Bank.
General Security Precautions
If you have an online presence, chances are that you will be targeted by online scammers. Some basic precautions that you should take include:
- Regularly monitor your credit reports and financial accounts.
- Whenever possible, enable two-factor authentication (a password plus a text message with a code).
- Use strong, unique passwords for every online account with characters that include numbers, both capital and small letters and symbols.
