This way, you can avoid being inadvertently involved in a crime. ![]() If someone is asking you to take or send money, and you don’t know them very well…just don’t do it. And there never was a relationship, job, or prize: only a scam. Of course, they don’t tell you the money is stolen or that they’re lying about the reason to send it. They often want you to use gift cards or wire transfers. Scammers will want to send money to you, then ask you to send all or some of it to someone else. It often involves scams related to online dating, work-at-home jobs, or prizes. Think about that for a second: “unknowingly” means even honest, hard-working people looking for an extra buck could mistakenly get involved in helping with crime.Īccording to the Federal Trade Commission, “money mule scams” can happen in several ways. Money mulesĪnother feature of interest is the concept of the “money mule.” Money mules are people who help scammers move stolen money, either knowingly or unknowingly. Ignoring (or better yet-reporting!) the schemes designed to trick you out of your personal information will give you the highest odds possible of not having your information up for sale on the dark web. The most effective course of action is for you to hold your information close and learn to recognize a fraud when you see one. Government agencies and private security companies continually monitor the dark web. But when one is shut down, another soon takes its place. This is just a small sampling of what they can do.Īnd now for the million dollar question: Why don’t authorities just shut them down? They do. Information is used to target individuals for a fraudulent scam and turn them into “money mules” (we’ll discuss that further in point #2 below). Malware can be purchased to infect your computers. Compromised card information can be used to create new cards, or credentials can be used online for unauthorized transactions. So what can they do with this information? Well, they can steal your identity, or create new identities and have the identification documents to go with it, in a manner of minutes. ![]() This information is all for sale! Fraudsters have all sorts of strategies to get your information-Social Security numbers, bank account numbers, email passwords-and sell it on the dark web to the highest bidder. The types of information that can be found on the dark web include info from data breaches with other people’s account numbers, malware networks, and all types of personal information. The “dark web” is a digital underground with online sites, marketplaces, communities, and private forums where hackers, fraudsters, and cybercriminals operate and interact. We’ll discuss four items of interest today, beginning with the “dark web:” 1. ![]() And look at you - reading articles like this one is a great first step. But, have no fear: if you educate yourself on their methods, you’ll be able to identify a scam when you see one and avoid becoming a victim. They want to do anything they can to make their own lives easier, not caring if yours becomes more difficult.
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