Online scams are becoming an increasingly popular form of theft. The Federal Trade Commission filed more than 2.8 million fraud reports in the U.S. last year, and 140 million online scams were reported globally in 2020.
As you spend more time online, you’ll want to know how to spot these potential scams. Online scams can happen everywhere, even where you would least suspect it, so knowing the signs of an online scam is important.
Here at Linguado, we want our members to be safe everywhere they go online. There are a few tips and tricks that can help you spot bad actors online that we want to share.
Here are five red flags to look out for to protect yourself against scammers online.
Before you encounter situations with potential scammers, it’s important to see the warning signs. Many of these scams take place over social media sites, but there are things you can look for to help detect scammers.
Bad actors typically don’t put effort into their profiles. They simply need a platform to find users. Therefore, their profile is often underdeveloped. They might have no user description at all. They often don’t take the time to create a username, resulting in a randomly-generated or obscure username. They also don’t want to show their real identity, so stock or fake images of people are common. Here are other details in a profile that could signal a false identity:
This scammer checks lots of boxes: They have a random username and a generic profile photo, which was likely stolen from another real user. Additionally, this scammer’s locations are strange. The bad actor says they are from the United States, but their actual location is the Bang Kruai District in Thailand.
One feature exclusively on Linguado is the “Languages” section, which shows a member’s spoken languages and the ones they want to learn. This is a great way to communicate and connect with members, but it’s also a way to spot scammers. For example, if a person lives in the U.S., and says they know English, but also wants to learn it, that is cause for concern.
This user is from the U.S., yet is looking to learn English and speaks Chinese. While there would be instances where this could be true, it’s reason to be cautious.
While one of these warning signs alone might not concerning, the combination of all of these warning signs combined makes a likely scammer. These measures used are to protect the anonymity of the bad actor. If you see these signs on Linguado or anywhere else online, you might consider reporting the user.
One of the most common ways scammers try to steal money or information is through online transactions that turn out to be fake. In 2019, over €36 billion was lost due to money scams. Scammers can pretend to impersonate anyone. The most often targets are famous celebrities, but they can even impersonate people within your workplace. Here are people or groups that scammers commonly impersonate:
The bottom line is if anyone you don’t personally know is asking for money wires, gift cards, bank account information, or money transfers via Western Union or Moneygram, it is likely a scam.
This can happen anywhere online, and Linguado is not immune. But we want you to be ready and to know what to look for on Linguado, so here’s an example of a scammer asking for money:
While this person seems genuine, this is likely a scam for a few reasons. First, they are trying to play on the emotions of this user by demonstrating their disparity. Additionally, this scammer claims another person has already agreed to help him. This could potentially validate the scammer’s story in the user’s eyes.
However, scammers can be much more creative with their requests. There are plenty of times when they don’t simply ask you for money but have elaborate scenarios to entice you.
3. “Too Good to be True” Deals
When scammers contact you with a deal that sounds amazing and almost too good to be true, it almost always is. These can sometimes seem real, but don’t be fooled. These promises of money for very little work are almost always scams.
Scammers know that we like money, so if their proposal highlights the money you would get from accepting it, that’s another red flag. Here are some deals that are typically scams:
This is an example of the last common scam. This scammer offers an excellent return of 15% per day. For anyone familiar with investing, the average annual return of the U.S. stock market has been 10%, so getting this kind of rate would be the deal of a lifetime. This is clearly too good to be true, which should raise some flags.
Some scammers might even send you money first, then ask you to send it back in some form. Whether through gift cards, Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, or only a fraction of the first payment, don’t be fooled: This is a scam. The money they send is fake, and a few days after they send it, the money will bounce. However, the money you give back is most certainly real, leaving you out to dry.
This scam example has another red flag to be aware of: The scammer asked to move to a different app to chat immediately.
While it might seem innocent, shifting to a different chat makes it easy for scammer to get away with what they are about to try. Apps like Telegram or WhatsApp are less secure than your traditional app, making it easier for scammers to keep running their operations. Many apps (like Linguado!) have technology that detects suspicious behavior and shuts down accounts, making it hard to scam users on those apps. Instead, once they communicate with you, they will try to move the conversation onto a different app to avoid getting caught.
Scammers are not casual about this, and they typically try to move you over as fast as possible.
These platforms are safe havens for scammers. First, all their victims are in one place, and those sites are typically less secure than many apps. Additionally, just by getting on WhatsApp, those scammers get personal information from you: Your phone number. They could either sell this personal information or use it to create another scam account.
It’s safe to say that if a person you’re talking to immediately wants to move to a different platform, you might want to report them.
Another common scam tactic is to convince users to download a free or reduced-price version of the premium app they are using when in reality, that program is fake.
These links or programs that scammers give you to download a different version of the app usually have malware or spyware, allowing the scammer to gather data about you. They could even get access to your computer or phone. The scammer could use this information against you for blackmail.
You can get Linguado Pro, which offers unlimited links, an ad-free experience, and more for a small monthly subscription on the app itself. However, Linguado employees will never ask you to download Linguado Pro through the app’s chat. Therefore, if someone tries to convince you to buy Linguado Pro, it is certainly a scam. The same likely goes for other mobile apps.
Now that you know the tactics scammers might use to steal money or information online, you need to know how to report it. The best way to reduce your chances of getting scammed in the future is always to report scams when they happen to you. While it varies on most apps or websites, there is typically a report button where you can flag the account trying to steal your information. This will help ensure that it doesn’t happen to other users.
At the very least, however, the best thing you can do is block the scammer and delete the messages. This will prevent them from being able to contact you again.
On Linguado, if you ever feel uncomfortable talking to another member, you can unlink, block, and report them. Reporting them will prohibit them from talking to you again and help us create the safest app possible for you. Blocking and reporting scammers on Linguado is easy. You can simply tap on their profile, click the three dots in the top right image, and either block or report them:
The Federal Trade Commission is also there to help. You can file a complaint to report fraud and other types of identity theft, and if you’ve lost money in a scam, you can file the report to the FTC at identitytheft.gov.
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