Or purchase directly from me if you wish to get the e-book version as well!
Well, this site has been hit with another scam - the 'Google
adwords blackmail' scam. Google adwords were being displayed before
scammers started doing click fraud on my account and consequently getting the
account suspended - big NO thanks to Google
who offered no help (the scammers told me they wouldn't help) and simply shut
the account down without any discussion.
After this happened I had a good look at Google adwords and I now believe that
adwords is a scam in itself - I will be doing a full review of the system and
putting it up on this site (stay tuned as I have discovered some amazing facts
and statistics).
Scams are nothing new, they have been perpetrated throughout time and now
with the world getting smaller criminals are reaching out to potential victims
worldwide at the speed of light.
Why do scammers do it?
To get rich; or in some poor countries (Nigeria) in order to make a living.
The 'Nigerian letter scam' is the countries 3rd largest export.
Anyone with a brain could see it's a scam, only dumb people get
caught!
I personally have a Diploma in Software Engineering and a I.T Degree from QUT
(Queensland University of Technology) so I'm no dummy; yet I was caught out by
an ebay scam (I explain more in the 'ebay' section) AND a phishing email
that managed to get my betting account details (and this was done while I was
writing my Cyberscams book!!).
Why are the scammers contacting me? Am I that special?
You're special to your family and friends but not to a scammer.
Scammers use any means necessary to contact as many people as possible; on the
Internet this includes having programs that get your email address and then
send you the bait email. They contact over a million people a day in the hope
that 1 or 2 will be sucked in.
If you really were special to them the email wouldn't start 'Dear friend ...',
it would start with your name.
What is the best way to protect myself against scams?Knowledge.
Don't hide under your bed and pull your Internet connection out of the wall,
there is too much fun to be had on the Internet!
Learning about these scams is the best defence; scams don't work unless you
give them your personal details, if you don't give that information out then
they can't sting you.
