Digital fraud in financial services remains a prime target for fraudulent activity worldwide and grew 33.5% year-over-year, making it an increasing area of concern for businesses and consumers alike.1 As consumer adoption of digital channels has continued to accelerate, the global rate for all types of suspected digital fraud attempts increased 9.4% year-on-year from 2020 to 2021 and 52% from 2019 to 2020.1 Understanding and being able to recognise the tips, tricks and techniques of online security cons is the best way to avoid falling victim to them.
To help you do exactly that, Imane Charioui, Director of Francophone Africa & Middle East at WorldRemit, has put together this guide to help you stay safe online. We’ll cover the different types of scams and how to protect yourself against them.
1. Email scams
Email scams are among the most common techniques employed by frauders. You might receive an email offering a sum of money in return for helping someone to move their money to another account, or overseas. These phishing emails are designed to trick you into revealing personal information or passwords, and pharming emails lead you to a convincing website in order to access your information.
To keep yourself safe from falling victim to these types of scams, consider the following tips. Never click on links or open attachments from an unsolicited email and be sure to check if the sender’s email address matches the website address of the organization it says it’s from. Be wary if the email addresses you in the general sense, such as “Dear customer” and avoid emails with a sense of urgency, asking you to act immediately. Beware of emails with poor grammar and spelling mistakes, and never share personally identifiable information, including banking and credit card information, your birth date, and insurance numbers. To protect yourself from any malware, regularly update your devices with antivirus software.
2. Online dating scams
Online dating scams can occur through online dating websites, but can also be initiated via social media or email. Scammers might express strong emotions for you in a relatively short period of time and suggest you move the relationship away from the website to a more private channel, such as phone, email, or instant messaging. Once they’ve gained your trust, they might ask for money and gifts, even your banking or credit card details.
It is advised that you think twice when sending money to someone you’ve never met in person. Some key ways to spot a scammer is if their internet dating profile or social media page are not consistent with what they tell you, or they ask for money, gifts, or the details of your bank account or credit card details.
3. Shopping scams
More and more of us are shopping online now, but if you spot a great online offer which is too good to be true, it probably is.
Make sure that the website has ‘https’ in the URL (the extra ‘s’ is for ‘secure’) and a small lock icon on the address bar. Even then, the site could be unreliable. Read reviews about the quality of the merchandise, and make sure you’re not buying cheap and/or counterfeit goods.
Use secure, traceable transactions when making payments for goods and services. Credit cards have significant fraud protection built in, but some payment methods do not. Be wary of free trial offers. Before you agree to a free trial, research the company and read the cancellation policy. And always review your monthly statements for charges you don’t recognise.
4. Impersonation scams
To uphold your privacy and online security protect your social media accounts as you would your banking or email account.
To avoid Facebook impersonation scams, do not accept friend requests from strangers or share your password with others. When logging in, use two-factor authentication and avoid connecting to public and free Wi-Fi networks. Keep your browser and apps updated and for an additional layer of security, use proactive cybersecurity software.
Money flipping scams are increasing on social media, where profiles show luxury goods with the promise to deposit money into an account. The scammer may pose as a bank or luxury retailer, and talk about investment opportunities. Social media is a popular medium for these types of scams, especially on platforms with the ability to DM people who aren’t mutual followers.
Sending money safely
If you would like to send money to a loved one, you can keep yourself safe by using the WorldRemit app or making transactions through worldremit.com. Avoid using third party intermediaries, or agents who offer to make transactions on your behalf.
Sources:
- TransUnion. Shipping Fraud Increased Nearly 800% Worldwide in the Past Year. March 2022
About WorldRemit
We’re a leading global payments company and, along with Sendwave, part of Zepz, a group powering two global payments brands.
We disrupted an industry previously dominated by offline legacy players by taking international money transfers online – making them safer, faster and lower-cost. We currently send from 50 countries to recipients in 130 countries, operate in more than 5,000 money transfer corridors worldwide and employ over 1,200 people globally.
On the sending side WorldRemit is 100% digital (cashless), increasing convenience and enhancing security. For those receiving money, the company offers a wide range of options including bank deposit, cash collection, mobile airtime top-up and mobile money.
Backed by Accel, TCV and Leapfrog – WorldRemit’s headquarters are in London, United Kingdom with regional offices around the globe.
| APPROVALS – repurposed from Don’t let them get away with it: How to protect yourself from online scams, published on April 2022 | |
| Stakeholder | Date/Time |
| Sasha Risler PR Lead, EMEA | 24 Aug 2022 |
| Imane Charioui Director of Francophone Africa & Middle East | 25 Aug 2022 |