From alleged police calls and support calls to the Nigerian prince: scammers never tire of coming up with new scams.
PC and smartphone owners are increasingly being notified by scammers. What is this all about? (Source: Image source and montage: Netzwelt with the help of AI)
In today’s connected world, scammers are an ever-present threat. They use the Internet and other channels to pose as legitimate service providers or institutions. Their goal is to obtain their victims’ money and personal data.
Their methods are varied and range from simple phishing emails to complex identity theft. Scammers are adept at gaining and exploiting the trust of their victims, so it is important to recognize the typical signs of fraud and take precautions.
- What are scammers?
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Phishing vs. Scamming
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Detect scammers
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Report a scam
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Romance-Scamming
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Other forms of scamming
What are scammers?
A scammer is a person or group of people who makes money through fraudulent activities. They deceive their victims to obtain their personal information and money. Scammers use a variety of scams, including emails, phone calls, fake websites and social media to target their victims.
Their goal is to gain the trust of their victims and impair their ability to make decisions. They often target older people or those who are less tech-savvy, as they tend to be more susceptible to scams. However, there are also plenty of known cases where people with good tech skills have fallen for the scammers.
Phishing vs. Scamming: The Differences
Phishing and scamming are both scams, but they differ in their approach and goals. In phishing, cybercriminals send deceptively real messages to their victims, posing as legitimate companies and institutions.
The aim is to trick recipients into revealing confidential information, such as personal information, login details or bank details. Phishers use emails, fake websites and social engineering tactics, among other things.
The term scamming is broader and includes various fraud schemes in which individuals or organizations suffer financial loss. Scams come in various forms, such as false job offers, lottery or competition scams and romance scams. The aim is to trick the victim into transferring money or granting access to accounts.
The main difference between the two fraud methods is that phishing is primarily aimed at obtaining sensitive information, which can then be used for identity theft and transactions.
In contrast, scamming describes various fraud schemes in which money or assets are directly extracted from the victims. Phishing can therefore also be seen as a type of scamming method.
How to recognize scammers and protect yourself from their scams
Scammers usually send emails in English in order to reach as many users as possible. The sender addresses are usually not very informative and often contain special characters such as “?” and “/”.
With romantic scamming, on the other hand, you receive long, cheesy texts that suddenly move from the topic of hobbies and religious questions to marriage. Shortly afterwards, the costs of a visa or a wedding are already being discussed.
Basically, you should always be alert when you are asked for transfers and cash. This also applies if you are asked to give out confidential information such as account details and passwords. But you also have to be careful when shopping. Especially if the prices are suspiciously cheap, you should always compare them with similar offers.
Platforms on which private individuals advertise are particularly vulnerable to scammers. These include ImmobilienScout, classified ads, Facebook Marketplace or Airbnb. And no matter whether it’s apartments, partner searches or job advertisements – if an offer sounds too good to be true, you should stay away from it.
Report a scam: What you can do if you are affected
If you have become a victim of a scam, you should contact the police immediately and file a report. Be careful not to delete any evidence such as chat histories or your browser history, no matter how unpleasant the incident may be.
In addition, you should definitely not contact the perpetrator again. Instead, get a new email address and phone number. If you have already made transfers, you can contact your bank and try to reverse the transactions.
In Germany, online scams are considered a fraudulent act according to Section 263 of the German Criminal Code. Perpetrators can be fined or sentenced to imprisonment for up to five years. If entire scammer gangs are involved, this is often considered commercial fraud, which can result in prison sentences of up to ten years.
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However, the investigations are usually complicated and the chances of success are slim, as scammers usually operate from abroad.
Romance scamming: The most common scamming method
In romance scamming, scammers create fake profiles on dating sites and social media platforms such as Instagram or Tinder. They write to their victims and try to gain their trust over a longer period of time. They present themselves as dream partners and pretend to have feelings for the victims.
Once the gullible victims have taken the bait, the scammers ask for money. They give reasons such as an urgently needed operation and try to arouse sympathy. Or they claim that they need it for a plane ticket or visa to visit the victim.
Since the online relationship is already well advanced and the victims have developed feelings for their supposed dream partner, they feel obliged to act on it. Especially if they want to meet their counterpart in real life.
The scammers also promise their victims that they will pay the money back, which of course does not happen. Once the money has been transferred, it is usually gone forever. Some scammers even try to persuade their victims to make further payments.
Other forms of scamming: From Indian call centers to Nigerian princes
Romance scamming is just one of many scams used by cybercriminals. Let’s take a look at other well-known scamming methods:
Nigerian Prince
In this scam, also known as the Nigeria Connection, the perpetrators pose as important African businessmen or even Nigerian princes. They promise their victims a proportional reward if they help them bring large sums of money out of the country. In return, they are asked to give out their account details or pay a fee.
Indian Support Scammers
As recently as October 2023, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided 76 call centers in India. Two international scammer networks were uncovered. The perpetrators had defrauded over 2,000 victims worldwide with fake virus reports.
Such networks are mainly found in large cities in India such as Delhi and Kolkata. However, the small town of Baharatpur is considered the Mecca of cyber criminals. However, the Indian scammers’ scam is usually the same.
A warning suddenly pops up on your screen, alerting you to an alleged virus attack. There is also a phone number you should call for technical support. On the other end of the line are the scammers, who pretend to be Microsoft employees, for example.
They offer to remove the virus from your system in return for a fee. In other cases, they ask you for permission for remote access so they can control your computer remotely. But instead of deleting the supposed virus, they install malware and steal your data.
Scamming when searching for real estate
If you search the private housing market for a new place to live on portals such as ImmobilienScout and classified ads, you will also come across suspicious-looking advertisements. These offer modern, large properties at ridiculously low prices.
If you respond to such an advert, you will receive a fake rental agreement after a short time. The scammers are not interested in a viewing appointment. You don’t even have to provide important documents such as a Schufa credit report or proof of salary.
Now comes the catch: the deposit is requested in advance, after which the house key is sent to you by post. This is because the landlord is supposedly abroad. In the end, the tenant is left without an apartment and never sees the deposit again.
The same trick is also used in apartment scams. Here, travelers pay a deposit for a vacation rental that doesn’t even exist. Here, too, the scam lures with unbeatable prices and high-quality apartments and claims that the victims will receive the key by post.
Used car scam
There are two forms of used car scams. Firstly, sellers offer their cars for significantly less than their market value. Here too, a down payment is requested in advance as an expression of trust. However, the car is then never handed over.
On the other hand, buyers of a used car pay with a check for more than the agreed purchase price. They then get the difference refunded. It then turns out that the check was not covered, while the car is already hundreds of kilometers away abroad.
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Interest Scam
Older people in particular are often victims of fraud. This is also the case with pension scams, where scammers target pension savings. They can also saddle their victims with high tax bills.
Pension scammers contact their victims by phone, email or SMS. They advise pensioners to invest all their money in just one investment instead of splitting it up into several.
Job advertisement scam
The job market is also not free of fraudsters who lure their victims with dream jobs. In the advertisements, for example, applicants are promised horrendous pay for a few hours of work from home.
Scammers send such messages on WhatsApp. (Source: Screenshot Netzwelt)
Those who respond to the job advertisement do not go through a complex application process. Instead, they are asked to pay a processing fee in order to get the job that does not actually exist. In other cases, the victims give out their bank details for the salary payment, which never arrives.
There are currently a lot of such supposed job offers circulating on WhatsApp. You can protect yourself from them with an antivirus program.
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