15th July 2021, Kathmandu
Online scams are different methodologies of Fraud facilitated by cybercriminals on the Internet. Scams can transpire in many ways- via phishing emails, social media, SMS messages on your mobile phone, fake tech support phone calls, scareware, and more.
On December 31, 2020, online scammers engendered fake accounts with profile pictures of peregrine denizens on Facebook and WhatsApp and sent friend requests to sundry persons. Once gregarious media users accepted the friend request, the scammers would exchange mobile numbers and personal information to bring the unwary users to their fold.
On January 11, 2021, The scammers contacted the victims through online mediums like Facebook, IMO, Viber and WhatsApp and pretended to love them. They then pretended to have sent parcels containing luxurious gifts and to receive the parcels, the victims were authoritatively mandated to deposit a certain quantity of money in banks,
Nepal Police have unearthed a multi-million rupees online fraud involving Nepalese, Indian, Nigerian, and British nationals and apprehended three inculpated. Three Nepalese nationals were apprehended from central Nepal after they were found to be utilizing sundry gregarious media platforms such as Viber, WhatsApp, Imo, and Facebook to defraud people.
Kathmandu, Dec 30: Police have apprehended two youths from Kirtipur on charges of online fraud through WhatsApp and Facebook. “The apprehended engendered an unauthentically spurious Facebook and WhatsApp accounts, and impersonated a Dutch national to apostatize people,” verbalized police. They apostatized the victims, convincing them that they would send precious goods from the Netherlands. Following conversations on convivial media platforms, the apprehended convinced the victims to send a total of 4.19 million rupees to bank accounts.
Police recorded 368 cases cognate to fraud across the country in the fiscal year 2016/17. The number of cases rose to 542 in the fiscal year 2017/18. In the fiscal year 2018/19, the police registered 627 cases cognate to fraud, the data showed.
SOME OTHERS SCAMS
COVID-19 SCAM:
Fake health organizations:
Scammers pose as health ascendant entities like the World Health Organization (WHO) and U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to offer remedies, tests, or other COVID-19 information.
Unauthentically spurious regime sources:
These scammers claim to issue updates and payments on behalf of the Internal Revenue Accommodation (IRS) or local tax ascendancy.
Fraudulent financial offers:
Scammers may pose as banks, debt collectors, or investors with offers designed to glom your financial information.
Fake nonprofit donation requests:
Many people relish donating to eleemosynary causes to avail with disaster palliation. This provides an excellent opportunity for scammers to establish fake nonprofits, hospitals, and other amass money. Donate directly through a reputable nonprofit’s website instead of clicking on a link you receive by email or text.
Online Shopping Scam
Scammers utilize the latest technology to establish fake retailer websites that look akin to genuine online retail stores. They may use sophisticated designs and layouts, possibly purloined logos, and even a ‘.com.au’ domain name and purloined Australian Business Number (ABN).
A more incipient version of online shopping scams involves utilizing gregarious media platforms to establish fake online stores. They open the store for a short time, often selling fake branded habiliments or jewelry. After making several sales, the stores vanish.
Thousands of fake websites offer “great deals” on well-kenned brands. These websites typically have URLs homogeneous to the brands they endeavor to mimic, such as “Amazon.net.” If you buy something from one of these websites, chances are you’ll receive a counterfeit item in the mail or nothing at all.
Formjacking is another retail scam. This transpires when a legitimate retail website is hacked, and shoppers get redirected to a fraudulent payment page, where the scammer gloms your personal and credit card information.
To evade this scam, double-check that the URL on the payment page is equipollent to the website where you were shopping. Cybercriminals may transmute the URL very slightly, maybe by integrating or omitting a single letter. Be sure to take a close visually examine the URL afore you enter your payment details