Ten ways to protect yourself from fraud

It’s a new year and let’s try to make it a year where none of us become victims of a fraud or a scam. I came across an article, at the Simple Dollar, that lists ten ways to easily detect if someone is trying to pull a scam on you. I’ve provided a summary of the article for you to read:

Ten ways to tell if you are being scammed:

•  Unsolicited phone calls Ignore all calls from people that you do not know. Just politely ask to be removed from their call list and hang up the phone.

•  Unsolicited emails Mark all unsolicited email as junk and delete them from your in box. Don’t even bother opening them as many also contain viruses along with fraudulent claims for easy riches.

•  Unsolicited mail Buy a small shredder and shred and recycle all of your junk mail offering to sell you an easy way to win or make money. All of these types of offers are false and not worth wasting your valuable time on. 

•  Pressure to make a sale If anyone tries to pressure you into a sale by playing on your  emotions, simply walk away. No deal is worth being made to feel guilty or embarrassed and if a salesman has to resort to these tactics, then it’s probably not that great a deal.

•  Requests for personal information Never give out your personal information to any unsolicited requests over the telephone or the internet. You are just asking to become a victim of identity theft. The only time you should give your information to a business is after you have initiated contact with them for the first time. Anytime someone contacts you for an update of your personal information, do not give it, but call the business itself and find out if the request is legitimate.

•  Refusal to provide documentation If a charity comes to your door and refuses to provide you with proper identification, just close the door. Do the same for anyone who phones trying to sell you something and refuses to send you any information about the product or charity. Any legitimate business would be happy to do this for you. If a salesman does not want to do this, it’s a good warning that the product the are selling is not legitimate.

•  Refusal to provide contact information A salesman refusing to provide you with contact information for his company is also a good warning that you are dealing with a business that is not legitimate.  Any honest salesman would be more than happy to provide you with contact information so you could contact his company and ask any questions you might have about it.

•  Refusal to accept trackable forms of payment It’s true that cash is king, but when you are making a purchase for the first time from a company you have never dealt with before, you should use a form of payment, such as a cheque or credit card, that is easy to track and trace. If a salesman insists on being paid only in cash, walk away. You are probably dealing with someone who just wants to take your money and run.

•  Refusal to provide credentials or proof of their statements If a company selling you a service refuses to provide you with references or proof that they or their product is capable of doing what they claim it can do, then just close the door. Always ask for appropriate licenses and references before hiring someone to do a job for you.

•  Promises of simple ways to earn or win money There are no free lunches in life and anyone who tells you otherwise is lying. If anyone tries to sell you an easy way to make or win money just walk away. 

Comments

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Thank you for putting this together. With the prevalence of different scams this list would be an excellent reminder on how to protect oneself from these scams and frauds.