Being Careful And Smart In The Online Space Full Of Scammers

Everyday a lot of people get scammed online because these scammers come with different tactics. Being aware of this, I don't easily give in to their urgent antics because that is one thing that is common among them. They create fear, claiming to be in a haste just to pressure their victims to fall prey to their scam. I'm very careful when it comes to clicking on random links sent on messages or putting out my personal information online. When I receive messages from friends asking me to click certain links, before doing that, I'd first call to confirm what the message is all about. I also confirm if the link is a secured one or not.

I got a call sometime ago in the year 2021 from a supposedly “customer service” of one of the banks I bank with. The caller mentioned my name in full, telling me that the date of birth on my bank account did not tally with that of my BVN (Bank Verification Number). With urgency in his voice, asking me which is the correct one. I asked to know the particular bank he was calling from because I bank with more than one bank. He became angry saying I was wasting his time, asking me if I didn't know the name of my bank. But I insisted he give me the bank name, he then hung up the call. I laughed out loud. 🤣

There was a day I received a chat from one of my top business partners asking me to quickly make a transfer of 70k to a certain beneficiary, that she had exceeded her limit for the day. This is someone I have much respect for and I also considered a friend and mentor. Out of our over 8 years in partnership, she'd never made such a request from me, so that got me thinking. Though I almost fell for it, a second thought asked me to call her for confirmation. It turned out that her phone was hacked. Scams from unsuspected family or friends are the most dangerous, because they target one's emotion, knowing it's from a loved one.

To stay safe from scammers on the online space, one has to be extremely cautious, because those guys are smart. But one has to outsmart them by always verifying the source of any message received before replying. Ensure to use a safe payment method while making purchases online and avoid using gift cards for online purchases. A lot of people had been scammed through this means. It's also important to regularly update the operating system and antivirus software to avoid being vulnerable to scammer's schemes.

Lastly, like I mentioned earlier, scammers use urgency tactics to pressure their victims to fall for their schemes, through making hasty decisions as a result of pressure, false claims or threats. It's very important to identify such tactics and be calm so as not to fall for their antics. Also, passwords should be strong, containing numbers, letters and symbols, with these one could to a very large extent avoid being scammed. This is how I protect myself from online thieves.

This is my response to the prompt by @indiaunited. Click here to join the contest.

Thanks for stopping by! 💚