By Ean McDonald - September 28th, 2020

If you've ever spent time speaking with a scammer, or been fooled by one, you understand that many of them are quite good at their jobs. In this article, I aim to give you some general tips to help you discern who might be a bad person, or how to avoid these situations altogether.

These general tips came from an Australian site on the subject which is worth reading (and there's some really good video resources on this site too):

Remember to be careful if someone:

• you don’t know contacts you out of the blue (be skeptical because it can be anyone behind a keyboard on the other side of the conversation)
• you’ve never met in person asks for money
• asks you to pay for something or to give them money through unusual payment methods such as gift cards, wire transfers or cryptocurrencies
• asks you to pay for something in advance — especially through an unusual payment method
• asks you for personal information, like your bank details or passwords, or access to your computer
• pressures you into buying something or making a decision quickly
• offers you something that sounds too good to be true — like an online shopping deal, a prize for winning a competition, an unclaimed inheritance or an invitation to invest in an ‘amazing’ scheme.

Ean's Internet Rules for a Peaceful Cyber-Existence

1. Don't get flustered, take a breath, and ask for time to consult a friend for advice.

In almost every scam that's out on the internet, or over the phone, the scammer is going to make you feel like you're under a critical time constraint. Scams take all sorts of shapes, but a common thread is that they don't want you talking to someone else about any of it. Contrary to this, a legitimate representative from a bank, or a company like Microsoft won't mind you seeking out assistance from someone who might know more.

Feel free to contact us for a second opinion.