A software engineer in India lost a lot of money because he fell for a scam. He was only supposed to like a few videos. In the end, he lost around 50,000 euros.
The victim received a message on WhatsApp claiming that he could earn more money by participating in a part-time job. His new task: liking YouTube videos.
But that wasn’t all. The engineer was asked to invest money. Through a Telegram group, he then began transferring the equivalent of 50,000 euros to the fraudsters. After the fraudsters received the money, they stated that he would need to transfer more money for profit sharing. But here the victim turned to the police.
Scammers exploit the lowest human needs
Why does this even work? Many scams rely on three human needs: fear, greed, and loneliness (via polizei-beratung.de). In all three cases, the feelings of the victim are manipulated:
- You are threatened on the phone by a caller who claims the phone bill has not been paid.
- There is an offer to get rich quickly with just a few clicks.
- Lonely people are finally promised a romantic relationship.
Criminals usually promise their victims some emotional gains or explain their predicament and that they urgently need money. The emails from an African prince who wants to transfer a few million to you (Nigerian Connection) are probably the best-known scam.
And not everyone can see through the tricks of such people: According to police crime statistics, there were more than 140,000 reported cases nationwide in 2021. How many people didn’t report out of shame is unknown.
How can you protect yourself against fraud? With a few simple tricks, you can protect yourself against such scams:
- Don’t just transfer money anywhere. Whether it’s for alleged fees, possible gifts, or even winnings.
- Never give your bank details or other personal information to strangers over the phone.
- Watch for spelling mistakes or incorrect greetings in emails. If there’s no greeting at all in the email, it is often a mass email.
- If you’ve met someone digitally and they ask for financial help, refrain from sending money if you haven’t met this person in real life.
There are also fraud cases on Amazon and other sellers. One user bought a great graphics card, but it didn’t end well for him:
User buys top GPU for 300 euros – Community explains to him why he will never see the graphics card
