Internet Fraud, Scam, Password and Identity Theft

Email lotteries, Forex, The Secret, Data Entry & Surveys, Nigerian/African 411/419, Sebastian Foss, FAP Turbo, FRWC Royal Trader, ForexPeaceArmy/Dimitri and more. Are they opportunities or fraudulent scams and rip-offs? Read on...

Update for

FRWC's Royal Trader (verified-performance robots) due in February. See below under Forex Scams.

"All that glitters is not gold" is a very old saying. It's even more true today – and it certainly applies to the Internet. However, real gold DOES 'glitter', especially at over $1,000 an ounce. There are several safe, secure and scam-free ways to buy, hold or sell gold bullion. We do it ourselves through BullionVault where it is registered in our own name and stored in secure vaults in either London, New York or Zurich. See our Bullion Page for more information.

Identity theft over the Internet

This unfortunately is scam and fraud at its worst and is an increasing problem. There are many ways of obtaining personal information under false pretences. Banks, loan, credit and finance companies, PayPal and eBay and other organisations that already have your details on file do not request personal updates by sending out emails. They ask you to log in to your account. If you receive this sort of email message, be very wary, and much more importantly DO NOT RESPOND. Visit the website the same way you usually do. Never follow instructions to click on a link; you may think you are being taken to the correct site, but it will be a fake.

NEVER FILL IN A 'FORM' asking for address and bank details. New scam attempts include employment or job offers as agent or cashier for legitimate companies not involved with the scam.

WEBSITE/DOMAIN NAME OWNERS: Be extremely careful when you respond to an email request to renew one of your own domain names if it comes from a previously unknown source such as ISP Renewal Reminder which is a scam. They ask for a payment of $79.95 and your credit card details. IGNORE AND MARK AS SPAM. Renew as you usually do through the company you originally signed up with and where you will be asked to log into your account.

Protect your website logins and passwords

Logins and passwords to sites are a huge potential security risk. If you are a member of many sites or have affiliate accounts, you probably use the same password for them all. It's a known fact that most users cannot remember multiple passwords and therefore use the same one for everything. This is highly risky as once your login and password has been found by a clever hacker, it could even be used to gain access to your bank or credit card accounts.

The secure password manager that we use and recommend gives excellent protection. It stores, manages and encrypts all your logins and passwords for different sites, whether you're on your own PC or using public computers and using either Internet Explorer or Firefox as a browser. It also protects you from key-logging (unauthorized monitoring of your keystrokes by a third party).

Learn more about Password Manager – the one we use ourselves. You can download the free trial, then upgrade to the full version which is only $30.

How can you be sure that an email is not from a scammer?

Always bear in mind that most internet scams begin with an email. It's often difficult to recognise, as the subject seems so genuine and attractive that you are tempted to open it. STOP RIGHT THERE! Who sent you the email? Was it from someone you have given your email address to? If not then ALWAYS BE ON THE ALERT; it may just be spam promoting a 'dodgy' product which you probably can't avoid altogether, but should simply delete. The same message is being sent to hundreds of thousands of addresses simultaneously. You eventually recognise subject lines and content phrases and can try and filter them out of your system. Sometimes it's easier just to ignore and delete them and give yourself a pat on the back!

Much more dangerous is an email that appears to be intended for someone else, but 'by a stroke of luck' has ended up in your mailbox. It relates to a payment for previous services, a lottery win or other money-related transaction. THESE ARE ALWAYS FAKE. NEVER RESPOND TO THEM. SEE BELOW. If you do you are willingly being led into a trap because you WANT to believe that the email is genuine. That means you are a greedy, clever opportunist, willing to take advantage of a case of 'mistaken identity', putting you on the same moral level as the scammer! Think "NO, NO, NO, NIGERIA!" More below...

Apart from email, never give out personal information over the phone, no matter how genuine the caller sounds! If you are unsure, then contact the organisation direct. There is also a practice by internet thieves called 'phishing' (fishing for information). By accessing your computer while you are connected to the internet without you being aware of it, they may try to get details of bank accounts, credit card numbers, PINs and passwords, social security number and more. You can protect your computer to some degree by using a firewall, such as is built into Windows XP, but this is not infallible. Dedicated security software gives you better protection. Even a free program is better than none at all.

Internet Marketing and Affiliate Sales Scams

A lot of scamming is blamed on internet marketing itself (more below). In its defence, though, a lot of what goes on is labelled 'scam' or 'fraud' when this isn't strictly true. Often a business or activity is quite legal and legitimate but the heavy marketing tactics are excessive. Again, caveat emptor. Those who believe promises of instant wealth or income without effort are naive, and those whose greed transcends their good sense probably deserve to lose money.

"The best things in life are free." If only that were true today! Free information is often useful, but it's rarely the best. Few businesses give all their 'shocking details and secrets' away when they can sell them (or something else) to make even more money. You may well get valuable advice, but it may be part of a pre-sell or softening up strategy. It's important to do your homework first. Do independent research on the product or service on offer, visiting forums and member sites. Join them if necessary to get proper feedback.

Affiliate Marketing is promoting and selling on commission the products or services of others. An affiliate program manages the logistics of supply and payment automatically. There are scam affiliate programs, too, where affiliates don't receive their commissions, so one needs to be wary. Many of the products that are sold in this way are books and tools relating to Internet Marketing itself. Claims of instant success, huge checks or 'overnight wealth' are misleading, and there are certainly scams among them. Effort, knowledge, understanding, experience, perseverance and honesty are all necessary for success in any business, and Internet marketing is certainly no exception. Look for products that receive positive feedback from users, but also beware of scam review sites that are just trying to sell them.

Anyone who starts a new business (internet or offline) should realise that there is a learning curve, and that there will be many stops and delays along the road to success. The idea is to get the best information and that which is suitable for you. There are many different ways of selling products over the internet, but there is a basic set of rules that has to be followed. Most books and courses mention these but with varying emphasis on the major points. There are few if any real 'secrets' left in the internet business.

Should you automatically assume that the words "millions, dollars, internet" strung together in a promotion is a scam? Many would (who could blame them?) and it certainly might be, but it may also be a typically over-hyped but genuine offer. Compare the outrageous claims about products via TV advertising.

Forex Trading Scams

Foreign currency trading is another good example of heavy handed marketing, often with claims of instant profit for a few minutes work. It's not completely untrue, but what promoters fail to tell you (or gloss over) is that it can also be instant loss! You can visit our Forex Pages and start learning about this popular online activity.

Forex on autopilot has generated a lot of interest and it's worth mentioning a popular one, FAP Turbo, now at v49. I bought this 'forex robot' when it was first released last year. Although it makes money, unlike many other robots I have tried, I have come to the conclusion that robots should not be used by traders who don't have enough experience and knowledge of the forex market and its ups and downs. FAP Turbo is now available in Spanish and Chinese language versions too.

I don't think that FAP Turbo and some other robots are scams; some are genuine, well-supported products with ongoing updates and improvements to cope with changing market conditions; there are active user forums for the better ones. To be released on February 16 is FRWC's Royal Trader – the winning robots of the Forex Robot World Cup contest which ended on January 29. Trading results were on continuous public display throughout the two-month competition, so there's little question of a scam product being sold.

The forex scam is the hype and misleading information which abounds, written by internet marketers (not real traders) about the ease of making money trading forex. Much of this is complete fabrication and results shown are not real. This is even more so with robots or trading autopilots.

From my own experience, I would advise anyone to trade using free demo accounts first and not allow forex robots to trade completely unattended. Would you feel safe in an aircraft without qualified pilots in the cockpit, able to take over when things go wrong? As a retired airline captain, I am somewhat biased against that idea too! The point is you do need some knowledge of trading and at least a forex beginners course is essential to teach you, amongst other things, the importance of risk management.

Bill Poulos's Forex Nitty Gritty is one such course that sells for under $100. While there are free internet resources which can be found by diligent searching on any specialist topic – including forex – you can spend a lot of time finding and putting it all together. Following a set training course is easier and has its benefits; also a reputable vendor will offer a full refund if you're not satisfied.

Not everyone will achieve success or profit with forex using the same trading methods; some will not suit their style or personality; some people shouldn't trade at all. Many simply won't follow the instructions or abide by rules. Consistently losing traders will blame anything or anyone – except themselves – they think is responsible for their losses and happily condemn a product or training course as a scam. This is often unjustified; sadly it's human nature.

Unfortunately there are some forex brokers, dealers and even reviewers it's best to avoid for various reasons. From bad personal experience and adverse comments from many traders, we advise you to not to use GCI Trading.

FX Solutions is alleged to be part of a conspiracy connected with the Forex Peace Army (FPA) broker and product review site previously called Forex Bastards, and Dmitri Chavkerov aka Felix Homogratus. Do not be unduly influenced by the 'reviews' and 'scam warnings' on his website. While there are genuine, independent contributors, the FPA promotes its own products and services and gives negative reviews to its competitors. Google any of the names above for complaints of malpractice and fraud. Be suspicious of anyone or anything connected to the ForexPeaceArmy or its 'commanders'.

Is Forex trading easy? It's easy to open an account and start trading. Does one make a lot of money quickly? Not usually. Success comes with training and experience, and the plethora of robots and autotraders will not change that. Visit our Forex Pages to learn more about this business, and don't start trading 'live' before you are really ready and understand the risks.

Surveys are not all scams and people make money from them, but maybe not the fortune they expect

Survey taking is not a scam, but neither is it a way to 'instant riches' as claimed by most companies promoting it. It will probably take some time and perseverance – as is necessary for all successful 'business' activities.

Surveys should always be free to take part in, either in return for cash or gifts. No genuine ones charge registration fees, and no purchase is required, but you may need to pre-qualify one way or another. American Consumer Opinion pays by cheque (we have received them, but the amounts are pretty small). Qualified Opinions Australia are legitimate and Survey Club may also be worth joining. The income depends largely on how many surveys you are offered, how many you complete. Many people do it for fun, as well as picking up extra cash, gifts or coupons.

There is one survey organisation that seems to be on the level and promises good payouts ($10-$40 typically); there is a 56 day refund policy for anyone dissatisfied. This is guaranteed by Clickbank and no questions asked. We have checked out the program's 'credentials' and there's a video that explains it all. Make Money Taking Surveys is extremely popular and very few refunds have been requested, which is a good sign.

Is Survey Scout a Scam?

Survey Scout is probably the best known among programs which basically claim that a high income can be made just by taking surveys. It's debatable whether paying for 'insider secrets' of how to make the most income from surveys is better than 'going it alone', but you can save a lot of time. Survey Scout offers an 8 week free trial, money back guarantee, and $35 is not a huge outlay; there's limited risk in joining and start taking some surveys. They also offer an initial survey to earn $25. If you're interested, visit Survey Scout.

Fake Lotteries and Lottery Scams
Similar in concept to the 419 are scams are more advance fee fraud schemes operating in various countries including the UK, Europe and now South Africa. These relate to large corporate like CocaCola and so-called National Lotteries. You receive a spam email informing you of a win in one of these lotteries. If you follow it up you will be asked for expenses or taxes before you can claim 'your prize'. There is only one authorised UK National Lottery (operated by Camelot) and they do not use email. Neither does Coca Cola. "Coca Cola Lottery" is a label used by a fake lottery and fake "claims agent" in the UK and West Africa, usually Nigeria. Coca Cola does not randomly select email addresses for winners. So beware. Remember too, you are unlikely to win something from a country you've never been to, even less entered its lottery, unless you have purchased a ticket through an agency.

Genuine, Legitimate Lotteries, Sweeps and Jackpots
If international lotteries and sweepstakes such as USA PowerBall or MegaMillions, Euro Millions, El Gordo, Australian or UK Lotto, Japan or Irish Lottery and others are of interest, you can buy tickets through a legitimate online lottery service called Overseas Subscribers Agents. OSA Lotteries have been operating since 1988 and offer 24/7 telephone support in the USA, UK, Netherlands and Australia.

However, be aware the OSA name is also used by scammers to promote fake lotteries, claiming they are based on email addresses. These emails sometimes have .hk (Hong Kong) reply addresses. Do not respond!

Here are some points to note about international or foreign lotteries:

• You cannot win a legitimate lottery if you have not entered it. In almost all cases you must purchase a ticket to enter a genuine, legal lottery, either personally or through a recognised agency.

• You do not have to pay to collect winnings from a legitimate lottery. You may be liable for taxes AFTER you you receive your winnings, but there are no other fees.

• If anyone holds a winning ticket, the lottery does not (cannot) contact them by email, phone or regular mail. There may be a winning number list published on the lottery site. If you purchase tickets from a recognised agency like OSA, they will advise you how to claim your winnings.

• It is illegal under federal law for US residents to play foreign lotteries from within the United States. Some other countries have similar laws for non-residents. Check fully with the agency before entering a foreign lottery.

• If a lottery isn't conducted by a government or government-authorised charitable organisation, it is highly unlikely to be legitimate.

While entering lotteries is hardly a reliable source of retirement income, it certainly provides a diversion, and you never know, you could be lucky. Here is an ebook we found on lottery techniques. Disregard most of the sales hype; the book content is useful.

"The Secret" Scam, the "Law of Attraction" and the "Science of Getting Rich" exposed/explained

"The Secret" was part of an MLM reseller affiliate program that for a while was scam of the year in 2007. They even cribbed the name from a free publication of the same name written in 1910 by Wallace D Wattles. "The Secret" uses high profile promoters like Bob Proctor, Stephen Pierce and Jack Canfield. They were also part of the $1,995 "The Secret Affiliate Package", now revised to make it more 'respectable'. It claimed that you could recoup your $2K investment by signing up just two people and earning $500 commission from each. The usual "rich beyond your wildest dreams" etc. etc. Steer well clear of anything else "The Secret" offers you.

If you bought "The Secret" DVD and found it inspiring, it possibly raised thoughts and questions about your own life and well-being. Have a look at the "Science of Being", also based on texts published in the 1920's. When it comes down to it, there's really "little new under the sun".

Trading in e-currency may have once had potential but the market changed and it is virtually impossible to make a profit or redeem the proceeds as cash or to a bank account. Stay well away from scammer Gary Jezorski. His $299 Currency Exchange Profits Video Training System is a fraud. Confirm it with your own research.

Nigerian 411 – even stale bait will catch greedy fish

"PLEASE CONFIRM YOU ARE DEAD
As you may know, the total amount in your favor is a total sum of $12Million Dollars. We need to confirm from you if it's really true that you are dead and If we did not hear from you it automatically means that you are actually dead and the information passed to us by Mr. Peter is correct."

A letter addressed to BENEFICIARY from the FBI's so-called Anti-Terrorist and Monitory [monetary?] Crimes Division in Washington DC, signed by the FBI Director himself asking you to send your personal details to someone at a Gmail address, to be followed by $300 to secure an ATM card for an account in your name with $800,000 in it.

Would you think the above were genuine? Some uneducated people do. We touched on email scams above. Unsurprisingly, many of the general public already doubts the credibility of Nigerians or anything traceable back to this and other mainly African countries. Professional thieves and scammers are doing their countries a great disservice and they cause enormous damage to the legitimate business sector (hopefully assuming one exists) in these countries.

However, amazing as it may seem after more than 25 years, the Nigerian 411 or 419 scams and their new variations known collectively as advance fee fraud, continue around cyberspace because greedy people still fall for them. One would think after all this time and publicity, everyone would have heard about these spam email scams. But new users discover the internet and open new email accounts every day and most are unaware of the dangers of the fraudsters and scammers lurking in wait. Some will lose considerable amounts of money. The 411/419 fraud perpetrators now operate from many countries besides Nigeria and well beyond Africa.

Emails appear in all sorts of formats now, but the original basic one is still used: poor or archaic English, hiding under a cloak of Christianity and quasi-religious claptrap e.g. "I STRUGGLED AND WORKED HARD AND ALMIGHTY GOD BLESSED ME ABUNDANTLY WITH RICHES". Note the use of all CAPITAL LETTERS. This is a sure sign of a scam, but in recent years, scammers have become far more astute and some are well-educated masterful copywriters. But the basics are that 'out of the blue' you are asked for assistance by a complete stranger. Often it's to help the family of a well-known deceased business or political figure, or central bank official to get access to millions of dollars being held with no known legitimate beneficiary. You will be offered a large percentage of the funds in return for helping to retrieve this fortune for the 'rightful heirs' or your co-conspirator.

First, THERE ARE NO MILLIONS! The way the scammer gets YOUR money is first by establishing a rapport; a personal relationship which leads to disclosure of addresses, phone numbers and eventually bank account details. Here is the scam: at some point you will be told there are some advance expenses which need to be paid before the money can be released. This may be small to start with, but further, larger requests will be made until you start to become suspicious, but you are reluctant to back out, because you will lose what you've already paid; you keep hoping that the whole thing is genuine and you continue following through until your bank account is compromised and emptied. Along the way you might be requested to attend a meeting in another country, for which you will probably pay the expenses for all those involved.

This is highly dangerous, maybe life-threatening. Loss of money ($3000 on average according to the FBI) is almost guaranteed for anyone who responds to these emails which are scams and fraud by professional criminals who are well connected in their own countries and rarely brought to justice.

Here is an email we received originating in Hong Kong, China:

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