Before you give your money or information to a person or organization, you want to make sure they are trustworthy. On the internet it is easy to claim to be anything or anyone, but you can learn how to avoid online scams.
Common online scams include auction fraud, employment or business opportunities, and ponzi or pyramid schemes. To avoid auction scams, deal with reputable sites, check a seller's feedback, and don't pay using cash or wire transfers. If the seller suggests an escrow service, make sure it is legit.
Avoid jobs that require you to pay money to be trained. Be careful about responding to ads claiming no experience required and don't respond to unsolicited emails offering employment.
Ponzi or pyramid schemes lack real products and instead promise money by getting you to recruit others to join.
Many scams can be avoided simply by doing a background check. Both honest individuals and scammers will leave a trace of their actions. Typing their name and business name into Google or other search engines should give you some results. If you find a lot of complaints about a person or company, it's a clear sign that you should move on. If you don't find anything, good or bad, that should also raise a red flag. If they claim to have been online for years they should have a web presence. Not having a web presence means they were either lying about that or that they might be an old scam artist operating under a new name.
If you have a business or charity name to investigate, go to the Better Business Bureau to check them out. The BBB covers both the United States and Canada. Individuals won't be listed here, but most business and charities will be. If they aren't, or if there are a large number of complaints, you may be dealing with an online scam.
Asking for reviews in forums is a good way to avoid some online scams, but take all answers with a grain of salt. Some people are extremely gullible or have a monetary stake in the scam and will defend it. Others will assume anything that they have not heard of before is a rip-off.
Finally, you need to trust your instincts. If you feel that something is too good to be true, walk away. Your own judgment will rarely lead you wrong.
