Thousands of Nigerians are victims of the online loan scam every year and even recently imposters are going at it again by claiming to be legit lenders and Customer service agents.
We have put together a hint on how to identify these scammers and most of their strategies are revealed throughout our social media pages, part of which we will discuss here in this topic.
Generally speaking, fraudsters launched 46,126 attacks in Q3 of 2020, and 41,979 of them were successful, according to the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) industry fraud report. With a 173 percent increase from the previous year, one of the most popular channels for these fraud attempts was the internet.
If you’re wondering why the internet is such a popular place for scams, it’s because it’s difficult to keep up with the tactics used by these con artists, who are constantly changing their methods to stay one step ahead of their target.
However, there are a few simple but critical precautions you can take to protect yourself from online scams and imposters.
Here are 4 tips for avoiding online scams.
1. Keep your Personal and Financial Information safe away from Scams
Don’t give out your personal or financial information in response to an unexpected request for your personal information, such as your account number, ATM card number, PIN, CVV, BVN, OTP, or account balance, whether it’s over the phone, by mail, email, in person, or on a social networking site.
2. Be Extra cautious
To mislead you, Fraudsters can call in pretending to be your account officer or construct a website, social media, or email account that looks identical to your financial lender, so you have to always be scam alert.
3. When in doubt, discuss with someone you trust.
If you get a phone call, email, or text message from a company you do business with and you are in doubt, talk to someone you can trust. It’s possible that talking about it will help you recognize it’s a scam.
4. Carefully Create your Passwords
Choose passwords that are difficult to guess by anyone but easy for you to remember, and change them frequently. A strong password should consist of upper- and lower-case characters, digits, and symbols. Use different passwords for different accounts/profiles, and don’t share your passwords with anyone.
The Takeaways
Anyone can get scammed online. This is why it is essential to exercise caution when using the internet to prevent being a victim of an online scam
