United States citizens should be alert to attempts at fraud by persons claiming to live in Ukraine who offer goods for sale or profess friendship, romantic interest, and /or marriage intentions over the Internet. Neither the Embassy nor the Department of State is in a position to help recover lost money or property in such cases.
Purchasing goods via the Internet: U.S. citizens should exercise extreme caution when conducting on-line transactions with parties in Ukraine. The Embassy receives frequent reports from Americans who have transferred funds to Ukraine for the purchase via on-line auctions of goods that never arrive. Likewise, the Embassy also receives reports of non-payment for items shipped to addresses in Ukraine. When considering such transactions, exercise due diligence.
Dating Schemes and Marriage Fraud: The most frequent reports of scams the Embassy and the Department of State receive relate to on-line dating and marriage services. Correspondents who quickly move to professions of romantic interest or discussion of intimate matters could very well be scammers. The anonymity of the Internet means that the U.S. citizen cannot be sure of the real name, age, marital status, nationality, or even gender of the correspondent. In many cases, the correspondent turns out to be a fictitious persona created only to lure the U.S. citizen into sending money.
Typically, once a connection is made, the correspondent asks the U.S. citizen to send money or credit card information for living expenses, travel expenses, or "visa costs." Sometimes, the correspondent notifies the American citizen that a close family member is ill and begins to request monetary assistance. In other instances, the scammer cites the need to pay for travel expenses and ?necessary travel documents? or expresses the need for funds to settle a property or other legal dispute in order to leave Ukraine.
A request for funds almost always marks a fraudulent correspondent. American citizens who fall prey to these scams have reported suffering emotional damage as well as losing thousands of dollars. U.S. citizens are cautioned against sending any money to persons they have not actually met. If they do choose to send money, they can take several precautions.
* They may refer to http://uscis.gov for authoritative information about the immigration process and the true costs involved. For example, U.S. law does not require Ukrainian visitors to have a certain amount of "pocket money" in either local currency or dollars. Any request for money on this account would likely identify a scammer.
* They may arrange to prepay for a plane ticket directly with the carrier rather than wiring money for transportation to the traveler.
* If the correspondent provides an image of a purported U.S. visa as proof of intention to travel, the American citizen may contact the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv to ascertain the validity of the visa.
* They should carefully check the address of the bank account to which money is to be wired. If a Ukrainian citizen asks for funds to be deposited in a bank outside of Ukraine, this is an indication of likely fraud.
Internet frauds may not be apparent to you, if you are new to the Internet. But, make no mistake! It does not seem to be real until you are actually bitten by an online scam. Those who do fall prey to internet scams are hurt in more ways than one. Anybody using the net for long would sooner than later be acquainted with internet frauds in one of its many avatars. Unsolicited emails, dubious websites and suspicious links are familiar calling cards to online scams if you are a seasoned net user.
Online fraud is alluring because it is ridiculously easy to carry out!
Committing fraud is easy online. The easiest way is to cheat outright. Scammers collect money in lieu of a product or service and later shy away from keeping their word. Another way is to steal personal financial information like bank account number, social security number and credit card number and to use these to swindle online. With stolen information, they can conduct illegal transactions on bank or credit card accounts thus robbing you of your hard-earned money.
Scammers operate at another level by cheating emotionally. They use your feelings of sympathy and empathy and play on it. They also prey on feelings like greed present in individuals. A common scam known to net users as Nigerian email scam is worth recounting. It starts by offering the chance to earn a substantial amount of easy, illegitimate money to its victims.
The Nigerian Email Scam
Individuals who perpetrate such a scam send an email to you. This unsolicited message would describe how the scammer has access to a large sum of money in their country. But they cite some reason, usually political or legal, for not being able to realize the funds in their country.
Now, they would request your help in this endeavor. In return, they promise you a commission of something like 15-20% of the total amount. The fraudster would then send a check made out in your name for the substantial fund. But, he would request you to send a check for the balance amount before redeeming it. As soon as the fraudster receives your check, he would redeem it. You only realize the scam when you receive a communication from the bank informing you that the check from the fraudster was a fraudulent one.
Internet scams are and will continue to be part and parcel of online experience
Internet frauds have come to stay. Despite the fact that more and more people are waking up to them, they will continue to be an outrage to fair trade and a gross misuse of a powerful and wonderful medium of communication.
But this should not stop you from using the Internet. Using small precautions can keep you away from falling prey to online fraudsters. In this one-up game between you and fraudsters, ignorance can mean defeat. A simple awareness of such issues can guarantee a safe and enjoyable online experience for you.
Both Lar & Dave Text are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Lar has sinced written about articles on various topics from Travel and Leisure, Credit Cards and Hotels and Hostels. Click here to read more regarding .. Lar's top article generates over 201000 views. to your Favourites.
Dave Text has sinced written about articles on various topics from Travel and Leisure, Jewelry and Travel and Leisure. Hi! I regularly write on online fraud at various places on the net. I believe that the greatest ally of online fraudsters is your ignorance. Stay one-up in this cat-and-mouse game between you and online cheats. Visit. Dave Text's top article generates over 368000 views. to your Favourites.