Types of fraud explained

Types of Fraud:

The evolution of the internet has increased the ease of fraud in our world today. However, fraud may also be carried out through physical contacts with the potential victim(s).

The fraudsters employ various means to achieve their goals. These methods of scamming people can be explained through the various types of fraud.

Meanwhile, 'types of fraud' may also be referred to as 'forms of fraud'. They include the following:

1. Mail Fraud

Unsolicited emails with clickable links are sent to potential victims. Such links may land on a fake or cloned website requiring important details like passwords, username, Bank Verification Number (BVN), ATM pins, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) number and so on. Email frauds are often regarded as a type of phishing.

Phishing is a form of fraud in which an attacker clones itself as a reputable entity, presenting a malicious link through the sending of targeted emails, text messages or voice calls, in an attempt to get Personal Identifiable Information (PII), login credentials, financial details and other sensitive data of an individual or organization.

To avoid mail fraud, we should be very careful when clicking links attached to emails; as some of these links may lead to malicious landing web pages requiring sensitive information.

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2. Romance Fraud, Romance Scam or Catfishing

In romance scams, the fraudster lies about his or her identity in an attempt to win the heart of their potential lover, who may eventually become the victim if the scam pulls through.

The victim may eventually fall in love (or enter a sort of relationship) with the fraudster who seizes this opportunity in demanding for money and other valuables through a series of lies or emotional blackmails.

Catfishing typically occurs on dating websites and apps, chat apps and other social media apps.

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3. Fake Credit Notification

Fake credit notifications are usually received as text messages. As an instance, one may buy products from a physical store. The buyer may choose to deceive the seller by paying through a fake financial transfer done on his or her phone.

Interestingly, the seller immediately gets an account credit notification on his/her phone stipulating that the exact amount of goods purchased had been transferred into their bank account. However, such fake notifications is a scam since it does not emanate from the seller's banks. For this reason, it is highly recommended to confirm credit notification online through our bank's official app.

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4. Ponzi Schemes

A ponzi scheme is defined as a form of fraud perpetrated online through a structurally non-existent enterprise which pays old investors though funds collected from new investors in a timely and quick time frame.

Out of greed, the investors partake in ponzi schemes which typically promises 100% return on investment in one month or even less. They may eventually lose their entire capital through this scheme. Sadly, some had committed suicide through pertaking in ponzi schemes.

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It is important to state that an unbelievably high return on any investment is a red flag towards such investment.

5. Fake Charity

People may be defrauded through fake charity organizations. Such charity organization display fake humanitarian projects on their website and other social platforms in an attempt to get financial donations from potential givers.

It is noteworthy to state that a legitimate charity will not force one into making donations. Also, they usually do not request gift cards or cryptocurrencies as their preferred means of payment. These are scammer's favoured methods of payment since such money is easy to access and difficult to trace.

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6. Debit and Credit Card Fraud

Fraud may be perpetrated through one's debit or credit card if certain details on the cards are compromised. For this reason, we should treat our debit and credit cards with utmost security.

Important details on the debit and credit cards include the card holder's name, the 16 digit code in front of the card, the expiration date in front of the card and three or fours digits Card Verification Value (called the CVV number) seen at the back of the card. These important features on the cards should be kept private.

Exposure of these aforementioned details can lead to online fraud through the making of payments with the victims' card. Also, their money can easily be transferred to another account using these details.

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7. Funds Transfer Fraud

This is said to occur when a fraudster receives the payment of a transaction instead of the intended recipient. To achieve this, the scammer may impersonate as an executive of an organization, or a representative of a business transaction.

In a fund transfer fraud, fake payment instructions are sent to the other party who is to make payments. If these payment instructions or invoices aren't verified, money may be sent into the fraudster's account. Such fraudsters usually transfer the money to their cryptocurrency wallets while also closing the dubious bank accounts within this period. This makes such money difficult to recover.

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8. Loan Sharks

These are illegal lenders with extremely high interest rates, and strict terms and conditions towards collecting their payments, and will often target low income earners, especially those finding it difficult to access money from legal sources.

Unfortunately, some unregistered online loan apps can indirectly carry out fraudulent activities by giving out loans with an interest of 50% or more, spanning a period of two weeks to one month.

If the victim fails to pay the interest within the stipulated time frame, the loan shark tarnishes the loanee's image and may even issue death threats in some cases. Through such forms of threat, the loanee may eventually pay the borrowed money alongside huge interest to the loan sharks.

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9. Fake Popup Messages

Popup messages are text that appears on the phone or computer's screen when browsing a website. Some of these popup messages may be fake, and websites showing such may be malicious.

Fake popup messages are often appealing. For instance, a message may appear telling the user that he or she has won a huge amount of money.

If a user clicks the fake popup message, they may be redirected to a compromised website. Such website could collect the user's financial information.

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10. Lottery Fraud

They typically come in the form of email, SMS or phone call, telling a person that they have just won a lottery. As an instance, a fraudster will contact its potential victims, telling them they have won a huge sum of money through an organized lottery event.

Lottery fraud also refers to any act done in order to defraud the lottery game. In this regard, the aim of the fraudster is to win the jackpot prize of the lottery through fraudulent means. As a result, the organisation running the lottery may be defrauded.

An individual may also be defrauded if the jackpot prize of their lottery ticket is stolen. Also, an altered lottery ticket may be used to claim a jackpot prize if not properly checked.

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11. Mortgage Fraud

A mortgage refers to a type of loan obtained to purchase physical assets like landed properties. In order to collect this loan, the borrower agrees to pay the lender over a period of time alongside the interest. The landed property obtained through the mortgage may then serve as collateral to secure the loan.

Mortgage fraud refers to a fraudulent act whereby the borrower obtains the mortgage by lying on their mortgage application. Therefore, the mortgage lenders may be defrauded through this act.

Due to the prevalence of this fraud, mortgage lenders are becoming more strict with regards to their lending criteria. Report has it that about 0.004% of mortgage applications are fraudulent.

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12. Funds Transfer Schemes

In this instance, one may be tempted to provide his or her bank account details for money laundering scams. They are given commission for this act, which could eventually land them in prison.

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13. Fake Links

These are web links that lead to malicious websites. Such links are typically sent on various chat applications. These links lead to fake social media sites requesting the users' login credentials; that is, their username/email and password used on the genuine website.

If the users enter their login credentials on these fake sites, their accounts on the genuine sites may be eventually hacked.

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14. COVID-19 Scams

Fraudulent activities had also been carried out  through COVID-19 scams. In this case, large sums of money allocated to COVID-19 palliatives are siphoned. In cases where these palliatives are purchased, they my not be disbursed to the people who really needs them.

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