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Author Thread: On stereotyping, scammers and identity theft
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On stereotyping, scammers and identity theft
Posted : 14 Nov, 2018 01:27 PM

I am not a scammer. I just found out from forums that women from my country are stereotyped to being such. That is very unfortunate for people from my country who are truly looking for that special someone and for people from the rest of the planet who limit their choices to their own country or race when they can't even find their partners in person.



So how do you recognize a scammer? I've always thought that people who ask you for money for whatever reason, no matter how legit they may sound are suspects. They try to get your trust then present themselves as victims of some misfortune in their attempt to meet up with you, or that there were some complications on their attempt in sending you packages, or any reason whatsoever that require you to send money to them or some other entity. They're master storytellers and they try to get you to worry enough for them for you to try to help them. That's the most obvious sign in determining scammers.



But then, there are other less obvious and more sophisticated scammers that may be difficult to recognize. I sure would like to know how they operate especially the ones involved in identity theft. How does your phone number and email address compromise one's identity? Or do they? One can never be too careful and I sure would like to know how to protect oneself from those dangers.



It's a complicated world out there especially when it comes to relationships. Bad people can take advantage of someone else's need to love and be loved. I have my own fair share of heartaches in online dating but it's another topic that requires a different heading.



This might be a site for Christians to interact but others are not too Christian in how they deal with other members and there's also the sprinkling of other religions. I don't have anything against that but I joined this site because of the thought that Christians are good people. It is my hope that I'd find that one Godly person that's perfect for me.

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On stereotyping, scammers and identity theft
Posted : 14 Nov, 2018 10:28 PM

Phishers and scammers have a bunch of vectors they can use to attack. They can do thinks like trick you into giving them information directly, lead you to a fake website that appears to be something else (e.g. a fake Amazon or Facebook that collects your username and password when you input them), give you poisoned links that lead to malware distribution, deceive you into letting them access your system directly through stuff like screenshare, and so on. The common link is you typically compromise yourself through your own actions, whether you are aware of them or not.



I'd be wary about giving away my email or phone number. They could do stuff like mailing/texting/calling you with spam or more scams. On top of that, many websites and services use your phone as a 2-factor authentication measure. Some hackers are able to trick your phone service provider into switching your phone number onto a SIM card of their own, effectively bypassing 2-factor authentication and letting them pretend to be you in all sorts of ruinous ways. I wouldn't give either out so freely to people whose existence I can't actually verify.

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On stereotyping, scammers and identity theft
Posted : 15 Nov, 2018 04:00 AM

Thanks for the info, Geo. That was informative. Would you recommend setting up a new email address and having another phone number for the sole purpose of communicating with members on sites like this for safety?

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On stereotyping, scammers and identity theft
Posted : 15 Nov, 2018 11:21 AM

A burner email address might be useful if you're really worried. I don't see why you'd need an extra phone exclusively for near-strangers, though. There are plenty of VOIP services you can use to talk with someone over the Internet--Skype, etc.

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