Nowadays, we can talk to people as much as we want. Whether through online or offline, we tend to meet new people. We can talk to people we just met.  We can talk to someone we just happen to sit beside jeepneys and buses. We can share our beliefs and personal matters to strangers we just met on the streets. And even how we want to trust people, in some unfortunate times, some of the people we met may be a scammer. Scammer is someone who fools people. They tend to make people fall to their tactics. And once they won into the hearts of their victim, scammers deceive them and get whatever they can get. This is a reality, a sad reality. 

In some situations, a scammer may really be close to you. It may be a person who follows you on your social media accounts. How threatening it may seem, but a scammer is silently watching and observing you until they can see the perfect time to win against you. They do not have specific times to do their agendas. You can be a victim even just after a second of trusting them. The worst thing about it is these scammers still do their thing even in times of a crisis. As they say, hunger will make people strive for a living even if this will mean committing bad things to others. 

No one is exempted to this. But what is good in every bad situation is that we can prevent ourselves from being a victim. In order to be safe from these people, we have to know first some of their tactics and how we can avoid them. 

Scammers tactics and tips on how to respond

1. Scammers may use electronic mails. 

Sending an electronic mail is one way to show professionalism, and this is the very idea why most of the scammers tend to victimize people using this. As for instance, there might be an e-mail sent to you from one of your banks. Of course, at first sight, it may look legitimate and was really sent by your trusted banks. With this, the e-mail may inform you that there is this particular trouble that happened to your bank account. And the next thing you know, you need to tell them your bank details, even the personal ones. 

Tip: 

The first thing you have to do when you receive this kind of email is to listen to your instinct. When you feel like something is suspicious, hold to that. It will be the key to push you to reread the whole message again before responding. You have to analyze the content. Check if there is any grammar or spelling mistake. Be reminded that a legitimate source is unlikely to have any mistakes. And the most alarming of all these is the fact that they are seeking important details from you. Legitimate bank personnel won't ask for any. In some cases, there are links attached to it that need you to log-in. Refrain yourself from that because it may only be a tactic to steal your personal information. 

2. Scammers often tell people about double return of investments. 

A lot of people are falling to different kinds of investments, not because of the company, but because of the money they can get from doing so. At first, investments are good to try. You might not know that this may really be your key to success, not until this has become one of the tactics to scam people. Scammers would tell you they can double your money back in a way that most of the companies cannot do. Sounds really interesting, right? 

Tip: 

To avoid this, the very first thing you'll think about is the fact that what kind of a business has the capacity to give your money back and double it in just a few days? If big companies were not able to guarantee you that earning, why would you trust an unknown business? The real answer to not be victimized is to think, think, and think. Do not be so consumed with false hopes and promises. Too good deals are often not real. 

3. Scammers might steal your friend's identity. 

Sometimes, scammers are just close to you. And because they are observing you, they know who your friends are. Sometimes, they took advantage of your friend's situation and identity. There are cases when these people would use the situation of your friend to get money from you. For instance, let say that your friend is sick or a relative of that friend of yours. An account may say that he is your friend's friend and that help is needed and you need to send him money. When in reality, your real friend does not know all of this. 

Tip: 

No matter how you like to help someone, make sure that the help will be sent to the real person. When faced with this, verify, verify, and verify. It is not bad to ask for a phone call, or sometimes to contact the person he is associating himself as a relative. Do not feel guilty to have second thoughts. This will be the same with donations to charities. Make sure that the donation drive you are helping is legitimate. 

4. Scammers would tell you about big prizes. 

This tactic is also one of the most-used. And I can relate to this. There are a lot of times when I have received a message saying that my phone number received a reward, a big amount of money, and I can only claim the prize if I will give them money so I can activate my account. And that, absolutely, is a red flag. 

Tip: 

Do buy his tactic. A real prize does not require a payment. And also, have you registered for a raffle draw or something to receive this? Always analyze the message, the structure, and choices of words. 

5. Scammers are friendly. 

Strangers who address you with your first name is a red flag as well. They might tell you about something they would help you to do.

Tip: 

Even how helpful they may sound, research about them. Ask them who they are, his position in the company, and about how he knew your problem when you are not even sending even a ticket to ask. Contact the company he is associating himself. Do your research. Do not just believe. 

These 5 tactics are not just it. But as per what I am observing, these are the most used tactics of these people. 

Fact: I have a relative who fell for the double return of investment tactic. She lost a big amount of money. And the sad part is almost all of the money did come from debt, money of other people. She was really depressed, and until now, she is still paying the debt. See? This is not something we can just ignore. We have to spread the red flags so we could all be aware. 

What about you? What other tactics do you know? Can you spare time to share some tips? Let me know in the comments. It would be a big help!