Are you looking for a way to make some extra money? If so, you may have considered investing in a scheme that sounds too good to be true. Unfortunately, there are many investment scams are just that- too good to be true.
What is Investment Scam?
Investment scams are schemes that involve promises of large payouts, quick money or guaranteed returns. You should always be sceptical of investment opportunities that promise a high return with little or no risk – because if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.
Over the years, investment scams have evolved. The latest is on a recently discovered multi-stage investment scam.
A recently discovered Multi-Stage Investment Scam:
Group-IB researchers found a recent scam that used over 10,000 domains to entice people into giving up funds as well as personal information. It all began with a simple ad placed on social media, and on pages of compromised Facebook and YouTube accounts to attract people’s attention. The scam involved 500 malicious domains and targeted people from Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Poland, Sweden and the UK.
A Multi-stage investment scam involves several steps that lead a person to lose more than just money.
How does it work?
- A fake advertisement appears on social media.
- Victims are directed to a bogus investment website.
- On the scam website, the victim enters personal information.
- A person contacts the victim, offering more information about the fake investment.
- A login is offered to an online platform that provides access to dashboard-style reports on investment performance.
- This online portal asks the victim to make an initial deposit of €250.
- The victim is pressured to invest more money and if they ask for a cash-out, the victim is told more needs to be invested to reach the cash-out threshold. This cycle continues until finally being disillusioned by these tactics.
It’s essential to keep your guard up and look out for the following signs to avoid getting scammed.
- Always check the company’s website and see if it looks genuine or not before investing any money into them.
- If an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is.
- Get investment legal advice or financial advice from reputable advisors.
- Ask questions about how a company works and what they do with your money if you’re unsure whether that’s within the scope of their services or business model.
- Always Invest only what YOU can afford to lose.
- Know who is running the show because they could disappear with your hard-earned cash at any time. Search on Whois records to give you information on registered ownership and contact authorities.
Fraudulent activities like scams are a big problem these days, and therefore it is important to be aware of them to protect yourself. That’s why we’ve developed Siccura Cybershield, to help everyone stay digitally safe.
Siccura Cybershield
Siccura Cybershield is the most interactive Cyber security training awareness programme. With philosophy as simple as Test. Aware. Engage, we’ll help you:
- Test you by playing the role of an attacker.
- Make you aware of the types of attacks such as Phishing, Vishing, Ransomeware and more
- Engage you by sharpening knowledge, and teaching how to combat threats.
Through the training programme, we’ll help you turn into a Human Cybershield ready to defend against any possible online threat.