These methods are difficult to track and it’s rare to recover money sent this way. Scammers often ask you to pay by non-secure payment methods such as wire, bank or international funds transfers, money orders, pre-loaded gift cards, and cryptocurrency like Bitcoin.

Think about how they’re asking you to pay.

It's using a non-secure payment method.

The price might be enticing, but remember that scams often present offers that really are too good to be true.

Don’t rush - take the time to do your research and consider whether a website is real. Scammers try to create a sense of urgency to encourage you to do something quickly. Don’t rely on this alone, as some scam websites use https too. When online shopping, always look for the https (not http) and the padlock icon in the address bar to ensure there’s a secure connection between you and the website. Don’t rush - take the time to think about what the message is telling you to do and consider whether it’s real. Scams often try to create a sense of urgency. Legitimate sites containing sensitive information will use https not http, but don’t rely on this alone - some scam sites use https too. Even if you think the text might be real, it’s safer not to click on any links, and to log into your account by typing your bank’s URL (Uniform Resource Locator) directly into the address bar. The address bar appears at the top of your web browser, and the numbers and letters that make up the URL are the directions to the website or webpage. These types of websites attempt to trick you into giving out personal information such as your bank account details, passwords and credit card numbers. The new SMS contains a link to a phishing website. It tells you to log into your account but provides no links that could lead to potentially malicious websites. The previous SMS is legitimate and it provides information only. It's different in style from the first SMS.Scammers can ‘spoof’ real phone numbers or email addresses, to make it appear that they come from your actual bank or another legitimate contact. Even if you’ve previously received legitimate SMS messages from the same number, don’t assume all following messages are real. About Scamwatch Expand submenu for 'About Scamwatch'.News & alerts Expand submenu for 'News & alerts'.Scam statistics Expand submenu for 'Scam statistics'.Attempts to gain your personal information.Types of scams Expand submenu for 'Types of scams'.

234 area code whatsapp scam