Don’t Fall for Email Scams

Hoaxes have been occurring for thousands of years; they pave the way for conspiracy theories on a worldwide scale, such as numerous UFO sightings and weird and wonderful stories. Before the invention of the internet, these were mostly passed on by word of mouth or printed in local newspapers, but now there are so many outlets for communication that the stories spread like wildfire.

Many of these are harmless, created by someone with a good sense of humour just for the sake of it – but some hoaxes can be much more damaging. Just last year, an American couple pulled a publicity stunt claiming that their six year old son had floated away in a weather balloon, but it was later discovered that the boy was hiding in an attic the whole time. The couple were exposed and sentenced to short terms in jail!

Perhaps the most dangerous hoax to affect the general public is email scams that cheat thousands out of their money. Most of our London escorts have received an email like this at some point in their lives. Almost anyone can generate a professional looking email that can sound very convincing, fooling people into sharing private details such as information about their bank account, address or date of birth – all of which could be used against you.

One of the first major rip offs to spread around the world was from con artists in Nigeria; they sent out emails claiming that a large sum of money was being held in a foreign bank account. They say that they need to move this money from the account, and if you send your bank details you will be greatly compensated for your help. Sometimes they even ask for money upfront – for example, if you deposit £1000 you will make £10,000. If you pay up, we can guarantee that you will not see your money again! Never give out your bank details to anyone, especially your PIN number. Even genuine employees of your bank would not ask for this. Also, don’t ever part with money unless you’re purchasing something through a trusted site; if you don’t know the source, you can’t trust them.

When it comes to email scams you can usually stick to one rule: if it seems too good to be true, it probably is! Don’t fall for it, nothing in life comes for free.