How to spot hoax websites and avoid being scammed

The Internet provides a very useful platform for access to services such as health, education, government services, and financial services among others.

However, scammers have also taken advantage of the huge opportunities the internet offers to defraud their unsuspecting victims. They often target their victims through hoax websites sent via email or shared social media platforms.

What is a hoax website?

Hoax websites are websites that are created deliberately to deceive, mislead and manipulate unsuspecting internet users to extract personal information or swindle them. The links to these websites are mostly shared via email and other social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp etc.

Characteristics of a hoax website

Hoax websites share some characteristics in common. Some of these include:

• Asking users to fill out a form and provide their personal information: Websites purported to be recruitment sites, visa lottery sites, or promoting anniversary gifts usually ask clients to provide their personal information when filling out forms to qualify to be recruited or win gifts. Such personal information may later be used for
• Asking users to share a link with five WhatsApp groups or fifteen individuals on other platforms: In order for their messages to go viral, hoax websites usually demand that before their unsuspecting clients claim their prices they must share the link or message to WhatsApp groups and individuals.

• Demand immediate payment: The fraudsters who run these hoax websites usually demand quick payments from their clients because they may be exposed if the client consults before making the transaction. 

• Demanding users to fill forms personally and caution against consulting others for guidance: They also usually advise clients not to consult anyone during the process of filling out the form and paying the amount of money involved.
•  Too-good-to-be-true offers: If the website is promising an offer which is too good to be true, it probably isn’t. Some of the fraudsters give mouth-watering offers at a heavily discounted price or give prizes or scholarships in exchange for a small amount of money clients can afford. The amount may be so insignificant that clients may not realise they are being defrauded, but when the fraudsters make such a small amount on each of their clients in the end, they make a very significant amount.
• Pressure to buy quickly: Hoax websites that advertise non-existent or fake goods often demand quick payments from their clients as a delay in payment may give them out.
•  Fake Schemes: Some of the schemes usually advertised by the hoax websites include fake anniversary and cash gifts, fake visa lotteries, internet fraud, get-rich-quick schemes, fake prize scams (random winner of a prize you have not entered for), pyramid schemes, ponzi schemes, phishing scams, job recruitment scam, among others. Scammers make millions of dollars from their victims every year.

According to the Canada Anti-Fraud Centre, as of June 30, 2024, a total of 15,941 Canadians fell victim to fraud which resulted in a loss of $ 284 million. In 2023, about 41,988 people in Canada were defrauded which led to a loss of $569million.

In 2022, the Bank of Ghana recorded a total of 2,998 fraud cases in Banks and Special Deposit Institutions (SDIs). This represents an increase of about 28% over the 2021 figure of 2,347 fraud cases. Of the 2,998 fraud cases in 2022, about 422 were cyber-email fraud and 149 of the fraud cases were through E-Money transactions.

Between 2019 and 2022, Banks and SDIs in Ghana reported over 10,000 attempted fraud cases which resulted in over GHS1 billion cumulative value loss from fraud.

The Canadian edition of the Little Black Book of Scams explains some of the hoax schemes:

Visa lottery/fake prize scam

Hoax websites target their victims by mimicking genuine visa lottery schemes such as the US Diversity Visa Lottery to deceive and extract personal and banking information from them. The scammers may use the information you provide to harm your identity or steal money from you.

There are also fake prize schemes informing you that you have won a prize or a contest. The scammers will usually contact you through phone calls, email or text messages and ask you to pay an amount of money to claim your prize. The most important thing to note here is that you cannot win a contest or a prize in a lottery unless you entered it yourself or someone entered it on your behalf.

Pyramid Schemes

Pyramid schemes encourage unsuspecting investors to pay huge membership fees to participate in money-making ventures. To get promoted to higher ranks and be able to recover your investment, you are required to convince other people to also subscribe and invest their money. However, there is no guarantee that you will recoup your investment. The pyramid eventually collapses and investors lose their investments.

Ponzi schemes

Ponzi schemes are similar to pyramid schemes. They are fraudulent investment operations that usually entice well-to-do investors with high returns for their investments. The returns are usually short-term and are either abnormally high or unusually consistent. The schemer mostly interacts with existing participants, often persuading them to reinvest their money.

Phishing scams

In phishing scams, scammers trick users into giving their personal information by clicking on links. These tricks may include email and website name spoofing, offers of refund or money, seemingly harmless requests to click links, download attachments or fill out forms online and instructions to scan a QR code. Phishing can lead to identity fraud, ransomware and spear phishing.

Job recruitment scam

Job recruitment scams promise guaranteed jobs or a certain level of income. The links are usually shared on social media or the scammers will usually reach through spam email. You may be asked to pay an up-front fee for “business plan”, start-up materials or software.

How to avoid falling prey to hoax websites

Look out for the locked padlock symbol: A locked padlock symbol on a web browser means the website is secure. However, this does not guarantee that it is safe to visit those sites because a website can be secure and still be a scam.

Look out for the S in the https: In https the “S” means secure. If it’s missing then it means the website is not secure, but even secure sites can be scam

Privacy policy: Also, you must always look out for privacy policy and check to be sure it is legitimate.