How to Spot and Avoid Get-Rich-Quick Scams
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Here's your money briefing for Wednesday, November 17th. I'm Trina Neri for The Wall Street Journal, filling in for J.R. Whalen. Scammers have been running get-rich-quick schemes on social media for years, but it's gotten a lot worse during the pandemic, with people spending more time online.
It's really easy for someone to look like maybe your type of person or a person that you would trust just based on how they create their profiles.
Coming up, we'll talk with WSJ contributor Svati Narula about how to spot these scams and avoid them.
That's after the break. This podcast is brought to you by ReliaQuest. Cyber criminals are constantly attacking. They want your data. They want your identity. They want your innovation. ReliaQuest fortifies your business with agentic defense, AI that detects, contains, and eliminates cyber threats in minutes. It helps your security team move faster at the work that matters most to protect the business now and delivers insights to help them predict what's next. ReliaQuest, agentic defense for the enterprise. Learn more at ReliaQuest.com. That's R-E-L-I-A-Q-U-E-S-T.com.
Online scams are everywhere, offering unsuspecting social media users the chance to make some quick cash. And unlike scammers seeking out older people to swindle, these are targeting younger internet savvy users. So how can you protect yourself and your wallet? Here to talk about it is WSJ contributor Svati Narula. Hi, Svati. Thanks for being here. Hi. Thanks for having me. Svati, it seems like common sense that if a stranger asks you for money online to just simply ignore it or maybe even report it.
What is the episode about and who is the guest expert?
So why are so many people taking the bait?
I think one reason is that our relationship with people via social media has changed a lot, right? So I think when you meet someone in person, there's a level of trust that you get from looking at someone's face. And I think for younger generations these days, because they are so used to making very real connections with other people on social media platforms, Even talking to a stranger on Instagram or Facebook or Twitter, whatever it may be, I think it's easier to trust them than it is for some of us who didn't grow up using these platforms. So your guard is already down a little bit.
So how do scammers present themselves online to seem more legitimate to potential targets?
Why are get-rich-quick scams increasing on social media during the pandemic?
So it's really easy for someone to look like maybe your type of person or a person that you would trust just based on how they create their profile. So people can also learn from your profile. If you're a young person who posts a lot about yourself, let's say on Instagram. Instagram is an easy way to talk about this. Maybe you post pictures with your neighbors and then someone approaches you and they have a couple of people following them who you also follow. So you think, okay, these people that I know in real life also follow this person. Maybe this is someone they know in real life. And then the person sends you a personal message or a direct message saying, hey, I just helped your neighbor Melanie make all this money.
And you know you have a neighbor named Melanie, and they only know that because you posted a picture of her last Thanksgiving. But you might think, okay, that's the evidence they're giving me that they're legit.
How do scammers build trust by mimicking people you know online?
So it can be really easy for them to fake authenticity. Another way that scammers can get you in these situations is they don't often ask you to give up a lot. And depending on your financial situation, you may think, I'm willing to risk that amount of money.
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