By Tina L Douglas
Cross border scams refer to any fraudulent activities that seek to profit from the personal information of other people. These fraudulent activities are often initiated online and they victimize unsuspicious individuals who are totally unaware of what they are getting themselves into. For a certain scam to be qualified as a cross-border scam, it should include a mention of foreign countries or activities to lure its victims into providing their personal information for their identity theft activities.
If you do not want to fall prey to these cross-border scams (and any other scams for that matter), follow these tips:
1. Verify the identity of the person that you are dealing with before you provide any personal information. The internet is characterized by anonymity and people are not always who they say they are online. Unless you can verify that the identity of the person you are talking to is legitimate, do not provide your personal information or any other information.
2. Do not join foreign lotteries. These are illegal activities. Their solicitation is bogus and you will never win anything from them.
3. If you receive any email from a foreign national asking you for help through wire money transfers to be used in any charitable activity, do not respond to them and delete them immediately. They can simply be fraudulent emails who want to take advantage of your "noble" nature.
4. Immediately delete any unsolicited emails that requests for your money, credit card information, bank account numbers and other personal data. These emails are fraudulent in nature and would only seek to collect your personal information for identity theft activities.
5. If you are selling any merchandise online through social networking sites or auction sites, do not accept check payments from people who will offer you for more than the actual purchase price. The idea might be tempting and their story might convince you but it is dubious that anyone would actually offer to pay for your merchandise at a higher price.
What you have to remember is the fact that, while the internet provides buyers and sellers equal access to a vast world of commodities and services, con artists/identity theft criminals are also benefiting from this very same access. For this reason, you have to be always on guard. Taking preventive measures against online fraud can help you maximize your online experience as you face head one the many global advantages of electronic commerce. Safeguards can also minimize your attractiveness to identity theft criminals as well as minimize the risk of being defrauded.
The safeguards that you need to take are not very complex measures. As a matter of fact, they are very simple steps that only require you to be very vigilant and very careful with whom you share your personal information. Your identity is your most valuable asset. You should be protective about it whenever possible. If you don't want to be a victim of identity theft, do not fall for cross country scams.
Tina L. Douglas is a well established author on the topic of identity theft. For more advice and information on [http://idprotectioncomparison.com/]id protection comparison and [http://idprotectionmonitoring.com/]id protection monitoring, just click on these links.
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