Scams are difficult to avoid
Online users have millions of options to choose from for trading in online. It is because they are often inundated with offers.
Due to the easy access to information and social media, some users easily fall victim to scam. Scammers use numbers that look genuine, which allows them to con victims and fool them into believing they have a genuine advantage in the business.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) confirms that almost 80% of people in the country that made payments to unknown scammer’s accounts in the United States.
Generally, it takes days to trace, investigate and ascertain the fraudulent intentions of a suspect. The bottom line is that it is difficult to trace a scam with certainty.
Nevertheless, this is not to suggest that online fraud cannot be prevented at all.
How does binary options scam work?
Recently, online trading has been booming in Pakistan. Millions of people from across the country and from abroad have become online traders in this growing industry. These online traders are unaware of the potential and risks associated with trading online. However, cyber fraudsters take advantage of these gullible and innocent people by tricking them into investing money in binary options scams.
Binary options scammers require investors to pay deposits of money in cash for participation in their scams. Sometimes these scams run on a fixed-time basis and at other times, they run on a free-time-basis.
How Binary Options Scam Works?
If a victim unknowingly falls victim to the scam, they will receive an email or a pop up that leads them to click on a link or to open a message that asks for personal and financial information or other sensitive data. The scammer may also require them to download software.
The malware from the malware will automatically deposit money into the scammer’s account. The scammer often waits for several days and some victims have even been scammed for months or even years! The scammer will not return the money to the victim unless they receive more victims to part with their money.
How to Protect Yourself From Binary Options Scam
To protect yourself from binary options scam:
Don’t click on links or open unknown email or SMS messages.
Who is the target market for binary options scam?
Cryptocurrency market has been thriving in the last few years and is well known for its high volatility. This has attracted the attention of many investors, but unfortunately, one of the major features that makes cryptocurrency so attractive is its extreme volatility. This means that there is huge risk involved in trading it. There are people who invest in digital currencies for profit and there are also those who do it just to experience the high market volatility and make a quick buck out of it.
However, when you opt for a binary options platform, you might end up losing your money. As the name suggests, it is a betting option. You need to pay a big sum in the middle of the option to either win or lose. However, the option does not have a timeframe.
What are the consequences of binary option scam?
From 2013 to 2016 there have been over 6 million people worldwide that have been scammed by online binary options firms. 80 percent of these victims lost over $5 million. The non-profit group the SEC-MCST estimates that $300 million worth of investor funds were stolen by binary options scams in 2015.
Negative Consequences of Binary Options
Aside from losing money, binary options victims have also experienced a number of negative consequences that make the experience much more painful. These include:
- Loss of future income
- Negative impact on the victims’ life
- Distrust of real people
It is also important to mention that a binary options scam can lead to jail time or having their money confiscated.