It refers to personal fraud related to advance fee payment for some bogus plan or fake merchant, holiday club, insurance broker, land banking, Ponzi scheme, timeshare investment, shopping/auction or other pyramid schemes. 

If you face any such problem, you should be aware that it is not a victimless crime, and the money or psychological pain suffered can have a long-term impact. The experience can be traumatic, and it may take a long time for you to sort out the mess created by such experiences. 

How To Protect Yourself?

• To evade it, you should protect your personal information. For example, take precautions when shopping or using a dating app. 

• Do not provide all information to a stranger; when you know you have not provided the information, you can be on guard. 

• Beware of social media messages. Beware of what you share and know what you should never tell on these sites. You should not post any personal details on such platforms. 

• Many who have been approached to get easy money-making jobs are persuaded to become money or phone mules where one creates a criminal record, leading to a bad credit rating. 

Always pay attention when filling in registration forms or giving details to buy products or services from a website. You should know you are at risk of losing information and should always carry extra checks. 

If you suspect such fraud, contact your bank and the card issuer to request to decline the transaction. Also, inform the regulatory authorities.