Check out this blog to learn what are fraud warning disclaimers, how can we safeguard ourselves from them, precautions to be taken to reduce such issues, and a few examples of fraud warning disclaimers.
A Fraud Warning Disclaimer is a statement used to warn individuals about potential fraudulent activities. Thousands of fraud cases are filed every day, and victims lose huge amounts of money or personal data due to fraud-related crimes. To educate people about these frauds, organisations have generated a Fraud Warning Disclaimer policy and helped the people to stay away from these frauds. Frauds can result in heavy losses and stolen identities, so it is always safe to identify these scams as early as possible. Studies say that the younger generation is more prone to money loss than older people. For this purpose, we should be aware of malicious software and apps used to get unauthorised access to get our private information and financial data.
Fraud Warning Disclaimer
Fraud Warning Disclaimer is a legally binding declaration that safeguards your company from legal consequences. When users open your website, mobile app, or blog, it is a necessary protection. It allows you to mention points about liability for the product or service you provide, copyrights, etc. It also benefits people to protect themselves from fraudulent offers and claims. These offers and claims are usually received through email, text message, internet, text message, etc. The purpose of a Fraud Warning Disclaimer is to protect organizations and individuals from liability in case of fraudulent activities.
It is possible that certain individuals may approach you by falsely presenting themselves as our employees, affiliates, agents or representatives. Under this false pretense, they might attempt to obtain personal information from you or to gain money or other valuables from you by offering fictitious employment opportunities or by claiming that they are contacting you on our behalf. A contacting individual or organization may claim that they can guarantee your visa if you pay them a certain amount. In most cases, such offers and claims are made via email, the internet, text message, or phone call. The claims and offers contained in such notices and offers are false and invalid, and you should exercise great caution when receiving them. It is very important to be aware of such scams.
Benefits of Fraud Warning Disclaimer
Disclaimer makes sure that your intellectual property is safe.
- Discourage others from the unauthorised use of your intellectual property
- Saves an individual from allegations of theft, misuse, or copying others’ intellectual property
- It safeguards the power of the individuals and reduces the liabilities
- It mentions the rights and liabilities of the seller and buyer specifically.
Few Common Types of Fraud
Fraudsters are continuously finding new techniques to steal your money and personal data. However, here is a list of a few common types of fraud that you should be most aware of:
- Mail fraud: It involves the use of mail or letter and trying to scam money or personal information from someone, looting and opening someone’s mail, or misusing chain letters to ask for money or items
- Driver’s license fraud: Some people try to steal a driving license and misuse it to commit doing traffic violations, board a plane, open a bank account, etc., all in your name
- Healthcare fraud: An insurance agent or healthcare professional misuses insurance information for their benefits. This results in significant damage to your health insurance
- Debit and credit card fraud: If the thief steals your physical card or card number, then this fraud can happen
- Bank account takeover fraud: If a scammer gets access to your account by robbing check out of your mailbox, getting account information through an email scam by using malware. This type of fraud completely withdraws the amount from your account
- Stolen tax refund fraud: It is one of the most popular scams. Someone steals your Social Security Number, files your taxes themselves, and receives your refund amount
- Voter fraud: It involves the voting process like voting twice, voting under a false name, buying or selling votes, etc.
- Internet fraud: It involves data hacking, email account compromise, phishing, and malware
- Elder fraud: Fraudsters call older adults and offer them lottery winnings, sweepstake prizes, healthcare services, etc. This type of fraud helps to steal financial and personal information.
Precautions to be Taken to Protect Ourselves from Online Fraud
The few major precautions to protect from online fraud are given below:
- Use smart and authenticated apps only: Be careful while you are downloading the apps on your smartphone and make sure that they are authenticated and verified
- Browse safe and authorised websites only: Avoid websites completely that are not secure and use only genuine websites
- Use verified internet connectivity: An unsecured public Wi-Fi can also lead to online fraud. So, use only private connections while doing an online transaction or sharing personal banking transactions
- Be careful when using the card: While making payments outside, check the card reading POS machine thoroughly. Allow international transactions only abroad, as it skips the two-step verification process
- Enhance your computer and mobile security: Frequently update your mobile’s and computer’s browser and operating system. Change the password for online transactions often to avoid online fraud
- Don’t share sensitive personal details: Don’t disclose personal data to any unknown person introducing themselves as a representative of a finance company or a bank. Don’t reveal your personal information through the phone, SMS, or Email. Bank authorities won’t ask for such details at any point in time
- Don’t answer unknown calls, SMS, Whatsapp message, or call and Email: Don’t respond to unfamiliar calls, SMS, or Whatsapp message or call and Email as these are the weapons for online fraudsters to cheat anyone. They pose as bank employees and collect your personal information by giving reasons like debit/credit card expiry, unused reward points, free cash back, etc. Once they get all your detail, they can draw all money from your account without you noticing
- Don’t answer the calls requesting remote access to your computer: Don’t allow anyone to access your computer from a remote place as it leads to online fraud. Fraudsters access your computer and do whatever they want by gathering all your personal data and stealing your money
- Think twice before clicking on a random link: Before clicking on any link, image, or attachment, verify whether it is genuine or not. These links from unknown sources are not genuine most of the time, and it leads to online fraud
- Block your card immediately if you lost it: If your debit/credit card is lost somewhere, block it immediately by visiting your bank or by calling customer care. It prevents online fraud if you do it on time
- Take care of your Whatsapp account: Fraud can happen by creating a Whatsapp account in anyone’s name and sending fake messages about fake schemes and online gift vouchers
- Don’t trust anyone who poses as a delivery service provider: Fraudsters who pose as representatives, employees, or agents of delivery service providers like Delhivery, Amazon, etc., and ask for extra payments for delivering the order. Use only the official website for ordering and complain to the authorised person regarding this.
Conclusion
Overall, frauds and scams can be very dangerous and lead to many problems in everybody’s life. As technology improves, scams are also increasing more and more. It is important for companies and organizations to include a Fraud Warning Disclaimer on their websites, products, and services to prevent fraud.
Take necessary steps to secure yourself from various types of fraud and safeguards your money, financial and personal data. If you have any queries you can reach out to Vakilsearch.
