Inbound Marketing: A Tool Too Powerful to Fall Into the Wrong Hands

Inbound marketing is a methodology that focuses on attracting and engaging customers through content, rather than outbound marketing, which focuses on interrupting customers with advertising.

Just like legitimate businesses, scammers use the inbound marketing process to attract and engage before they disappoint their victims.

The Three Steps of an Inbound Marketing Plan

Attract

This involves creating content that is relevant and interesting to your target audience, and then promoting that content through channels like social media, search engine optimization, and email marketing.

Engage

Once you have attracted your target audience, you need to engage them with your content. This means providing them with valuable information, answering their questions, and building a relationship with them.

Delight

Finally, you need to delight your customers by providing an excellent experience. This could mean offering excellent customer service, delivering high-quality products or services, or simply going above and beyond to make them happy.

Inbound Marketing offers a Number of Benefits to Legitimate Businesses

Increased brand awareness

When you create high-quality content that is relevant to your target audience, you are more likely to get noticed by them. This can lead to increased brand awareness and recognition.

Improved website traffic

By promoting your content through channels like social media and search engine optimization, you can attract more visitors to your website. This can lead to increased sales and conversions.

Increased customer engagement

When you engage your target audience with high-quality content, you are more likely to build a relationship with them. This can lead to increased loyalty and repeat business.

Improved customer satisfaction

When you delight your customers by providing an excellent experience, they are more likely to be happy with your products or services. This can lead to increased referrals and positive reviews.

Overall, inbound marketing is a powerful tool that can help legitimate businesses attract, engage, and delight their customers. By following the inbound marketing process, you can improve your brand awareness, website traffic, customer engagement, and customer satisfaction.

How Online Scammers Use Inbound Marketing

In today's digital age, it's more important than ever to be aware of the dangers of online scams. Scammers are constantly coming up with new ways to trick people into giving them their money or personal information. And unfortunately, they're often very successful.

The Inbound Marketing Process of a Scam

Attract Entice

The first step in any scam is to attract potential victims. Scammers do this by creating fake websites and social media profiles, posting fake news articles and reviews, and sending fake emails and text messages.

• "I'm selling a great product that you're going to love. Check out my website to learn more."
• "I've been using this product for a few weeks now and I've seen amazing results. You have to try it."
• "I'm offering a special discount on my product. Act now before it's too late."

Engage Manipulate

Once scammers have attracted potential victims, they need to engage them with their content. This means providing them with valuable information, answering their questions, and building a relationship with them. Scammers often do this by making their websites and social media profiles look like legitimate businesses. They may also offer free trials or samples of their products or services. They also use high-pressure sales tactics and promises of easy money to get people to act quickly.

• "I've put together a free guide that will teach you how to use my product."
• "I'm happy to answer any questions you have about my product."
• "I'm here to help you succeed. Let me know if there's anything I can do for you."

Delight Disappoint

The final step in a scam is to disappoint the victim. Scammers do this by taking the victim's money or personal information and then disappearing. They may also sell the victim's information to other scammers.

• "I need your credit card number to complete your purchase."
• "I'll be in touch soon with more information."
• "I'm giving away a free gift to everyone who signs up for my email list."
  
  

Recognizing and Avoiding Common Scams

Here is a short list of some of the most common online scams, and how the tactics they use conform to the Inbound Marketing cycle. It is important to note that this list does not include every variation of online scam. And because they all share similar mechanics, a scammer could even switch the script from one type of scam into another. Crypto scams commonly start out at Romance scams, and Asset Recovery scams usually evolve into an Advance Payment scam. But no matter which technique they use, you can learn to recognize the process of a scam before falling victim to them.

Advance Fee

The oldest trick in the book, and the scam that many others have built on. The old Advance Fee scam is also known as a "419 scam" or "Nigerian scam". The scammer convinces the victim to pay a fee in advance in order to receive a larger sum of money later on. The scam often involves a story about a large sum of money, such as an inheritance or a business opportunity, that the scammer is unable to access without the victim's help. In another variation of this scam, the scammer will pretend to be a well known wealthy person (like Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg), and they have selected you to receive a large sum.

The victim is typically asked to pay a small advance fee, such as a few hundred dollars, in order to cover expenses related to releasing the money. Once the victim pays the fee, the scammer will ask for more and more money, often under the guise of taxes, legal fees, or other expenses, and promises to release the money once all fees are paid. The promised money never materializes and the victim loses the money they paid in advance.

It’s the same playbook as the Publisher’s Clearinghouse – “You’re already a winner! You just have to keep investing to receive your prize!”

Asset Recovery

Asset Recovery scams are a type of fraud in which scammers offer to help people recover assets, (such as lost or stolen money) but in reality they are taking the victims money and not providing any service. These scams often target people who have lost money in other types of fraud, (such as investment scams, crypto, or Ponzi schemes) and prey on their vulnerability and desperation to recover their losses.

Asset Recovery scammers may pretend to be one of several kinds of specialists.

• A scam-baiter, who specializes in tricking scammers.
• A member of law-enforcement.
• A professional asset recovery organization.

They will ask for an upfront fee, which can range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars, for their services. Once the fee is paid the scammers will either disappear, or ask for more money to continue working.

In some cases, the scammer will ask for access to your computer to “gather evidence” of the crime. If access is granted, the scammer will use it to steal even more from the victim.

It's important to remember that legitimate asset recovery firms usually do not ask for upfront payment and usually charge a percentage of the recovered assets as a fee. It's recommended that you verify the authenticity of the firm by checking their credentials and reputation with the local authorities, and never pay any fee before any service is rendered.

Blackmail

The Blackmail scam is a type of online scam in which the scammer entices a victim into engaging in conversation and photo sharing. Once the victim has engaged, the scammer then threatens to reveal the conversations to the victim's family, friends, or employer unless the victim pays a large sum of money as a "ransom" or "hush money".

If you are contacted with this scam all you can do is ignore them, and pass the threat along to the authorities. If they don’t get any response, then they are unlikely to waste any more of their time on you. They can make more money by going after the next mark instead.

Any engagement at all just means you are on the hook and the scammer may follow through with the threat. Any payments will keep the scammers coming back for more until your bank accounts are empty. Variations of the Blackmail scam may include threats of physical violence from a gang, or cartel in addition to the threat of public shaming.

This type of scam is particularly dangerous because even innocence of a crime is not an absolute defense. Just the accusation of the crime to the victim’s family and colleagues can ruin the victim's reputation, career, and personal relationships. 

It is important to be cautious when conversing online with people who you do not know. Be aware that not everyone is who they claim to be. It is also important to remember that if you are being blackmailed, you should contact the authorities immediately.

Code Verification

Two-factor verification (2FA) is a security feature that adds an extra layer of protection to your accounts by requiring a second form of authentication to gain access (in addition to a password). This second form of authentication will usually be a code sent to your phone, or email address.

Two-factor verification scam is when a scammer attempts to bypass this extra layer of security by tricking you into providing them with the second form of authentication. The scammer may impersonate a legitimate business (such as your bank, or an Amazon representative) claiming that there is a problem with your account and that you need to provide the code to verify your identity.

Always verify the identity of the person requesting the information and be sure that you are comfortable with the reason they are asking for it before providing it. Legitimate companies will never ask for an authentication code from you, and never pass the code along to a stranger. If you are unsure, contact the company or service associated with the account to confirm the legitimacy of the request.

Crypto and Forex

A Crypto/Forex scam is a type of investment scam in which a scammer convinces the victims to invest by trading in the cryptocurrency or foreign currency exchange markets. The scammer may pretend to be an investment broker, a financial expert with a sure-win system, or another individual who has already invested and made a huge return. They may use high-pressure tactics to get people to invest quickly, and they may also ask you to recruit friends and family for this opportunity.

It is common for Crypto/Forex scams to include a fake online money exchange, where any money deposited is instantly collected by the scammer. Any profits visible in the exchange do not actually exist, and any attempt to retrieve the profits will require additional fees, and endless delays. Any money sent to the exchange is gone forever. Once they have collected a significant amount of investment, the scammer will disappear, and the investors will lose their money.

It's important to be cautious when considering an investment in the exchange market, and to be skeptical of any investment that promises high returns with little risk. Research the company or individual offering the investment, and check for any regulatory actions or warnings about them. Be wary of unsolicited investment offers and try to verify the authenticity of the platform. It's also important to remember that the cryptocurrency market is highly volatile, and that investing in any asset carries risk.

Family Impersonation

Family impersonation scams are when a scammer poses as a family member (usually a grandchild) in distress and in need of money. The scammer will contact the victim and claim to be in an emergency situation, such as being arrested, hospitalized, or stranded in a foreign country, and will ask the victim to wire money to them immediately.

The scammer may also use stolen personal information, such as a grandchild's name and personal details, to make the story more convincing. They may also fake their number, so that it appears to be from the grandchild's phone to make the call seem legitimate.

A variation of the scam may involve a third party contacting you for money to help out the family member. Claiming they are in the hospital, that they have been kidnapped, or need bail money.

This scam can be very effective because it preys on the victim's emotions and their desire to help a family member in need. It's important to be cautious if you receive a call or message from someone claiming to be a family member in distress, and to verify the information before sending any money. It's best to contact the supposed family member through other means of communication to verify the story, or contact other family members to confirm if the story is true or not.

Malware and Ransomware

What is unique about the Malware/Ransomware scam, is that the victim may never be in direct contact with the scammer at all. A malware virus will propagate itself through insecure computer systems, or sketchy websites. If the program is allowed to be installed, it will take control of the victim's computer.

The most common result is that the malware will start to change the victim’s system settings in order to bombard them with more advertisements. Such as changing the default browser start page, inserting ads into all websites, and launching pop-up window advertisements. Most of these ads are for more scams; several ways for the user to give away personal information and have their computer further compromised.

The most dangerous type of malware seeks to be given full access to the victim’s computer. Once installed, the program will exploit the computer system in several ways:

• Tracking the victim’s browsing history and recording all passwords entered into the keyboard. This information is then sent back to scammers to exploit or sell.
• Adding the computer to a “bot net”; which will use the computer’s processing power to attack other computers, or mine for cryptocurrency.
• Take remote control of the computer.
• Install Ransomware; which will encrypt every file on the computer, making them permanently inaccessible until a decryption passcode is entered. The program will ask for payment of a large sum in exchange for the passcode.

In addition to caution before downloading and installing any program; an antivirus program is the key to avoiding malware attacks. Even if you have comprehensively protected your own computer, you are at risk of a malware infection if any authorized third party connected to your computer is compromised by a virus. Keep regular backups that you can roll your computer back to.

Order Refund

The Order Refund scam is a type of fraud in which victims will receive a phone call, text or email receipt or package tracking notification about a big ticket item placed on their account. The contact will ask you to verify the order, or call a number if you suspect fraud. Once they get you on the line, the scam can play out in a number of ways.

• The scammer will ask to connect remotely to the victim’s computer, and watch as they log into their online banking or credit card portal. The scammer will use the connection to steal the victim’s passwords, bank information, and other personal information.
• The victim will be directed to a phishing website that looks like an official website. The user will be asked to log in with their official account and enter payment information to process the refund. The scammer will use the website to collect the victim’s password and credit card information.
• Scammers will fake an overpayment on the order refund, and ask for the difference to be sent back to them.

This scam is effective only because there actually are scammers who will make fraudulent purchases. It’s hard to tell the difference between a fraudulent purchase, and a fraudulent receipt. You can avoid the scam by first checking if the transaction has actually been processed and paid. And if it has been paid, contact the company from their official customer service portal — not from the message you received from the scammer.

Romance and Catfishing

A Romance scam, also known as a Catfishing scam, is when a scammer creates a fake online identity in order to trick someone into a romantic relationship. The scammer may use social media, dating websites, or other online platforms to contact potential victims and build a relationship with them. It’s common for scammers to use identities that include an explanation for being out of the country, or unavailable to speak on the phone; such as a deployed member of the military, or a worker on an offshore oil rig.

The scammer will typically use a fake profile, with a fake name, pictures and life story, to create a persona that is attractive and desirable to the victim. They will then use this persona to gain the victim's trust and affection, and may even claim to have fallen in love with the victim.

Once the scammer has built a relationship with the victim, they will then ask for money or personal information, often under the guise of a financial emergency or a crisis. The scammer may claim that the requests for money are related to fees or obstacles standing in the way of the couple finally being together.

In extreme examples of the romance scam, the victim may be asked to travel to a foreign country to meet up with the scammer. This leads to kidnapping, human trafficking, identity theft, ransoms, citizenship scams, and much more trouble.

It's important to be cautious when meeting someone online and to be skeptical of anyone who claims to have fallen in love with you quickly, especially if they are asking for money or personal information. It's recommended to research the person's background, and verify their identity, before sharing any personal information or sending money. Also, it's important to be aware that scammers will use pictures and stories from the internet, so it's always good to do a reverse image search to check the authenticity of the person you are talking to.

Tech Support

The Tech Support scam is a type of fraud in which the scammer claims to be from Microsoft or a reputable technical support company (i.e. GeekSquad or Norton). They may claim that the victim's computer is infected with a virus or malware, and offer to provide technical support to remove the infection. They may use various tactics to convince the victim that their computer is infected, such as telling them that their computer is running slow, that they have received error messages, or that hackers are attempting to connect.

Once the victim is convinced that their computer is infected, the scammer will ask the victim to give them remote access to their computer, or to provide them with personal information or payment information. Once they have access, they may install malware or steal personal information, or they may charge the victim a fee for their services, often with recurring monthly charges.

In one common variation of the Tech Support scam, the scammer will claim to be contacting a business from Intuit Quickbooks. The scammer will claim that Quickbooks is out of date, and attempt to sign the business up for a recurring payment. And when given remote access to the business’s computer, the scammer will have direct access to all of the businesses financial information.

It's important to be cautious when receiving unsolicited phone calls or messages that claim to be from Microsoft or a technical support company, and to remember that Microsoft will never contact you unsolicited and ask for remote access to your computer. If you suspect that your computer is infected with malware or a virus, it's best to run a scan with a reputable anti-virus software and never give remote access or personal information to unsolicited callers.

The REDDEST Red Flags

Online scams may use one or several of the following techniques to Entice and Manipulate their victims into falling for the scam.

• Phishing messages.
  • Scammer pretends to be a legitimate company or contact in order to attract your attention.
  • The email or text may look like a purchase receipt, fraud alert, shipping notification, an overly friendly new chat partner, or even a warrant out for your arrest.
  • An official looking email or text message includes a link to a domain name that does not match the sender.
• Can’t communicate in any way except text.
  • Pretending to be hearing impaired, or claiming to be in a location that doesn’t receive phone calls; like an oil rig or in the military overseas.
• Non-recoverable Payments.
  • Gift cards (Steam, Xbox, Google Play, iTunes)
  • Crypto-currency
  • Money orders (Western Union)
  • Cashier’s check
• Sharing your computer screen.
  • Sharing your screen with a scammer will allow them to capture any information you enter, take remote control of your computer, and even hold your computer for ransom.
• Overpayment.
  • Scammers will fake overpayment from a check or bank transaction and ask for the extra money to be sent back or given to a third party.
  • Scammers will commonly use the few days before a fake check bounces to collect the overpayment back from their victim.
• Paying fees to access a larger sum.
  • See Advance Fee scam for various examples.
• Keeping you on the phone.
  • Scammers know that if you hang up and call the REAL company customer service line back, you will find out you are being scammed.
  • Scammers will scare victims into believing that if you hang up you will face serious financial or legal consequences.
• Do not tell anyone else.
  • Scammers know that if a victim discusses what is happening with anyone else, the scam will be exposed.
    • “Don’t tell the cashier what the cash/gift cards are for.”
    • “Don’t talk to law enforcement because they are working with the criminals.”
    • “Don’t tell the Western Union employee or bank teller why you are sending money.”
• Threats.
  • A scammer will either threaten the victim, or claim that they are the only ones who can protect the victim from a threat. Such as:
    • Threats of violence.
    • Financial threats.
    • Threats of prosecution from law enforcement.
    • Threats of damage to reputation.
    • Threats to family members.
    • Threats to your computer’s data.
• Transaction disputes.
  • Scammers will manipulate the quality-control systems to get things for free.
  • Claim that the item arrived damaged, and receive a refund.
  • Claim that the payment was never received, and keep the items ordered.
• Google Voice phone number.
  • Scammers will use Google Voice to create and drop completely anonymous phone numbers for their scams.
  • A scammer may leverage a Code Verification scam to attach your identity to their Google Voice account before scamming other victims from it.
• Free money.
  • Scammers often entice victims with the promise of large returns with a minimal investment, such as:
    • CashApp money exchanges,
    • Crypto investments,
    • Lottery prize giveaways,
    • Billionaire celebrity gifts,
    • “Sugar” parent dating arrangements.
• Pig butchering.
  • The term “pig butchering” refers to a long-term scam, where the scammer “fattens” the victim up with several small payouts to convince the victim of the scam’s legitimacy.
  • Eventually this leads to a final large investment, and the scammer disappears with the full amount.
  • May also be related to a Romance scam.