Watch out for the scamsters

"She still wants to go on that trip," a friend updated me on an ongoing quarrel with his wife. As I tried to have some empathy, I asked, "It might be important for her. Is it for business, training, or what?"

He said, "No she won a trip to Las Vegas by email." His objection was, of course, that the trip was unnecessary and he would have to take care of the kids.

I couldn't help laughing as I realised a spam email had sparked a week-long fight between them. "Don't worry, she won't be going anywhere," I eventually said.

But to be fair, no one can keep up with the most recent and innovative tricks both online and in real life. Even the most careful of us may find themselves sometimes wondering whether an offer or a win is genuine or not.

You do, of course, have a better chance if you search for alarming signs before exposing your money or your personal information.

Here are a few steps which may be helpful for you to identify possible traps:

Where is the promotion?

There are real wins out there, and if you're living in Dubai, you should be familiar with seasonal promotions by shopping malls, credit card companies and real estate developers. The point is that no business would give you a million dirhams, a luxury apartment or a sports car without getting a huge credit out of it. It is part of their advertising campaigns.

So don't expect the win to be whispered in your ear. On the contrary, it may be announced by a cleaned up representative, cameras, and a lot of smiles, they may even ask to publish your photo in the newspaper, their company adverts or on billboards. Whatever you think of this scenario, it is more genuine than an email from Nigeria promising a fortune in return for confidentiality.

Too good to be true

Then it is probably a scam. If you hate to just pass, go for a detailed investigation of the deal. For example, a used car sold at half the price of its equivalent should raise your suspicion.

Search for its accident and ownership history. Make sure all the paperwork is in order and seek professional advice if needed. I would suggest that you don't go for it until you find a good excuse for the seller to slash the price. Some may be in hurry for travel reasons, or just underestimating the market value of their possession.

You've to earn it

While winning a million dirhams seems like a joint dream of so many people, let's be realistic. It doesn't just happen just like that. Most of the winners you see around have taken at least a minor action: shopping for a certain amount of money, participating in an activity or even filling in a questionnaire. So if you've not taken any action, like my friend's wife, and you just got an email saying you won something, it is probably an ambush to have access to your personal and credit information.

Give technology a go

You don't have to be a computer geek to be secure online. All you really need to do is to use your safety sense and don't venture beyond your capabilities.

If you're determined to use internet banking, review carefully the bank instructions, which are in most cases written in a straightforward jargon-free style.

Finally, don't think you are less of a target than anybody else. There are many out there who don't break into banks but make fortunes out of little savings like yours.