How to avoid the lost and found scams?

Not everyone in this world admits and appreciate the law and the rules of morality. Someone used to work hard, and someone used to steal. Even losing something is an annoying experience, so the experience of being scammed after losing something becomes heartbreaking.

Don’t worry, believe in better, and remember that you can always find a solution. 

Today we will talk about lost and found scams and what to do if someone is trying to deceive you. 

You should understand that people who force you to act immediately, in particular, demand money, won’t help you. Scammers will always use your emotional state because you can’t mind clearly and make the right decisions under stress. 

Today we will consider all the possible potential situations of being scammed and avoid lost and found scams. In particular, we will get acquainted with several lost-and-found apps and missing items sites.

How to identify a scammer?

Imagine that you lost something valuable, and suddenly you get a call from a stranger. How to understand whether you can trust this person or no? 

• Scammers always require money. You should realise that a person who found your item wants to help you, not profit from this. Furthermore, they will pressure you to act as soon as possible. 

If your fee is definitely needed to return your item to you, pay attention to the way of transferring money. Scammers will ask you for paying strangely, for example with a gift card or by using a money transfer service. 

• Scammers usually use private or one-time numbers. Be careful with blocked calls, but better ignore. If the number is available to see, you can prevent the scam by tracing a number with the “GetContact” app.  GetContact protects you from spam and unwanted calls by identifying unknown numbers and warning you of a possible scam. 
• Scammers always try to develop trust with you. Probably they would pretend to be a representative of the organisation you know. Scammers use software to change the mobile number that appears on your caller ID. So the name and number you see might be not valid.

How to protect yourself from a scam?

1. Ignore the blocked calls. Avoid and block the calls from private numbers. You can also filter unwanted messages.
2. Talk to a trusted person. Before you decided to do something irreparable, talk to somebody. It can be a friend, a neighbour or a family member, whatever. Talking about what is happening will be helpful. It may help you realise it’s a scam or not.
3. Don’t give your personal info to a caller. Don’t hurry to trust random people, and in no conditions do not give your private info by phone.
4. Ask the caller to describe your lost item in detail. If a caller is unable to describe your lost item adequately or take a picture of it, you can easily cancel a call.
5. Don’t pay first, but offer a reward. Returning a missing item to its owner is a good deed, not a way to make money. You don’t need to pay for it, but you can reward your saviour.

Scams at online lost and found services 

Be careful and ready while posting ads online at the lost and found sites with your private info. Keep calm, and don’t let your emotions run amok. Try all the possible ways to make sure that it is really your lost item, and do not jump to conclusions. Ask the person who found to describe the lost item in detail and don’t pay first. 

If you though find out a scammer, immediately block and report him on the missing item site. You can also share information about him online on the lost and found forums to prevent others from being scammed.

Summing up, try to be always prepared for all kinds of scam. It will be the right decision to treat someone unknown sceptical. Furthermore, when we are talking about sudden requests for transferring money from strangers, be ready for a large number of calls while posting an ad on missing items sites. And lastly, a word of advice — pay attention to the lost and found sites, which may help you not lose your valuable items.