If you’ve ever been on the internet before, odds are someone has at some point tried to scam you. Whether you were looking for a partner or someone just tried to get your bank records, it’s almost impossible to navigate the web these days without someone somewhere trying to make money off you. And while it’s hard to pinpoint those people, statistics have shown that certain countries are a lot more likely to have scammers than others.
Let’s take a look at some of the countries with the highest number of scammers.
Philippines
There are two big scams that are run in the Philippines. There’s the obvious love scam that usually takes place online, and then there’s also a scam where they show tourists around to a spot where you can safely get robbed.
China
When the Chinese do something, they usually do it exceptionally well. Scamming is no different in this regard. One particular scam has people texting your wife claiming they’re your mistress. Your wife naturally clicks the link that claims to have pictures of her husband cheating, only to then download a Trojan virus that runs off with all your precious passwords.
India
Indians are pretty creative when it comes to scamming tourists. It pretty much ranges from selling you worthless trinkets to taxi drivers dropping you off at the wrong – more expensive – hotel. It’s a lovely country, though.
South Africa
If you’ve been caught by a bank-related phishing scam, odds are it originated in South Africa. In fact, it can even be pinpointed to the Gauteng province inside the country, which is a pretty rare occurrence. Not saying you stand zero risk of getting scammed by people from the other provinces, but there’s at least an obvious epicenter here.
Romania
Romania has been pretty much living on the edge of perpetual poverty ever since communism fell. They haven’t quite managed to jump back, but they’ve fully embraced capitalism in the sense that they’re pretty good at scamming people online.
Brazil
Brazil isn’t exactly known as a trustworthy country and their rampant pickpocketing habits are truly putting a stain on the country’s reputation. During the Olympics there was even a serious cause for concern with all the wallets getting stolen.
Nigeria
Now let’s be honest: who hasn’t gotten an email of a long-lost but sadly deceased family member that turned out to be royalty. And all you need to do to gain access to his vast wealth is hand over all your bank details. That’s pretty much the only play in their book, though.
