When times are hard, rest assured, there are always scammers around trying to make things worse. The Federal Trade Commission recently announced the launch of a major sweep targeting fraudsters and crooks that thrive in periods of economic slowdown. Scammers thrive on very human vulnerabilities of people: fear, stress, anxiety, greed, vanity, honesty and compassion. When fraudsters use once mail, phone, or even the local solicitation, today easy to e-mail and websites allows scammers another avenue that can deploy sites quickly and widely. common rules in this economy include schemes to get rich quick, scams debt reduction, recruitment scams work and work at home scams. Authorities warn people to be wary of all the work that charge: "Locations for bogus work at home opportunities involving medical billing, payment processing," mystery shopper "positions that promise to pay you for the purchase anonymously products for businesses and money-order processing jobs are also on the rise, say Better Business Bureau and consumer protection officials "
Then National consumers League recently released its biannual ranking telemarketing and Internet scams top :.
Top scams, Jan. - June 09
1. Fake check scams
2. Internet: Gen Merchandise
3. Price / contest / Free Gifts
4. Phishing / Spoofing
5. Offers money of Nigeria (priceless)
6. business Opportunities / Franchise / Distributor
7. Advance Fee loans, credit Arrangers
8. friendship & Sweetheart scams
9. Internet: Auctions
10. Lottery / Lottery Ticket Buying Clubs
Remember:
- If it sounds too good to be true, it is very likely
- be super cautious of giving out personal information to anyone, especially online
- Learn how to protect against phishing and other online scams designed to get your personal information or your money
- do not send money to someone you do not know not
- Avail you tools and consumer protection resources - we have compiled some below
consumer fraud resources
FBI alerts Scam
Federal Trade Commission Bureau of consumer protection
Federal Citizen information Center - consumer Action website
Better Business Bureau
State attorneys general - site links and phone numbers
State , county and city offices of consumer protection of the government
scams Insurance
identity theft resource Center
National consumer Law Center
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