Financial scams and currently popular schemes

The World Wide Web and the march of technology have made it simpler than ever to take advantage of people who are not careful or unwitting and the number of scams and fraud that appear in the news seems to be rising every day. There are a lot of crooks engaged in financial scams that are designed to get you to part with your money. We will look at a few of the most popular scams that are now in vogue and offer suggestions as to how you can stay away from them.

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Here are some of the most popular financial scams currently being seen by the authorities and what you should do to avoid them:

• Identity theft - Protect your financial or personal information carefully and be sure to review your credit report to spot check for unusual activity in your name. Crooks will do nearly anything to get their hands on your Social Security number or charge card numbers.
• Commodities crime - With instability overseas comes people offering monetary security through unconventional methods. Commodities fraud is a risky way to lose all of your money in a hurry. You may get offers to help you get wealthy by investing in gold, foreign exchange (FOREX) speculation or any one of a number of other commodities. Many, if not most promotions for nontraditional investments come with glowing reports from individuals who have made huge sums of cash quickly.

• Senior citizen crime - All manner of speculative schemes, retirement plans, annuities, gas/oil investment crimes and even Medical fraud are created to target older people. A lot of senior citizens are in good shape financially; many crooks want their money. Seniors, as a group, tend to be less savvy about the use of the Internet and about these kinds of crimes in general, so if you are over 65, be careful with any investment offer.
• Charity schemes - Charity fraud is a form of telephone or telemarketing fraud, where the unscrupulous individuals call on the telephone, pretending to be collecting money for some worthy cause or natural disaster, such as A tornado. If you are unsure if a caller representing a charity is legitimate, ask them to send their documentation by mail, but don't be surprised if the caller just hangs up. Crooks participating in a charity scheme will ask for a donation by bank card; if you give them your credit card number they will use your charge card to make other purchases.
• Phishing electronic mail crimes - Phishing is the act of sending out a large number of messages by e-mail that purport to be from banks, credit unions, or other institutions. Phishing e-mail messages vary, but often appear to be legitimate e-mail messages from Amason, Citibank, Wells Fargo and others. E-mail messages that are designed to defraud largely state that a security breach has occurred and that the recipient of the message must click on a link and submit some personal or credit information to fix the problem. Real banks won't send out e-mail inquiring about your Social Security number. If you receive an electronic mail demand that you are not sure about, call the appropriate institution. "phishing" messages may seem to be real, but they are fakes and are only designed to persuade you to provide some dishonest people with personal information, such as your Social Security number or charge card numbers.

As long as there is cash to be earned by defrauding people, criminals will be finding new ways to do it. It’s up to you to take the necessary steps to avoid becoming a victim.