How to Spot a Scam a Mile Off

Written by Elena Fawkner


Receivedrepparttar following forwarded email from a subscriber this morning:

"I am an Executive Director withrepparttar 127579 Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and a member ofrepparttar 127580 Contract Advisory Committee (CAC). I am seeking your assistance to enable me transferrepparttar 127581 sum of $26,500,000 (Twenty Six Million, Five hundred Thousand United States Dollars) into your private/company account."

Carole told me she has received "3 or 4 of these inrepparttar 127582 last week, I think from different people. I deletedrepparttar 127583 others. It makes me nervous. Sounds like a dangerous scam. "

That's exactly what it is, of course. Maybe you're reading this thinking "I can't believe people are still falling forrepparttar 127584 Nigeria scam after all this time". Onrepparttar 127585 other hand, maybe you're reading this thinking, "Wow, I might have responded to that. How am I supposed to know what's a scam and what's real?

The reality is that there are hundreds of thousands of people coming online, forrepparttar 127586 first time, each year. Many of these people have simply not been exposed to scams likerepparttar 127587 ones that are constantly touted onrepparttar 127588 Internet before. Many of these people come online to try and find a way to make money with their computers and/or they're looking for ideas for making money from home.

The fact that they may not recognize scams offrepparttar 127589 bat doesn't mean they're naive or stupid, it just means that they haven't been in an environment where this sort of stuff came their way before now. And don'trepparttar 127590 scammers know it.

Like vultures circling overhead, they await their prey. They know they have only a narrow window of opportunity because it doesn't take newbies long to catch on so they have to be quick about it. And how do they do that? They hang out where newbies hang out so they can get them while they're still young and fresh and vulnerable. They're nothing but predators looking to pick offrepparttar 127591 easiest game. Wouldn't want to have to engage in any real work, after all. In this article we look at several main scams and how to recognize them.

=> Nigerian Advance Fee Scheme

The gist of this worldwide scheme is that small to medium-size businesses receive a letter from someone who purports to be an official ofrepparttar 127592 Nigerian government or major utility or similar who needs to transfer some huge amount of money out ofrepparttar 127593 country. The money typically is an overpayment byrepparttar 127594 government on a procurement contract. The object ofrepparttar 127595 exercise is to get you to provide your bank account details (forrepparttar 127596 purpose of wire transferringrepparttar 127597 money of course). Surprise surprise, there's a transfer all right but not INTO your account!

=> The FTC "Dirty Dozen"

These arerepparttar 127598 top 12 scams that have been identified byrepparttar 127599 (U.S.) Federal Trade Commission asrepparttar 127600 most likely to arrive via email:

1. Business Opportunities - often pyramid schemes (see below) thinly disguised as legitimate opportunities to earn money. What to look for: high returns with little or no effort or cash outlay required.

2. Bulk Email - offers of lists of thousands of email addresses all of whom, of course, are just dying to receive your marketing message. What to look for: "Bulk Email Works! 10,000 addresses for $9.99."

WATCH OUT FOR THAT SCAM!

Written by Jackie Ulmer


Are you tired ofrepparttar scams,repparttar 127578 hype andrepparttar 127579 bogus rip-offs that fill your mailbox? We are too!

You need to know how to spot one, what to look for and what to avoid!

Follow these simple tips, listen to that little voice within, do a little research and you'll be fine.

There are many great programs out there that ARE legitimate. Here are some things to avoid....

First of all, don't believe anything that promises to make you rich overnight. I'm not saying it can't happen, but odds are it won't.

Also, some phrases to watch out for:

"You don't have to DO anything, just join and we'll build it for you."

"I went from welfare to millionaire in a few months!"

"Get paid for doing nothing. Just sign up."

"One time only offer."

"#1 Ground Floor Opportunity"

Along these same lines, watch out forrepparttar 127580 following:

Any offer that comes from a free email service such as hotmail, yahoo, etc. I'm not knocking free email services, but ifrepparttar 127581 offer is that great andrepparttar 127582 deal is legitimate,repparttar 127583 person wouldn't hide behind a virtually anonymous email source.

Any website or email that has no live contact person listed. If you have to jump through hoops to findrepparttar 127584 person responsible forrepparttar 127585 offer, be suspicious. What are they hiding? Never sign up for anything without having some correspondence with a live person, either via email or, preferably, overrepparttar 127586 phone.

Anything that simply requests money, with no exchange of goods or services. And, I mean valid goods or services. Not a report on how to stuff envelopes for money or a listing of businesses that will pay you to work from home.

How To Check Out A Company

These are some steps you can take to research a company with whom you are considering getting involved.

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