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The anatomy of an Internet hoax is simple. They're often just plausible enough to be true -- but outrageous enough to shock -- and contain elements that provoke an emotional reaction. As the most popular social network in the world, Facebook is fertile ground for hoaxes and scams, which quickly go viral as people share posts from friends they trust. Before you heed the plea to share a post or click a link, take a few minutes to make sure you're not falling prey to one of these popular scams.
While “Cyber Monday,” the Monday after Thanksgiving, is traditionally the busiest day of the year for online shopping, people purchase goods and services over the internet every day of the year. When you're dealing with an online seller that you'll never meet, you should be extra careful to follow safety rules that prevent you from being scammed. You're safe using the most popular sites that everyone knows about, but if you shop at a lesser known website you should take some basic precautions.
For budding novelists unfamiliar with the publishing world, making a decision about how to publish their book can be difficult. Before making this decision, authors need to question themselves about how much money and effort they are willing to invest in getting their book published, how they would like to get paid; the amount of control they would like to retain over their work and its publication. Consideration of these factors will help an author to decide which type of publisher is right for them.
There's a lot of misinformation out there about government grants. One of the main ones is that the federal government gives away billions of dollars to people starting businesses. This is not true. The amount of money the federal government grants to small businesses is zero. Avoid getting scammed by people claiming to offer you information on how to get government grants.
According to the Better Business Bureau, Premier Timeshare Solutions is a company based in West Palm Beach, Florida, that claims to have buyers to purchase timeshares from consumers. It may contact consumers and offer to sell their timeshares, as long as they are willing to pay an up-front fee. After paying a fee that may exceed $2,500, the timeshare owners find that no buyers are available. Consumers can avoid scams by companies that fail to deliver on timeshare sales promises by checking references of any company that offers to sell a timeshare for them, or by marketing the timeshare on…
Paid to read email programs are money-making opportunities that connect advertisers with opt-in email subscribers. Most people join them to earn money from visiting advertisements. There are thousands of paid to read email programs online. The problem is: many of them are scams.
If you’ve ever seen advertisements for big savings or “hundreds per week”/”thousands per month” you should be cautious to believe. These internet entrepreneurs are promising people enormous savings with so-called coupon books. For a fee one can purchase the coupon book and reap the benefits. Or not. These are actually fraudulent schemes designed to take advantage of people wanting to save even more money. The Federal Trade Commission reports that over 3000 manufacturers nationwide distribute 330 billion coupons annually to increase savings by consumers. It is estimated that $280 billion is saved because of these manufacturer coupons. And there’s only…
Many people dream of becoming published authors some day. Unfortunately, just like in any other industry, there are unscrupulous businesses out there who will take advantage of that dream. Before you sign any contracts on the dotted line, be sure you're signing up with a reputable publishing house, rather than one that just wants to exploit you. Here are some tips on how to avoid common book publishing scams.
While Craigslist can serve as a helpful, online marketplace where you can find products you want to buy or advertise items you have for sale, it has some pitfalls. Even if you're a savvy seller or buyer, you can fall victim to a dishonest person running a scam. The best practice is to be skeptical of everyone you encounter through Craigslist and follow certain rules, such as never giving personal information to buyers or sellers and insisting on seeing a product in person before committing your money toward a purchase.
