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If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is. However, that doesn't keep scammers from making their offers each day -- and it doesn't stop victims from falling prey to them. By learning from mistakes that other people have made, you can help keep dishonest people from taking advantage of you.
The Internet offers a vast amount of resources to make purchases, sell unwanted items and even start a business. Unfortunately, there are scam artists who set up fraudulent companies in order to steal your money and your goods. Before you conduct any business with a company on the Internet, it is best to investigate the company to make sure that it does not have a history of scamming unsuspecting consumers.
Every day millions of people are approached online with fraudulent offers to invest, earn money or donate to charity. Unfortunately, some of these schemes are quite sophisticated and can fool even the most careful consumers into parting with their money or financial information. If you receive an offer that makes you skeptical, you can check it against some reputable sources to verify whether the offer is legitimate.
The Internet offers vast choices for everything from shopping online to home employment opportunities. In recent years it has launched many new entrepreneurs into successful careers. In fact, many of the fastest-growing retail companies are operated online. Unfortunately, cyberspace is also a breeding ground for those with less than ethical business practices. Thousands of people have been swindled out of their hard-earned money through online gimmicks. For this reason, it is important to know how to check for an internet scam.
Email money scams come in many forms. Scammers claim to need help moving money out of a foreign country or claim you won a prize and need to wire tax money to claim it, according to the Consumer Fraud Reporting website. Sometimes scam artists impersonate a legitimate financial institution or company like PayPal or Ebay to obtain bank account or credit card information. You may be able to stop email money scammers, or at least slow them down, by reporting their efforts to the appropriate places.
There is never a shortage of unscrupulous tacticians out there, thinking up new ways to pry our personal information from us or to get us to unknowingly sign up for a service with fine print that we barely understand. These scams are constantly evolving, and even though we think we can spot them a mile away, sometimes they reach up and bite us. Here are three to watch out for.
In 2008, victims of online fraud lost more than $264 million according to the Internet Crime Complaint Center. Email scams involving car shipping and similar check-related scams were among the top seven complaints. Scammers send an email offering to buy a car advertised online. They claim to be in another state or country and say they will pay for shipping. They send a check for more than the purchase price, asking the seller to cash it and wire the additional amount to a "shipper" who turns out to be an accomplice. The check turns out to be forged and the…
