Financial scams and currently popular crimes

The Web and the advance of technology have made it easier than ever to take advantage of people who are not careful or unwitting and the variety of financial scams that turn up in the media seems to be increasing daily. There are a lot of people engaged in financial scams that are calculated to persuade you to give up your money. We will examine a few of the best-known scams that are currently making the rounds and outline how you can stay away from them.

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

• Identity theft and credit theft - Criminals will do almost anything to get their hands on your Social Security number or charge card numbers. Protect your personal information carefully and be certain to check your credit report to look for unusual activity in your name.

• Senior citizen fraud and scams - All kinds of speculative schemes, retirement programs, annuities, gas/oil investment schemes and even Medicare fraud are intended to target seniors. Seniors, on the whole, are likely to be less experienced about the use of the World Wide Web and about such schemes in general, so if you are over 65, beware of any investment promotion. A lot of senior citizens are in good shape financially; many crooks want their money.
• Commodities fraud - You may get offers to help you get wealthy by putting your money in precious metals, foreign exchange (FOREX) speculation or any one of a number of other commodities. Many, if not most sales pitches for unusual investment choices come with satisfactory reports from people who have made a lot of cash quickly. Commodities fraud is a risky way to lose all of your money in a hurry. With market volatility overseas comes dishonest people offering financial security via unconventional methods.
• Charity crimes - If you are unsure if a caller promoting a charity is for real, ask them to send their information by mail, but do not be surprised if the person on the phone merely hangs up. Criminals involved in a charity scheme will request a donation by credit card; if you provide them with your card number they will use your card to spend money like crazy. Charity crimes and fraud are a kind of telephone or telemarketing fraud, where the crooks call on the phone, claiming to be soliciting cash for some cause or natural disaster, such as A hurricane.
• Phishing e-mail crimes - Phishing is the act of sending out a huge number of e-mail messages that purport to be from banks, credit unions, or other institutions. Phishing e-mail messages vary, but often seem to be real messages from Wells Fargo, Citibank, Ebay and others. E-mail messages that are intended to defraud usually suggest that a security violation has occurred and that the recipient must follow a link and submit some financial information to fix the problem. Real banks will not send out electronic mail asking for your Social Security number. Scam messages may seem real, but they are fakes and are only intended to persuade you to provide some criminals with financial or personal information, such as your Social Security number or charge card numbers. If you receive an e-mail demand that you are in doubt about, call the authorized institution.

When there is money to be made by defrauding people, criminals will be finding new ways to do it.