As more and more people find themselves in scary financial positions, I’ve noticed that there seems to be a growing number of financial scams out there to avoid. Maybe some less fortunate people feel so desperate that they think they need to do scandalous things to take care of their families. Perhaps other people are trying to hard to find ways to improve their families’ situations that they are willing to jump headlong into schemes without knowing if they will really work. Whatever the reason behind the growing number of scams is, you know that you can’t afford to get caught up in them.
Below are a few of the common scams that I’ve seen lately. Keep an eye out for these and similar scams to ensure that you keep all of your money safely where it belongs.
m Work from Home Scams: Many people express a desire to work from home, but not everyone can find work they are qualified for. Their desire encourages them to surf the web looking for “work from home” opportunities. Others search newspaper ads for similar situations. Most of the people who answer these ads, however, never find the work that they so desperately want to find. The ads often tout the benefits of purchasing their “book of job leads” or a “start up kit.” Purchasers find out, though, that the jobs never really pan out. Try to keep in mind that you almost never have to spend money to get someone to hire you. Be very wary of these programs.
Phishing Scams: Have you ever opened your email to find an urgent message from eBay or PayPal that states that you must update your account information right away? The email also includes a link to the information page. These emails are almost never legitimate. These are from scammers who are hoping you will follow their link and give them your private information. Remember that if one of your accounts really needs you to update your information, you should open your browser and go directly to that account’s website. You should be able to find the same page there without going through the link in the email. If you can’t find it, you’ve probably received a phishing email.
Foreign Country Scams: This scam is a little more obvious, but it still bears mentioning. If you get an email that says a foreign dignitary needs your assistance getting money out of his country, you can stop reading. This is definitely a scam.
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Another scam is anyone stating that they work abroad and need a personal assistant to help them with their banking issues. I’ve seen this one several times on Craigslist. It seems it’s as much of a scam to take some of your money as it is a money laundering scheme.
If it seems to good to be true…it is!
Thanks for sharing!
Most scammers don’t put much work into their scams and can be smelled from a mile away. Afterall, if they weren’t adverse to work in the first place, why would they start scamming at all?
The perfect way to avoid any scam??
Never open up unsolicited emails, and second, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is