How to Avoid Getting Scammed

Scams are run through email with great ease. Just as I am at my computer typing this article, Scam Artists only need to have a computer and email to run their business.

There are many scams being run over the internet using a variety of formats but all have the same end result, your money landing in the scammers' pocket. The scams are well known to government officials however they are unable to put a stop to it.

You don't have to go far to find a scam. I was at one time somewhat reluctant to write about them because at the same time I might be teaching a person how to conduct a scam. The every day person needs to know however, what is going on in order to avoid being tricked.

Several great movies have been produced about trickery. The Flim Flam Man and Monkey Hustle are two that come to mind. Scams have surpassed these older movies and are now on the internet which was not a factor back in the days that these movies were produced.

Many scams are easily found in your email everyday. Banking and password bait scams are a few. Sometimes they claim to be replying to your email. They always want you to give them pertinent information about yourself.

Valid Advertising Phishing

Advertising offers made by real companies selling merchandise legally phish for your information which can be collected and used to coax you to buy, by knowing your preferences. The information gathered can be accumulated and sold to other companies in the form of mailing lists that can be purchased and used by many companies.

Data Mining is a valid advertising tool and is taught in University Graduate School Programs in Marketing such as in New York University. Offers are made to potential customers or surveys are offered in order to data mine each individual profile and personal information. Persons are asked their name, address, city, state, zip code, age, date of birth, number of persons in their family, household, their salary and more.

Personal information is gathered as well as their likes and dislikes. Many of these data mining tools are used by the companies posted in the Forum under "Other Online Gigs". People freely share their information. You would be surprised what is retained on the internet forever. Just Google your self or pay one of those online companies to look yourself up. A lot of information remains in the public eye. Legal lists are so fine tuned that they are sold based on a variety of demographic factors.

There are many other types of scams such as Illegal Phishing, Rental Scams, Inheritance Scams, Investment Scams, Employment Scams and more. I will explore each one in depth in this series of articles.