How To Guide

Two examples below

Stephen Thomas

When Stephen Thomas was growing up in a Washington neighborhood, and was still in school, he got addicted to drugs. Starting with marijuana, he went on to alcohol, PCP, hash, cigarettes and acid when he was only 13. After graduated from high school, he got addicted to cocaine.

During the next 30 years he went through five jobs which were paying him $50,000 to $80,000 a year. He was evicted from eleven apartments and lost his wife and child and distanced himself from family and friends and then found himself on the streets, where he lived for a year on a bench, eating at soup kitchens and depending on hand-outs.

Finally one day a a doctor on a homeless health care van helped him out, sent him to Samaritans Inn where he went through a drug and recovery program, and was finally clean. He is now an advocate for homeless people, a speaker, member and chairman of many programs which help the homeless.

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Michael Brown

Michael Brown is an artist and painter.… Read More

Working from home seems like a great idea and there are many people who would like to work from home for whatever reason. They are easy targets for scammers who either get money from them or work done from them or both.

On the face of it the offers sound very attractive and the websites are full of them. You can not only earn a handsome living but also become quite wealthy if you believe all that is written on some scam web sites. There is usually only one catch – you have to pay a fee either to register, to received some materials or training, or buy some products. There are millions of people who get taken in by some of these offers and somebody somewhere sure is getting rich, but it certainly is not you!

Different work-at-home scams

There will still be those envelope stuffing offers, type at home, data entry, processing claims, sending emails, posting ads, taking surveys, online businesses, medical billing work, at home insurance work, etc. The situation is so bad that Christine Durst, CEO… Read More

Sometimes you may get a message on your computer saying that is infected by some spyware or Trojan and that you need to get rid of it by clicking – don’t get taken in.

The other day I was sitting on my computer, doing work and had several web sites open. Suddenly I saw this pop-up window open saying that my computer was infected by a Trojan and that I should click to delete the file. Since I already have good, genuine anti-virus software on my computer, and it scans everyday and also offers real time scanning, I was disturbed. But then I checked the window and it was not from my software, so I quickly closed it. It was obviously an attempt to put a virus into my computer.

The worst thing

Almost all of us are everyday computer users and the threat of the viruses and spyware, Trojan and hijacking tools when online is very real. While this can compromise your safety, steal valuable documents from you computer, steal passwords and log-in ids, a good hacker… Read More

If you don’t have a great credit score, if you are always in debt and always behind payments and looking to find ways to improve your credit score, you will find them.

Sometimes you are in badly over your head in debt and wonder what you can do. Sometimes you are denied loans, a mortgage or extra credit, and you wonder if you can do anything about it. When you look it up on the net, you will find many sites which offer free credit counseling, offer to help you manage your debt better and get your financial health in order.

The improving credit score scam

There are many sites which offer to help you improve your credit score for a fee or for free. Be very wary of these because many of them are fake. Many of the companies offer you free credit reports from three companies, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Of these only FICO (Fair Isaac Corporation) score from Equifax is valid and true. The credit scores from the other two are frequently inflated.

How do they work… Read More

When you use the internet you will see many places which are actually shopping sites from where you can buy products. But there are also many web creation sites which tell you how to make money online – are these all scams?

If you are an internet user you will sometime or the other hit on sites which tell you how you can make easy money online by making a website of your own. Some of them will offer to tell you their secrets either by downloading reading material or video casts. You’ve probably read stories and testimonials of people on the sites saying how much money they’ve made – thousands of dollars each month very easily. Surely you’ve been tempted to do the same either as an extra source of income or even an easy alternate job.

So-called free downloads

Most of the time, these are not free at all. You have to pay some money, anything from $ 40 and over to download a ‘free’ e-book or a ‘free’ video presentation. Or you may be able to order… Read More

Property prices have come down and it is no wonder then that people fall for scams which promise to buy property cheaply and rent it out, earning handsome income for the buyers.

You open a leading financial paper and see huge advertisements by property companies saying that you can make a great deal of money by investing in property, which will then be refurbished and rent out. This would all be hassle free for you and the dealer promise good returns on the money invested, plus the property will be yours in any case. It all seems like a great deal and a good way to put money to use – everything seems kosher and you are lured by the promises, to put in your hard earned money, little knowing that it is all a scam.

It is a global phenomenon

If you think this happens only in U.K. or U.S.A., you couldn’t be more wrong. All over world there are cases of buy to rent scams. There are even simple rental scams wherein the person is asked… Read More

You would normally feel pretty safe using your credit or debit card for goods or services in the normal course of life. Unfortunately many people have been victimized for no fault of their own.

Are you aware that the credit or debit cards in your wallet could easily be cloned wherever and whenever you use them? This would be done without your knowledge and you would not even be aware of it unless your bank calls you or you receive your monthly statement or your card is declined due to lack of funds!

The ease of card usage

In the good old days cash was king, though you could be robbed of cash. But now that plastic is accepted everywhere, many people don’t even carry cash or carry very little cash with them. Credit and debit cards are accepted everywhere, at restaurants, stores, supermarkets, to buy fuel, even at theaters, cinema halls, hotels, and for online shopping and you can use your card wherever in the world you may be, so you don’t even have to carry foreign exchange. While… Read More

Everyone is on the lookout for a good deal specially if the person has to fly somewhere. Some websites take advantage of this and run scams.

The cheap airline ticket is specially targeted towards holiday makers and people seeking last minute bargain deals. Many people fall for these ticket scams because they offer bargain price tickets and since e-booking and e-tickets are almost universally accepted, the victims don’t think twice about the online bookings they make.

The No Ticket-Scam

The site offers really cheap fares in an attempt to lure potential customers. Then they ask for personal details to be filled up online. They ask for your credit card number, its expiration date and the CVV number which is given on the back of the card – this number should actually never be given to anybody because it is the credit card company’s fail safe number.

At the end of all this you will be told that the transaction has been declined for technical reasons and you need to pay by another method like wiring funds or a postal money… Read More

Lots of people use movers and packers when they shift residences locally, or out of town, thinking that their goods will be professionally packed and moved with less of a headache, but do you know many movers and packers are in the business only to scam people?

Everybody values their household goods whether it is furniture, white goods, clothes, knick-knacks or photographs and other family treasures. An empty house takes on character thanks to all the stuff in it. So when a person or families have to shift, they want to shift lock, stock and barrel and also want to hire good people to help them with their shifting, as it is anyway a stressful process. However, movers and packers, though supposedly legitimate companies, are one of the biggest scam artists in the business.

How It Works

You sign a contract with a moving and packing company, perhaps give an advance if those are the terms of you contract. Perhaps you agree to pay in cash at the end of it. Whether you think you have got a good deal… Read More

Considering how popular gymming has become in recent times, it is no wonder that more and more people are getting scammed with gym memberships.

Whether it is a small neighborhood gym, or a big brand one, there is absolutely no guarantee that the gym membership you signed up for is actually worth the big bucks you paid, or that the gym will shut shop soon, and you will be left in the lurch or that the gym does not live up to the standards you would expect. There are many different types of gym scams which are on.

The Dirty Gym

No doubt when you joined the gym and were taken around to see the facilities and equipment you did not notice that it was actually dirty and not up to the hygiene standards you would expect from a gym. Clean towels, clean wash rooms, clean showers, clean carpeting on the floors (where there is carpeting) is the minimal you can expect.

If it does not look neat and clean, equipment is strewn around the floors, there are not enough… Read More

You may be a do-gooder, or you may find your heart melting at some particular pitch given by a charity and donate. But are you aware that there are many fake charities around, and the money never goes to the people it is intended to help?)

How Fake Charities Are Set Up

If you have access to the internet, it is easy to set up a fake charity. You just have to put a convincing enough home page to hook people and set up an account via which they can donate money and you are business. Even if you put up an address, it may not be real or may be in another country and you can always use the excuse that for tax purposes you are doing so (though charities are tax exempt and should give you a certificate for tax exemption on your donation) or to evade bureaucracy and red tape which will come in the way of disbursements. This is what people who run fake charities do.

Where Does Your Money Go

If… Read More

It is very exciting to get a call or letter saying that you have won a prize. But if there are strings attached, you have not actually won, but been scammed.

Sometimes you enter contest in newspapers and magazines. Sometimes, you fill up coupons at supermarkets, stores or other places, supposedly ‘lucky draw’ coupons. And sometimes you don’t even do any of these things, but still ‘win’ a prize. You can be notified by mail, email, phone call or even via the internet – haven’t you seen those annoying pop-ups which say click to claim your prize or you are the nth visitor so you get a prize?

The Hook And Bait

The bait is that you can win money, a gift or even a holiday if you enter. Once you are on the hook, the scammers can reel you in without your even knowing what is happening. Sometimes you may be asked to call a 190 number – these numbers cost exorbitant rates and you will be put on hold and spoken to for a long time. At times,… Read More

You give to a charity with good intentions, but do you know whether the charity you are donating to is real or is it a scam one?

Cash In A Box Scam

There are donation boxes kept at various places so that you can donate small amounts for a cause or charity. Since these are usually on a small scale, and don’t involve tax deduction certificates, people just put in the money and forget about it. You can never be sure if the money in those boxes actually reaches the people it is meant to help or ends up in somebody’s pocket.

Bigger Scams

On a larger scale, you can get emails or postal mails, particularly when there is a natural disaster anywhere in the world. Scammers take advantage of such situations to line their own pockets. Sometimes they make fake websites which look like those of reputable charities and may even issue you fake certificates, so beware. People are fleeced of billions of dollars in this manner and the worst thing is that you won’t even come to know… Read More