Top Online Scams of 2009
Last year, one group of people carried on business with their usual dedication and ingenuity: scammers. Thanks to their diligent efforts, millions of innocent consumers were harassed, defrauded, and robbed of valuable personal information that could do serious damage to their credit and privacy for years to come. Here, in no particular order, were some of the most memorable scams of 2009—and ones to watch for in the year ahead.
1. Spoofing attacks: Whether they're pretending to be your bank or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the scammer will send you an email asking you to go to a very official-looking web site... and divulge all the personal information your bank or the CDC either already has or would never ask for.
2. Economy related scams: These preyed on people's natural concerns about the economy and offered bogus offers for loan consolidation, debt relief, and unemployment insurance.
3. Work at home scams: These have always been popular, but they took on new significance due to the poor economy. The most notable feature of these scams: they lure people in by promising them easy money—but they always require an upfront fee.
4. Social networking scams: The continued popularity of Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites offered a big fat target to scammers and malware makers looking to spread viruses, hack into people's personal accounts, or con people out of money.
5. Classified ad and auction scams: Sites like Craigslist and eBay are great places to find everything from a roommate to concert tickets. Unfortunately, fraudsters can also use it as a vehicle to find victims for check overpayment cons, counterfeit ticket sales, and other scams.
Boost PC Performance With These 3 Simple Tips
Is your PC slower than it used to be and is it frustrating you by crashing and slowing down? You don't need to put up with poor computer performance any longer. Read more >
