EnTrends

Received the following forwarded email
from a subscriber this morning:

"I am an Executive Director with the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC) and a member of the Contract
Advisory Committee (CAC). I am seeking
your assistance to enable me transfer the
sum of $26,500,000 (Twenty Six Million,
Five hundred Thousand United States
Dollars) into your private/company

account."

Carole told me she has received "3 or 4 of
these in the last week, I think from
different people. I deleted the others. It
makes me nervous. Sounds like a
dangerous scam. "

That's exactly what it is, of course. Maybe
you're reading this thinking "I can't believe
people are still falling for the Nigeria scam
after all this time". On the other hand,
maybe you're reading this thinking, "Wow,
I might have responded to that. How am I
supposed to know what's a scam and
what's real?

The reality is that there are hundreds of
thousands of people coming online, for the
first time, each year. Many of these people
have simply not been exposed to scams
like the ones that are constantly touted on
the Internet before. Many of these people
come online to try and find a way to make
money with their computers and/or they're
looking for ideas for making money

from home.

The fact that they may not recognize
scams off the bat doesn't mean they're
naive or stupid, it just means that they
haven't been in an environment where this
sort of stuff came their way before now.
And don't the scammers know it.

Like vultures circling overhead, they await
their prey. They know they have only a
narrow window of opportunity because it
doesn't take newbies long to catch on so
they have to be quick about it. And

how do they do that? They hang out
where newbies hang out so they can get
them while they're still young and fresh
and vulnerable. They're nothing but
predators looking to pick off the easiest
game. Wouldn't want to have to engage in
any real work, after all.

In this article we look at several main
scams and how to recognize them.

=> Nigerian Advance Fee Scheme

The gist of this worldwide scheme is that
small to medium-size businesses receive a
letter from someone who purports to be

an official of the Nigerian government or
major utility or similar who needs to
transfer some huge amount of money out
of the country. The money typically is an

overpayment by the government on a
procurement contract. The object of the
exercise is to get you to provide your bank
account details (for the purpose of wire
transferring the money of course). Surprise
surprise, there's a transfer all right but not
INTO your account!

=> The FTC "Dirty Dozen"

These are the top 12 scams that have been
identified by the (U.S.) Federal Trade
Commission as the most likely to arrive

via email:

1. Business Opportunities - often pyramid
schemes (see below) thinly disguised as
legitimate opportunities to earn money.

What to look for: high returns with little or
no effort or cash outlay required.

2. Bulk Email - offers of lists of thousands
of email addresses all of whom, of course,
are just dying to receive your marketing

message. What to look for: "Bulk Email
Works! 10,000 addresses for $9.99."

3. Chain Letters - send $5 to the next name
on the list then cross the bottom name off
the list, replace it with your own, then

forward the letter to 500 of your nearest
and dearest. What to look for: A jail cell.
This is a pyramid scheme and is illegal.
The letter goes to great pains to say that it
is not illegal.

4. Envelope Stuffing - think you're going
to be paid for stuffing envelopes? Think
again. You get a kit that you can turn
around to recruit others to an envelope
stuffing scam of your very own! Watch out
for craft assembly work as well. You'll
probably find all of your hard work is not
up to their exacting "quality standards"

and therefore you won't get paid for your
work.

5. Health and Diet Scams - magic pills that
eradicate the need to eat fewer calories
than you expend in order to lose weight.

They don't work.

6. Effortless Income - no such thing. As
the FTC says, if they worked, everyone
would be doing it.

7. Free Goods - you're told you'll get a free
computer. You have to pay a fee to join a
club and then told you have to recruit
other members. You get paid in
computers. They're nothing but pyramid

schemes.

8. Investment Opportunities - look for
outrageously high rates of return with no
risk.

9. Cable Descrambler Kits - they probably
won't work and even if they do, you're
stealing a service from a cable company
and committing a crime.

10. Guaranteed Loans or Credit - pay a fee
and you're given a list of lenders, all of
whom turn you down. Credit cards

never arrive.

11. Credit Repair - no matter how bad your
credit, pay these people and they'll fix it.
They generally just advise you how to lie

on future credit applications - how to
commit fraud in other words.

12. Vacation Prize Promotions - your
accommodations will be so bad you'll
want to pay for an upgrade. You'll
probably have to pay to schedule a
vacation at the time you want as well.

=> Pyramid Schemes

Make money by recruiting members into
the program without giving anything of
equal value in exchange for membership
fees. Contrast MLM (multi-level marketing
schemes). These are not pyramid

schemes because they involve the sale of
products and services in return for
membership.

=> Medical Billing

Prepackaged businesses requiring an
investment of $2,000 to $8,000. Few
people who purchase one of these
"businesses"are able to find clients, start
a business and generate revenues.

Competition in this area is fierce and
concentrated around a few big, well-
entrenched firms.

=> Your In Box

Finally, go to your in-box now. You'll find
no end of scams sitting right there. Here's
one that just arrived in mind ...

"Subject: How to make $1,000,000 in 20
weeks selling to Newcomers on the Net"

Like all the rest, it gets the one-finger
salute - index finger to the delete key.
Works beautifully every time.

Where to go for more information on
internet scams:

FTC Website

http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/consumer.htm

Scambusters

http://www.scambusters.org

Netscams

http://www.netscams.com/frameset.html

Elena Fawkner is editor of A Home-Based
Business Online ... practical ideas,
resources and strategies for your home-
based or online business.
http://www.ahbbo.com