DON'T BE SCAMMED BY THE TONS OF FRAUDULENT OFFERS OF "HELP" Read on for red flags :

ALWAYS REMEMBER , IF THEY ARE FOR REAL , THEY WILL GIVE YOU INFORMATION ABOUT THEMSELVES AND THEIR COMPANY WITHOUT HESITATION OR EXCUSE.ASK FOR INFORMATION BEFORE YOU SEND OR E-MAIL ANY TO THEM.

• DON'T LET ANYONE TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOU JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE HURTING OR DOWN .

• IF THEY MENTION YOU PAYING  MONEY AS ANY PART OF THE "HELP" , THEN THEY ARE NOT REALLY HELPING YOU.

• ANYONE WHO WANTS YOU TO GIVE THEM ANYTHING IN EXCHANGE FOR HELP SHOULD BE SUSPECT.READ ON AND PROTECT YOURSELF FROM THE SCAMS , FRAUDS ,PYRAMID SCHEMES , AND LIES .

____________________________________________________________

01/21/08

All for free , no strings attached . Sound familiar ? Go to this page to find out what is truly free and what isn't :

http://freebies.about.com/od/notbargains/Scams_and_Shams.htm

• BEFORE YOU SIGN AN AGREEMENT OR PAY SOMEONE ANY MONEY , LOOK THEM UP AT THIS SITE. IF YOU WERE ALREADY SCAMMED , REPORT THEM HERE :   RIP OFF REPORT

AND PLEASE REMEMBER

• DO NOT GIVE YOUR PERSONAL E-MAIL OR ANY OTHER INFORMATION TO PEOPLE WHO SAY THEY WANT TO "HELP" Especially if they say that they can't help at all without your e-mail , address , last name , you paying them first , or your phone number. These are all red flags that something is wrong.

• Check them out and talk to them for a while.
• THEY CAN CONTACT YOU THROUGH PRIVATE MESSAGING ON AIDPAGE .
• You don't have to provide any other e-mail to them.

LOANS CAN BE SCAMS TOO.

• IF YOU DON'T HAVE MONEY NOW, HOW WOULD YOU PAY IT BACK ?
• THE PEOPLE YOU GET THE LOAN FROM DON'T CARE HOW YOU PAY IT BACK , THEY JUST WANT THEIR (your) MONEY , AND THEN YOU HAVE MORE OF A  PROBLEM THAN WHEN YOU STARTED.

 Here are some additional tips

• Be extremely suspicious of all unsolicited e-mail messages from unfamiliar sources. delete such messages without opening them.
• 
  Sometimes, a careful inspection of the Web sites given in the e-mail messages will cause alarm, but even a careful inspection of a bogus Web site may not reveal a scam. 

•  The best course remains - delete the e-mail messages without opening them.
• Interview and run background checks on all prospective employers the same way you would expect them to interview and run checks on you:
  Do a Google  online search for the prospective employer to see if there is anything posted about them that may warn you about a scam. 
• Run a company search on the Better Business Bureau's Web site, www.BBB.org. 

• If the company purports to be a charity, the BBB also allows you to search for charities by name at www.give.org. 
   
• If a charity or company refuses to send you any written information before you commit to taking a job or requires you to make a donation - beware! 

• Legitimate charities and jobs will not object to sending you written material about their organization before you commit to employment with them or give them a donation.
• 
  If an organization does not readily provide a valid street address and contact information (for example, if communication is done electronically only), this is also a warning sign. 

• Again, most charities and other prospective employers have valid street addresses or some other type of contact information.
• 
  Beware of any company that presses you to advance money out of your own bank account - the mere fact that a check has "cleared" does not mean it is good! 

• While the bank may make funds from the check available to you in a few days, it can take weeks before the forgery is uncovered and the check bounces.
•   
  If you insist on responding to job opportunities that sound like the one described above     (think again ! ! ! - sl )
• inform your contact at the charity or company that you will not forward any money until the check they sent you clears.  The contact person likely will not respond and will not contact you again. 
• 
  If you have given out personal information in response to an unsolicited e-mail, review the consumer alerts on ID theft provided below. 
• Avoid all employment offers that require you to accept checks for deposit in your personal account and then forward payments to an overseas organization.
• Never divulge personal information on the Internet until you have checked out the potential charity or employer. 
•  Unfortunately, con artists will use an identity that is difficult to verify, such as an overseas charity.  If you are unable to find out more information about the charity employer from reliable sources, walk away.
• If the organization claims to be a U.S.-based charity, ask it for a copy of its IRS Form 990, the financial report filed with federal and state governments. 
• You also can check out the organization by
• contacting your state government's charity registration office (usually a division of the state's attorney general's office),
• visiting www.give.org (if a national charity),
• or if it is a local charity, visiting www.bbb.org to contact the Better Business Bureau in your area.
• Don't assume the charity  or job is legitimate because of an impressive looking Web site that mentions well known personalities and/or official contacts.
• Watch out for "red flags" in the job application process such as requests for your mother's maiden name or your date of birth. These are not legitimate requests and the information obtained can be used to commit identify theft. 
   

This is another good site for educating yourself about internet safety .

 There are free classes to take . This is another great web site courtesy of Elaine of TSA. If you have children of any age ,or if you aren't sure yourself about internet safety ( and I found lot's of stuff I didn't know) go to this site !

INTERNET 101.

Here is a site recommended by Emil (co-owner of this site)

It is published by Craigslist .

HOW TO AVOID SCAMS AND FRAUD

This is a must-see site . The link came compliments of our fellow Aidmate , Elaine of TSA :

What does the NFIC/IFW do? 
  Our mission is to give consumers the information they need to avoid becoming victims of telemarketing and Internet fraud and to help them get their complaints to law enforcement agencies quickly and easily.
 

FRAUD DOT ORG.

Another site to investigate or report consumer fraud : 
 
Education is a key tool to prevent consumer injury. In this section of our website, you'll find publications with advice on avoiding scams and rip-offs, as well as tips on other consumer topics.
 
 
 CONSUMER TRADE COMMISSION FOR THE CONSUMER PAGE.

Here is a good article  about fraud by the consumer credit counseling people. Look for the yellow yield sign.

CONSUMER CREDIT FRAUD

Here is a good link about online scams.
This one is easy to understand.

Michele Schermerhorn has over 30 years experience in the business world and over 12 years running her own successful online businesses.

She is President of Online Business Institute Inc. Online Business Institute Inc. exists to “Create Successful Online Business Owners One Person At A Time”.

ONLINE GURU OR SCAM ARTIST-HOW CAN YOU TELL?

This is just something I have seen myself on this site (aidpage).

If someone comes online and says they will help you ,and then they won't give information ,or if they do ,you have to light a fire under them to tell you about what they offer , it is a scam.

****ABUSE-WARNING-PAGE BY THE WIZARD****

This is an Aidpage written by Sweet Granny . She has tips and lists scammers to look out for.

SWEET GRANNYS' AIDPAGE

Here is a site that tells why we may get lured into someones scam or fraud schemes :

5 Ways to get yourself into debt fast.

Consumers information from the Federal Trade Commisson:(includes info about the internet and fraud)

Federal Trade Commission

The top ten SCAMS on the net:

10 Scams-Businessweek

Quatloos. The cyber-museum of SCAMS and FRAUDS

Quatloos page

A page on SCAMS and tips on how to avoid them :

Avoiding Scams page on bizymoms.com

Another page on how to avoid work at home SCAMS

Avoiding work at home scams from about.com

The Global Prosperity Group SCAM :

Information about the Global Prosperity Group

Here is a page about identity theft

 This is another thing to watch out for when someone asks for information about you on the net .

This website is a one-stop national resource to learn about the crime of identity theft. It provides detailed information to help you Deter, Detect, and Defend against identity theft. While there are no guarantees about avoiding identity theft, there are steps you can take to minimize your risk and minimize the damage if a problem occurs:

IDENTITY THEFT

• ANOTHER THING I HAVE NOTICED FROM LOAN COMPANIES IS THEY GIVE THE SAME OFFER TO EVERYBODY .
• IF THIS WAS SOMEONE WHO REALLY WANTED TO HELP , WOULDN'T THE WORDING BE A LITTLE DIFFERENT INSTEAD OF JUST CUT AND PASTED ON EVERYONE'S PAGE ?
• DO THESE PEOPLE EVEN READ YOUR PAGE ,OR DO THEY PASTE THEIR INFORMATION ,AND THEN ROCKET ON TO THE NEXT VICTIM ?

• If you are looking for ways to pay down your debt , here are some tips (on how NOT to do it ):

DUMB WAYS TO PAY DOWN DEBT.

Here is an article on PAY DAY LOANS -WITH BOTH OF THE ABOVE AND BELOW LINKS WATCH OUT FOR ALL THE ADS. APPARENTLY THE AUTHOR IS TRYING TO NAVIGATE AROUND THEM TOO..

PAY DAY LOAN RIPOFFS

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Many have come on Aidpage to ask for money to help them with the Student Ambassador trips.

 Some people say this is a scam/ripoff . It does seem that if this is an award-type program that the trip would already be paid for .

Sometimes it is so flattering to be offered something like this that we tell ourselves our child has to go , no matter what .

Just check it out and see what this program is really about before you spend your or someone else's money.

STUDENT AMBASSADOR TRIPS.

Many people wonder what a multi-level marketing scheme/plan is.

Here is a link that has a good explanation of how a mult-level scheme works :

MULTI-LEVEL MARKETING OR PYRAMID SCHEMES

Here is something else to look out for on the                          Internet Chain letters , chain pyramids and other similar schemes :

CHAIN LETTERS -ARE THEY legal ?

Here is the Internet Public Complaint Center . It is for internet fraud and other crimes .This is the FBI's  site.

INTERNET COMPLAINT CENTER

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MORE AIDPAGES BY SOULIGHT FOR FREE HELP OF ALL KINDS.

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