This is the second part of the list of various scams and schemes, some of which are internet-based. Please refer to Part I.

 

6) Employment scam

You have posted your resume, with at least some personal data accessible by potential employers, on a legitimate employment site. You receive a job offer to become a "financial representative" of an overseas company you have never even heard of before. The reason they want to hire you is that this company has problems accepting money from US customers and they need you to handle those payments. You will be paid 5 to 15 percent commission per transaction.

 

If you apply, you will provide the scammer with your personal data, such as bank account information, so you can "get paid". Instead, you will experience some, or all, of the following:

* identity theft,
* money stolen from your account, or
* may receive fake checks or money orders for payments which you deposit into your account but must send 85 - 95 percent of that to your "employer".

Soon you will owe much money to your bank!

In other instance, you will receive an unsolicited e-mail message from a "multinational company"  congratulating you for being selected for a specific job. The e-mail contains details about the "hiring company", the positions needed, and a very enticing compensation package.

You will be asked to send money through Western Union as processing fee or reservation fee.

7) Disaster relief scams

What do 9-11, Tsunami and Katrina have in common? These are all disasters, tragic events where people die, lose their loved ones, or everything they have. In times like these, good people pull together to help the survivors in any way they can, including online donations. Scammers set up fake charity websites and steal the money donated to the victims of disasters.

If your request for donation came via email, there is a chance of it being a phishing attempt. Do not click on the link in the email and volunteer your bank account or credit card information.

Your best bet is to contact the recognized charitable organization directly by phone or their website.

8) Travel scams

These scams are most active during the summer months. You receive an email with the offer to get amazingly low fares to some exotic destination but you must book it today or the offer expires that evening. If you call, you'll find out the travel is free but the hotel rates are highly overpriced.

Some can offer you rock-bottom prices but hide certain high fees until you 'sign on the dotted line'. Others, in order to give you the 'free' something, will make you sit through a timeshare pitch at the destination. Still others can just take your money and deliver nothing.

Also, getting your refund, should you decide to cancel, is usually a lost cause, often called a nightmare or mission-impossible.

Your best strategy is to book your trip in person, through a reputable travel agency or proven legitimate online service like Travelocity or Expedia.

9) "Make Money Fast" chain emails

A classic pyramid scheme: you get an email with a list of names, you are asked to send 5 dollars (or so) by mail to the person whose name is at the top of the list, add your own name to the bottom, and forward the updated list to a number of other people.

The author of this scam letter painstakingly explains that, if more and more people join this chain, when it's your turn to receive the money, you might even become a millionaire!

Bear in mind that, most times, the list of names is manipulated to keep the top name (the creator of the scam, or his friends) on top, permanently.

As with the previously circulating snail-mail version of this chain, the email edition is just as illegal. Should you choose to participate, you risk being charged with fraud - definitely not something you want on your record, or resume.

10) "Turn Your Computer Into a Money-Making Machine!"

Although not a full blown scam, this scheme works as follows: You send someone money for instructions on where to go and what to download and install on your computer to turn it into a money-making machine --  for spammers.

At sign-up, you get a unique ID and you have to give them your PayPal account information for the "big money' deposits you'll soon be receiving. The program that you are supposed to run, sometimes 24/7, opens multiple ad windows, repeatedly, thus generating per-click revenue for spammers.

In other scenario, your ID is limited to a certain number of page clicks per day. In order to make any money whatsoever from this scheme, you are pretty much forced to scam the spammers by hiding your real IP address with Internet proxy services such as "findnot", so you can make more page clicks.

I won't even go into the discussion about what this program will do to your computer's performance... it is a true tragedy if you get conned into this scam.