Bankruptcy

What You Can Learn from 2010?s Top Scams

By guest-writer

While many people are looking forward to the new year, it?s also important to take time to look back on what we learned from 2010. So here?s a review of some of the major scams that we saw in the past year (listed on WalletPop.com) and what you can do to protect your finances from similar ones.

Protect Your Finances from Future Scams

• Mortgage Relief Scams: Scammers know that people who are feeling desperate make good targets, so times of economic distress provide scam artists with plenty of opportunities for ripping people off. Scams offering fake mortgage relief take advantage of people in danger of losing their homes by offering fake services to negotiate with lenders or change mortgage terms, and real opportunities for struggling homeowners to throw away money they can?t afford to lose. Lesson: You are the only one responsible for saving your home and/or mortgage. If you want help, you must ask for it and do some work to find the right group to provide it.
• Debt Relief & Reduction Scams: Like mortgage relief scams, debt relief scams work by charging consumers steep upfront fees for debt-reduction services that the scammer never delivers. Though new rules have strengthened consumer protections against debt settlement companies (which are sometimes little more than dolled-up scammers), many groups are apparently still finding ways to get around these rules. Lesson: Do your homework before committing to any debt relief firm. Visit the Better Business Bureau, compare fees among companies, and consider your alternatives (like credit counseling and bankruptcy). Most importantly, if something sounds too good to be true, don?t believe it.
• Robocall Scams: These scams work by contacting vast numbers of consumers with recorded telephone messages and promising some attractive service (like quick debt reduction) ? naturally, for a steep price. Lesson: Getting out of debt is almost never a quick process. If someone promises a quick fix for your debt, turn the other way and run (and don?t write any checks in the meantime).
• Identity Theft Scams: Identity theft is perhaps one of the most troubling crimes of the information age ? correcting the damage done by identity thieves can take hours of time and lead to anger and frustration. And identity thieves are masters at taking advantage of new technologies to get our information ? emails, text messages, online buying sites and other popular media have all been used by identity thieves to lure in unsuspecting consumers. Lesson: Guard your personal information carefully. Don?t ever wire money to strangers, reply to unfamiliar emails, text sensitive information or otherwise reveal too much of your personal data.

Keep Your Money Safe in 2011

The sad truth about scams is this: there will always be a new scam out there ? the nature of legislation is that it is slow and retroactive, meaning that unscrupulous individuals will always be able to outpace laws. But if you approach your everyday transactions and interactions with reasonable skepticism, you should be able to keep yourself and your money safe.

Full post as published by The Bankruptcy Blog on January 05, 2011 (boomark / email).