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Have you been Scammed?
Article By Cameron Savage
A Brief Introduction to Scam Email
Scam-Artists are found everywhere. If you go to your favorite retail outlet the closer that you get to Christmas the more likely it is that you will see someone who will "work" for food or amazingly are "down on their luck". Over the years these scam-artists have made a living by leaching off of other people.
At other times in your life you may have encountered the "magazine sales" people who go door to door in attempt to sell everyone in your area multiple subscriptions to different magazines in order to pay for a trip, usually to a business seminar of some kind. Local law enforcement usually attempts to warn people of these scam-artists when they first become aware of them. However; as is with any scam the police can only do so much in order to prevent it. In the end it comes down to you, the individual, to not allow yourself to be scammed.
The same is true in the world of Email scams. Time and time again people are led into get rich quick schemes such as the ever popular Pyramid Scheme.
Example of an Email Pyramid Scheme
Send five dollars to the five people on the list below, put your name on the top of the list and then remove the person on the bottom of this list.
Send a copy of this Email message out to as many people as you can and advise them to do the same. The more people you send this Email to the more money you will make. You can make up to $40,000.00 a week if you follow these simple instructions.
Bob Smith, 1234 Atlanta Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 12345
Jenny Jones, APT 1C Park Street, New York, New York 12345
Sly Young, BOX 1234, Douglas, Wyoming 12345
Tim Fibs, 406 East 1st Street, Seattle, Washington 12345
Bill Marley, 12 Marley Way, Charleston, Virginia 12345
This is not a Pyramid Scheme! It is 100% legal and guaranteed to work!! You will begin seeing results within three weeks if you just follow these simple instructions!
Putting aside the fact that this is a Pyramid Scheme and is 100% illegal we need to look at who actually makes money. Is it you?
No. The person that makes money in this scheme is usually the first person on the list. The other four names are generally aliases for the first person on the list so even if you were the only one to respond he/she would make $25.00 just for sending you that Email.
You will never see your initial investment back if you buy into this let alone the thousands of dollars that this individual promises you. Now, you may be asking yourself "who would fall for such an obvious scheme?". The answer may surprise you. Thousands of people a year are taken in by scams like the one mentioned above. Many people do it simply because it is only $25.00 and they have the attitude of what do they have to lose? Well it is pretty simple. You can go to jail for joining a scheme like the one outlined.
So many people fall for scams like this that in the United States the Federal Trade Commission has several advisories listed on their website that describe many of the most popular Email scam letters.
A big concern is that people have been known to be mugged or even killed after attempting to complete some of the more in depth scams.
These people are professional scam artists and it is always best if you avoid the scams completely.
How do I tell if I have a Scam Email?
A scam Email is generally very easy to spot if you are able to make yourself stop and ask a few key questions.
Chances are, the answer is that they do not want to help you at all. They are probably trying to figure out a way to get your bank account information so that they can take money out of your account. Essentially having you do the hard part for them. This is referred to as "phishing".
How many times have you received a letter in the mail promising you a fortune to only open it and find out that they want to sell you something? Personally this happens to me many times a year and every time I laugh at the attempt. Treat these Emails as though they were regular postal mail letters. In fact, doubt their legitimacy even more than you would regular postal mail.
The answer to this is that these schemes do not work. Well, not for the person receiving the invitation at any rate. If they did everyone on the planet would just trade money and no one would work..everyone would be rich.
Chances are that if it sounds like a get rich quick scheme it probably is one. There is no way for you to make the amount of money that these people claim you can legally. Making money has always taken a great deal of work and follow through. The only exception to that is the lottery and the odds of winning an interstate lottery are far better than that of getting rich using a pyramid scheme or other such scam.
Chances are you would never start an Email like the one you recieved if it is a scam Email. Ask yourself if you would send an Email like the one mentioned above, and be honest. I am pretty sure that you will have to say that you would not.
If it is a scam Email it will almost always sound too good to be true. "Make millions on eBay", "I have millions of dollars and need a way to get it into the US, I will share a percentage with you if you help.", "Lose Weight without Exercising". Ok, I am sure you get the idea now.
Another thing that you should do is research legitimate sounding
Email. Investigate the companies the Email claims to represent, check the
FTC Website for new scam Email warnings, ask your friends and family
what they think.
Ok It is a Scam Email, Now What?
Well, now that you know you have a scam Email on your hands. Your best bet is
to report it to the authorities. A great place to report Scam Email is
the
Internet Fraud Complaint Center. The more information that you
are able to provide to them the more likely it is that they will be able to
catch the culprits.