Every year investigations by the Better Business Bureau uncover many scams.  The scams range from schemes that have been around for many years new gimmicks.   Many of the older scams are just recycled with different words or current issues are used to make them some newer. The top scam of the year, according to the Better Business Bureau, was a Phishing email claiming it was from them.  It was about a complaint, which could download malicious software.  This malicious software could mine financial accounts.

Here is an in depth look at the top scams of 2011 according to the Better Business Bureau.

• Job scams—every year the BBB sees many working from home and secret shopper scams but they cannot only kill your hopes of making money but also steal your personal information.  The websites, online applications, and scam emails look professional but how they get your personal information is to as you to fill out a report to check your credit or else a form to direct deposit your money to provide some bank information.  These forms are just a way for the identity thief to capture your sensitive personal information that can be used like your bank account number, Social Security numbers, etc.
• Lottery and sweepstakes scams–the top scam was the email that stated it was from the founder of Facebook telling you that you had won one million dollars from Facebook. Read the rest of this entry »

This type of scam is when someone calls you claiming that they are from your credit card company and asks you to confirm personal information.  This could be anything from your credit card number, the security code from the back of the card, or even your mother’s name.  If you give the caller any of this information after the call is over the caller will take the information and start making charges on your account.  This identity theft may even create a new account in your name.  Sometime these identity thieves or scammers will even leave a number on your answering machine or in an email to get you to call them.

If you should get a phone call of this type make sure that you do not give out any information even if they sound legitimate for the simple reason is that you did not initiate the call.  Some of these scammers are so smart that they can even have your credit card company’s number show up on the caller ID by spoofing your caller ID.  Only trust calls that you make by using the number on the billing statement or on the back of your credit card.  If you get any numbers in an email or left on your answering machine that you do not know do not call them back and give them any personal information.

Call your credit card company immediately if you mistakenly give out your personal information.  The credit card company may give you a new credit card number or even a new credit card and deactivate the old one to prevent fraudulent charges from being made on your account.
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When you buy anything over the phone or online they want to know your credit card number and the three digit security code on the back of your credit card.  If we do not do this the only other option is to mail the company a money order or check and add extra time for the check to clear before it is shipped.  With so much talk about identity theft, you want to make sure that you are not going to become a victim if you give out your credit card information.  You want to make sure that you have credit card protection from becoming a victim.

Here are some tips to follow to help prevent identity theft from giving your credit card number out.

• A very simple first rule is never give your credit card number to anyone who calls you no matter what story they give you why they need this number even if they tell you that they are not trying to sell you anything and that they are only trying to verify some information.
• If you get an email that asks you to visit a certain website or make a phone call to verify your credit card information do not respond to either one because an honest business will not ask you to do either one.
• Identity thieves like to send out emails pretending to be from some well known store so if you get any offer via email be suspicious.  Often the email will contain a phone number that actually belongs to the identity thief and not the store so if you do you will be giving your credit card information to an identity thief.

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There are many times when you may be out shopping and see something that you want to buy but are not sure if you have the money in the bank so you whip out your Smartphone to check your bank balance but is that a smart thing to do?  Are you safe from being hacked and having an identity thief get your personal information and cleaning out your bank account?  There are some people who are nervous about using their Smartphone for online banking and will use a credit card for the purchase instead of checking their balance via their Smartphone.

Here are some things that you should and should not do to make using your Smartphone for your online banking needs.

Do….

• Make sure that you stick to using your bank’s apps for mobile banking.  If there are any well-reviewed and trusted third-party personal finance apps you can use them instead.  These you can download directly from the app store for your Smartphone type.
• Look at your phone as a personal computer and you will be able to minimize your risks of identity theft or being hacked. One thing that you can do is for identity theft protection is to install antivirus software on your Smartphone just like you would do for your laptop or computer.
• Make sure that you keep track of your Smartphone and know where it is. If you keep it in your purse make sure that it cannot fall out or that no one can steal it from your purse.  When you are out and about check often to make sure that you have your Smartphone with you.

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There are ads on the internet and some work at home sites advertising for people to sell items on e-Bay.  Some may be legitimate but most of them are scams.  Why do these people need you to sell for them on e-Bay and pay you a fee when they could do it themselves and keep all the profit from the sale?  The reason is that this person does not really have anything to sell except for a scam.

When you look at these ads, they want you to not only have an open e-Bay account but also a PayPal account without any limitations.  Some even put in their advertisements that they are looking for hard working, honest people.  When you answer their ad they will send you the information of what they want you to see, how much you get to keep as a fee which may include the amount that e-Bay charges you for listing the items.

They will then send you the information about the item that you are to advertise for sale, a picture or two of the item, how and where they want it listed on e-Bay and their PayPal address to send the money to.  Once you have it all set up on e-Bay you have to send the link to the person you are selling the item for so they can make sure that it is done correctly.
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