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1) The Nigerian scam
It is a desperate cry for help in getting a very large sum of money out of the country. A common variation is a woman in Africa who claimed that her husband had died, and that she wanted to leave millions of dollars of his estate to a good church

This scam, like most scams, is to good to be true. However, so many people still fall into this con game. Most of scammers are promising that they are willing to give you huge payments without asking you a favor. All you are asked to do is cover the "endless" legal or small "fees" to the people who can release the scammer's money.

The more you are willing to pay, the more they will try to suck out of your wallet. You will never see any of the promised money, because there isn’t any.



2) Advanced fees paid for a guaranteed loan or credit card
If you are thinking about applying for a “pre-approved” loan or a credit card that charges an up-front fee, ask yourself: “why would a bank do that?” These scams are obvious to people who take time to scrutinize the offer.

Remember: reputable credit card companies do charge an annual fee but it is applied to the balance of the card, never at the sign-up. Furthermore, if you legitimately clear your credit balance each month, a legitimate bank will often wave the annual fee.

As for these incredible, pre-approved loans for a half-a-million dollar homes: use your common sense. These people do not know you or your credit situation, yet they are willing to offer massive credit limits.

Sadly, a percentage of all the recipients of their “amazing” offer will take the bait and pay the up-front fee. If only one in every thousand people fall for this scam, the scammers still win several hundred dollars. Alas, far too many victims, pressured by financial problems, willingly step into this con man's trap.

3) Lottery scams
This scam will usually come in the form of a conventional email message. It will inform you that you won millions of dollars and congratulate you repeatedly. The catch: before you can collect your “winnings”, you must pay the “processing” fee of several thousands of dollars.

Stop! The moment the bad guys cash your money order, you lose. Once you realize you have been suckered into paying $3000 to a con man, they are long gone with your money. Do not fall for this lottery scam.

4) Phishing emails and phony web pages

This is the most popular Internet and email scams today. These phising emails notice you to go into a phony webpage and entering your ID and password. It is commonly an urgent need to "confirm your identity". The scammer ever tell you a story of how your account is attacked to lure you into entering your confidential information.

Tip: the beginning of the link address should have https://. Phishing fakes will just have http:// (no “s”). If still in doubt, make a phone call to the financial institution to verify if the email is legit. In the meantime, if an email seems suspicious to you, do not trust it. Being skeptical could save you hundreds of lost dollars.

5) Items for sale overpayment scam

This one involves an item you have listed for sale, especially for expensive items. The scammers found your ads somewhere; then, they send you an email to notice you that they are willing to pay much more than your asking price. The reason for overpayment is related to international fees to ship those expensive items oversea. In turn, you are to send them those things and cash the difference.

The money you received was absolutely fake. If you did not realize the fake money order, and so deposited in your account. In the couple of days, the bank informs that it was not real and demand you to pay back immediately. Finally, you now have lost your stuffs, the cash you sent to them, and you owe a large amount of money to your bank to cover for the bad money order.