An accurate list of the most prolific fraudulent schemes in the previous year has been recently released. “Responsible” for it is The Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois whose director the regional office in Rockford, Dennis Horton, declared that 2007 put nothing new on the table in what regards scams "but there has been some shifting in the ranking of the scams."
Here are the Top10 Scams of 2007:
1. Check scams: these are conducted through checks which are sent to future victims in the mail, supposedly for having won a lottery or promotion.
2. Advance fee lenders: These fraudsters often get in touch with people by phone after they've applied for an online loan request or have come across an ad in a local newspaper.
3. Online job offers: Business opportunities that look to good to be true and which finally turn you into a “money mule”. These scammers hire unfortunate victims as Financial Managers and special agents responsible with handling accounts and transfer of funds who consequently are pushed into unknowingly committing money laundering.
4. Lottery/sweepstakes notification letters: Very similar to the fake check hoaxes, these came to an astonishing number.
5. Overpayment cons: You can usually find these behind online advertisements and in general in such locations as classified forums on the Internet.
6. Mortgage foreclosure rescue scams: Fraudsters approach residents and present them with a reasonable plan in the form of a best-solution-offer that is within their means and allegedly helps them not to lose their home.
7. Marketing/investment scams: These are also conducted via mail or e-mail. People are lured into easy money making schemes for which they need no special knowledge the only requirement being working from home and purchasing some sort of kit, book tape or other necessary “initiating” tool. 8. Inheritance scam: The potential victims receive an e-mail or a letter supposedly from someone related to them, or from a person pretending to know about an important inheritance left to the victims by some distant relative of theirs.
9. Phishing scams - Typically, this works as follows: victims are sent e-mails apparently from what claims and appears to be a legitimate bank or financial institution in which they are solicited to confirm their account numbers and private information.
10. Nigerian scam: this implies E-mails or letters as well which claim to be from an official or representative from a foreign country whose task is to find a foreign corporation or individual for collaboration. The individual is supposed to help them with his accounts in which they drop funds available from government funds, or which can support a business bank operation.
