"PREDATORY" SCAMS-FRAUDS-CONS

• Stop someone from opening an account in your name/SS by putting a freeze on  it in each of the three credit bureaus (you will have to temporally remove it if you want to have your credit checked)

• Shred or tear up pre-approved credit card offers, bills, cancelled checks, bank statements, and other documents that contain personal or financial information before putting them in the trash.

• Don't carry your PIN numbers with you, and never give your PIN to another person.

• Never give out your credit card number to anyone who calls you.

• Guard your Social Security number, don't give it out to anyone who has no legal need for it.

• Don't carry your Social Security card with you.

• Don't use your mother's maiden name, your birth date, or the last four digits of your Social Security number as a password on credit card or bank accounts.

• Use a locked mailbox to prevent checks, credit card offers, and other financial information from being stolen.

• Don't blindly follow friends and family. Just because someone you know invests a certain way doesn't mean that it is right for you.

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• Uses fraudulent legal documents to get a power of attorney from seniors by lying, intimidating, or threatening.

• When using an ATM, make sure nobody can see the numbers you punch in. If somebody is behind you, shield your hand when entering information.

• Playing the lottery is a bad bet. Usually a millions to one chance of winning.

• Advance-fee to obtain something of personal value in return for a small up-front monetary outlay.

• Promises you triple-digit returns through access to the investment portfolios of the world's elite banks.

• High yield certificate of deposit when everything else is low.

• Someone finds a wallet containing a large amount of money. They will split the money if you show "good faith" by producing money of your own.

• You've won the lottery, wire money to cover fees and taxes is a classic scam.

• Promissory notes or high-return debt instruments sold by unlicensed individuals posing as brokers, insurance agents, etc.

• Promotions of penny stocks.

• Unauthorized trading of customer accounts.

• Cold callers operating out of boiler rooms promote commodity futures, precious metals, penny stocks, coins, and travel and vacation properties.

• Using the name of a fake charity promising a return on their investment through an annuity.

• Someone posing as credit examiners, police officers or bank employees.

• Reverse mortgages not insured by the Federal Housing Authority.

• Offers a free sample just pay for shipping,  The now have your credit card information and can make all sorts charges to your account.

• Arrange for loan modifications or save you from foreclosure with large, up-front fees.

• Settle your consumer debts for pennies on the dollar.

• Get you money from the stimulus fund.

• Buy a book to get rich or cure debts.

• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) sends you a letter warning you that your bank has failed and they needed you to enter your bank account information to make sure they were insured.

• Offers a distributorship or franchise to market a particular product.

• People who share similarities, religious or ethnic identity gain your trust and then steal savings.

• Variable annuities sales people omit disclosure about costly surrender charges and steep sales commissions.

• Unlicensed individuals, such as independent insurance agents selling securities.

• Convince you that you need some critical goods or services, then seriously overcharge you.   

• Selling bogus boxed items containing padded rocks.

• States a close family member has been seriously injured or is in jail and they need money for medical treatment is a classic scam.

• Company promises to repair your credit for a fee.

• Real estate salesperson uses fake ownership papers to properties. The scammer usually advertise the property for sale or lease at below-market prices and then walks away with the deposits.

• A relative is in another country, had lost his passport and money, and needs you to wire cash immediately. It usually comes in the form a telephone call. It is dubbed, "The Grandma Call'  a straight scam