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Money Making Schemes Vs Real Business Plans
Money Making Schemes Vs Real Business Opportunities
Money Making Schemes Vs Real Business Loans

That could be you! Make your memories work for you. Photos can make you a lot of money. For instance, stock photos can range from around $4 to hundreds of dollars depending on the license of the photo, its quality, and the subject matter. Just be sure to have waivers in place for models and copyrighted items. Don’t invest until you’ve verified that the business is legitimate. Don’t get involved in businesses that make you recruit new participants. Don’t buy into franchises that promise big or quick profits. Don’t invest in any “opportunity” bearing warning signs of a pyramid scheme. A Ponzi scheme is a type of investment.

Current 2021 Top 10 List of Scams and Frauds

There are many ways to measure the largest scams, but most measure them by the number of people affected and the total dollars scammed.

Our list focuses on the scams that you could avoid, those reported to the CFR, FTC, Fraud.org and BBB (Better Business Bureau). For detailed explanations of each scam, how to report a scammer and how to protect yourself, click on the blue titles below for more information!

We have compiled other lists as well:

Federal and national consumer organization top 10 consumer complaint scam lists, click here.

For a quick look-up of new and current scams, see this alphabetized list of scams

Money Making Schemes Vs Real Business Plans

Debt Collection:
Most of the complaints under this category involve debt collectors. Consumers tell of receiveing calls from harassing collectors who are threatening and will repeatedly call attempting to collect a debt. Other complaints that fall under this category involved credit/debit card fees, pay day loans, credit repair companies and unauthorized use of credit/debit cards. Some of these complaints involved hidden fees and billing disputes as well.
Fake Government Officials
If you received an email, letter or phone call from a government agency (typically the IRS or FBI) and it instructs you to wire, Western Union or MoneyGram money someplace, or follow a link and enter information - don't believe it! The U.S. government would never instruct anyone to use those methods to pay any bill or carry out a financial transaction, particularly with an overseas bank or agency.
Identity Theft, Phishing and Pharming
Scammers gain access to your confidential information, like socil security numbers, date of birth and then use it to apply for credit cards, loans and financial accounts. Typically, the victim receives an email that appears to be from a credible, real bank or credit card company, with links to a website and a request to update account information. But the website and email are fakes, made to look like the real website.
Phone scams
This includes telemarketers violating the Do Not Call list, Robodialers, scammers calling up pretending to be from a bank or credit card compamny. The National Do Not Call Registry (U.S.) or the National Do Not Call List (Canada) offer consumers a free way to reduce telemarketing calls. Scammers call anyway, of course, and they've even found a way to scam consumers by pretending to be a government official calling to sign you up or confirming your previous participation on the Dot Not call list! A good example of this is the 'Your Microsoft license key has expired' scam call - which you can hear and read about on this page.
Loans Scams / Credit Fixers
False promises of business or personal loans, even if credit is bad, for a fee upfront. Or a scam that promises to repair your credit for a fee.
Fake Prizes, Sweepstakes, Free Gifts, Lottery Scams
You receive an email claiming you won a prize, lottery or gift, and you only have to pay a 'small fee' to claim it or cover 'handling costs'. These include scams which can go under the name of genuine lotteries like the UK National Lottery and the El Gordo Spanish lottery. Unsolicited email or telephone calls tell people they are being entered or have already been entered into a prize draw. Later, they receive a call congratulating them on winning a substantial prize in a national lottery. But before they can claim their prize, they are told they must send money to pay for administration fees and taxes. The prize, of course, does not exist. No genuine lottery asks for money to pay fees or notifies it's winners vian email.
Internet merchandise scams
You purchase something online, but it is either never delivered or it is not what they claimed it was, or is defective.Online shopping, and other shop from home, such as catalog, mail and phone shopping scams are on the rise.
Automobile-Related Complaints
Car loans, car buying, car sales, auto repair, fake or useless extended warranties. Some of the complaints alleged consumers paid for repairs and that services provided were shoddy. Consumers reported repair companies that return vehicles to the consumer in a worse condition than how it was initially given to them. Other complaints involved consumers not receiving title to their vehicles at the time of sale
Credit Bureaus and related credit scams
Credit/debit card fees, pay day loans, credit repair companies and unauthorized use of credit/debit cards. Some of these complaints involved hidden fees and billing disputes as well.
Phishing/Spoofing Emails
Emails that pretend to be from a company, organization or government agency but ask you to enter or confirm
your personal information
And here are the next most common scams:
Fake check payments
You sell something online or through Craig's List Consumers and you're paid with phony checks, and instructed to
wire money back to buyer. The check looks real... but after you try to cash it, you find out it is a fake; and you're arrested for passing a counterfeit check! Read more about scam checks on this page and here about the EBay check scam.
Recovery/Refund Companies
A scammer contacts and claims you owe money on a debt or the scammer offers to recover money lost in a previous scam
Computer Performance Scams: Equipment and Software
Scammers claim to offer 'technical support' for computer problems and charge a fee to fix nonexistent
problems
Scholarship, Student Loan and Financial Aid scams
For a fee, a 'search company' offers to conduct a customized search for scholarships or grants for students to apply for. Scammers take the money and run or provide a worthless list
Online Dating Scams
Fake profiles of scammers posing as attractive men and women, then claiming they need money to help in an emergency, typically when they claim to be out of the country on a business trip.
Facebook Fake Friend Scam - Did you ever get a Friend Request on Facebook from someone you already thought was your Friend? If you hit Accept, you may have just friended a scammer. Con artist nurtures an online relationship,
builds trust, and convinces victim to send money.
Click Bait Scam - This one takes many forms, but many people may recall seeing those using Robin Williams death or the Malaysian Airline plane that went missing ('click here for video'). Other click bait schemes use celebrity images, fake news, and other sensational stories to get you to unknowingly download malware.
Fake bills and invoices - 'Pro forma' invoicing: You get a bill that looks real, but either you never ordered the product or service, or they're not really the company you bought it from.
Tech Support Scam: You get a call or a pop-up on your computer claiming to be from Microsoft (or Norton, or Apple) about a problem on your computer. They say if you give 'tech support' access to your hard drive, they can fix it. Instead, they install malware on your computer and start stealing your personal information.
Medical Alert Scam - This is a telemarketing scam that promises a 'free' medical ale

Current 2021 Top 10 List of Scams and Frauds

Money Making Schemes Vs Real Business Plans

And here are the next most common scams: