While helping out in Haiti please be aware of scams!

As the world looks for ways to help the victims of Haiti's earthquake, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is now warning that there are also those who are looking for opportunities set up scams surrounding the latest disaster relief efforts. The FBI advises that people should be very skeptical of any unsolicited appeals they receive or find on the Internet.

One month after Hurricane Katrina, the FBI said it was suspicious of most of the 4,600 Web sites soliciting money on behalf of those victims. Within an hour of the World Trade Center attacks, scam sites popped up on the Web according to ScamBusters.org. But Web sites are not the only way criminals try to get their hands on charity funds -- they might also send you an e-mail, a letter, phone you or even knock on your door.

At CNN's Impact Your World, you can find a list of list of Web sites of charities highly rated by CharityNavigator.org, an independent, nonprofit organization that evaluates and rates thousands of charity groups based on effectiveness and financial stability.

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Great Cyber Security Advice for the Holiday Season and the 12 Scams of Christmas: Part 1

The FBI has this holiday-time warning: 'Tis the season to be wary, especially when opening up those particularly alluring offers popping into Utahns' e-mail in boxes. Ken Porter, acting agent in charge of the FBI's Salt Lake City Office, said Tuesday that whether these unsolicited messages pose as prize announcements, banking correspondence or purport to offer legal services, they have this in common: they seek money or your personal information.

People who unknowingly comply with the scams end up losing hundreds of dollars for so-called processing fees to collect lottery or sweepstakes winnings, or provide cyber-criminals with sensitive data such as bank account, credit card and Social Security numbers to clear up nonexistent problems with accounts.

In the latter case, such information has often left victims on the hook owing thousands of dollars in bogus charges, along with credit rating headaches. Another danger in opening such e-mails, or downloading provided links, is that virus or malware programs can be installed on the victims' computers. In recent years, such scams have become increasingly sophisticated, spoofing not only banks and other corporations official logos, but even government agencies -- among them the FBI itself.

Some good rules of thumb to avoid being scammed online:

• Don't respond to unsolicited e-mail.

• Don't click on links contained within an unsolicited e-mail.

• Don't open e-mail containing attached files (i.e. pictures, documents) from senders you do not know. Or at the very least, run the attachments through your virus scanner before opening.

• Don't fill out forms contained within e-mails seeking personal information, period.

• If you do plan to follow a provided link, carefully compare the purported link in the e-mail with the link where you are actually directed, careful to make sure they match.

• Or, log on directly to the official Web site of the business identified in the e-mail instead of linking to it from the e-mail. Better yet, contact the business by its telephone number -- as listed on your actual billing statements or official correspondence -- to verify the e-mail's claims.

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Hardline Nigerian official pledges to arrest internet scammers

In a world-first move, a top Nigerian official has pledged to do more to jail the perpetrators of Nigerian internet scams that police say are costing Australians at least $40 million a year.

But Sunday Olu Agbi, the hardline Nigerian high commissioner who is based in Canberra, stands by his comments from last year that most victims of the scams are just as guilty as the fraudsters and should be jailed as well.

The Nigerian Government has teamed up with Queensland Police to create an "online reporting system" on the Queensland Police website where any Australians who believe they have been targeted by a scam can report it directly to Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Police say this will greatly speed up investigations and solve the problem of victims not reporting scams to police because they are embarrassed or feel foolish. Professor Olu Agbi said the portal would lead to the arrest and prosecution of Nigerian scammers.

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Warning against three common check scams

Experts estimate that billions of dollars have been lost as the result of fake check scams. Scams involving fake checks come in many different forms and can be very hard to identify as the printing technology used by scammers improves. The Better Business Bureau warns against three common check scams and offers advice on the red flags to look out for.

According to a recent survey by the Consumer Federation of America, nearly one-third of adults have been approached by a scammer trying to pass off fake checks and at least 1.3 million people have become victim of the scam with an average loss of $3,000 to $4,000.

"It can be practically impossible to tell a fake check from a real one using only the naked eye because fake checks can be printed in full color and even include watermarks," said Dana Badgerow, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Minnesota and North Dakota. "Many check scams plaguing consumers in the US are the work of scammers operating outside of the country and originate in Canada, Jamaica and Africa which makes it extremely difficult for law enforcement to track them down and bring them to justice."

Scams involving fake checks typically require the victim to deposit a check into their bank account then wire money back to the scammers. While the check might initially be deposited into the victim's bank account--leading to a false sense of security--the fake check will ultimately be discovered within a couple weeks and the bank will take the funds out of the account. The victim of the scam is out whatever money they sent to the scammers and will be responsible for paying the bank back if their account is overdrawn.

Following are three common scams that rely on fake checks and can cost victims tens of thousands of dollars:

• Lottery and Government Scam
• Mystery Shopping Scam
• Overpayment Scam

To read the full Post-Bulletin article, please click here.

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