Survey Scam - A scammer sends phishing (pronounced "fishing") emails directed to customers of Chase Bank, offering a chance to receive $20 for filling out a survey. To get their $20, the user is asked to give their userID and password so the money can be deposited in their account. Then the scammer also asks for your bank card number, PIN, card verification number, mother's maiden name and your U.S. Social Security number.

Do people really fall for this after all the news about scams?

I was dealing with the cable company sorting out some problems with my account, and the person who was helping me said to me "if you're comfortable with it, email me your social security number and I'll get it taken care of."

"If I'm comfortable with it", will you blatantly steal my social, and sell it to identity thieves, too?

I told the rep off for even suggesting such a thing, as insecure a medium as email is, and she said to me "I did say if you were comfortable with it." A lot of folks would have no idea and might actaulyl send that kind of info! That's just asking for identity theft.

NEVER, and I mean NEVER, send sensitive information in an email. This includes bank account numbers, your social security number, user names and passwords to your bank accounts, etc. Bascially, if you don't want it to get into the wrong hands, don't email it
Period.

Jury Duty Scam - Apparently enough people skip out on jury duty to prompt a new scam.  "In this scam, the ID thief calls pretending to be a court official who threateningly says a warrant has been issued for your arrest because you didn't show up for jury duty. The caller claims to be a jury coordinator.  If you protest that you never received a summons for jury duty, the scammer asks you for your Social Security number and date of birth so he or she can verify the information and cancel the arrest warrant.  Sometimes they even ask for credit card numbers..  The scam, which has been reported in 11 states so far, is particularly insidious because the ID thieves use intimidation over the phone to try and bully people into giving information by pretending they're with the court system."

I had a call to jury duty and I went, so they wont' be catching me with this one. But this is one that is probably all too easy to fall for. Scary how bad it's getting. These kinds of things were always going on, but now with everything computerized, they can take so much more from you if they get hold of your information.

Watch Caller ID if you have it, then tell them you will call back once you look into the problem. Then look up the number of the place that is supposed to have called you, and call them and check on it.

I've told a number of telemarketers that have called me in the past that I will not deal with a place that calls ME, only with those that have published numbers that I can call and order or talk to. This seems took care of 95% of the telemarketing calls (although now there is the Do Not Call Registry ) that goes on, and gives me some assurance that the business I'm dealing with has some legitimate investment in their business. This doesn't mean they are always all they should be, but at least it's one less red flag.

Watch out for the scammers!! They put together emails that are so good they really look like they come from ebay or the source they claim to come from, but this is one reason I like using Eudora --it reminds me that the URL is different from what it appears to be and shows me the URL. I've reported more than a few of these to ebay and others. Best thing to do is go to the site they claim to come from and check for yourself. If you see nothing there, then report the email to paypal or ebay or wherever--they have experts to follow up and hopefully catch these guys.