Have you ever been ripped off by a scam?  Where did it happen at; was it over the phone, the internet, or how about someone who showed up at your door claiming to sell you a product or service?  The point is scams come in all kinds of different ways from emails to telemarketers, and in this article I’m going to give you the steps you need to take to avoid getting ripped off by any scam.

3 Steps To Avoid Getting Scammed

• First, protect all vital information.  The best way not to get scammed is by preventing others from having access to your info.  With websites like facebook and myspace it’s easy for people get a hold your personal information.  You also need to keep things like credit cards and bank statements out of people view.  Today all it takes is a cell phone camera and someone can get a snap shot of you financial information.  Finally, protect any username and passwords you have for online bank and brokerage accounts.  These days all it take is opening the wrong email and scammers will be able to detect your keystrokes you use to log in to your account.

• Second, don’t give out your information. Their will be times when people will test you. For example, if you have a telemarketer call you pretending to be your credit card company and they ask for your account information, you should know that no financial institution will never ask for your information over the phone.  I got hit by timeshare resellers scams when I was trying to sell my timeshare.  That scam cost me over $1200.

• Third, report scams.  Finally, sometimes it just happens that you do fall for a scam.  In this case the best option is to report the scam to the right people.  For example, if you were ripped off by someone selling you something and you used PayPal account, report the scam to PayPal.  If you had a door to door salesman or telemarketer scam you report it to the local authorities.  The point is if you don’t report it others will become victims of these scams before they are finally caught.

In Closing…

I’ve fallen for many scams from the world financial group scams to timeshare scams that cost me thousands of dollars.  If you follow the steps I’ve laid out above your chances of getting ripped off will be much less.