A troubled economy leads to desperation for many people. People are desperate to find money to pay their bills, buy groceries or buy gas. People are also out there desperate to steal money. A struggling economy is ripe for many consumer scams. It is important consumers take steps to protect themselves from such scams. Scam artists seem to get increasingly sophisticated with their scams and consumers must become just as sophisticated when it comes to protecting themselves.
The first rule of protection against scams the old adage if it sounds to be good to be true, it probably is. People who are struggling financially want to believe that someone is going to give them $100,000 for wiring a fraction of that money to them in Spain. Internet scams are increasing because people are desperate. Never agree to deposit money for anyone or send money to anyone whose identity is unknown, especially in a foreign country. Never give out bank account information to a company who has said the consumer has won a sweepstakes and the winnings will be deposited in the bank account. If someone has access to a bank account it can literally be emptied within a day leaving the unsuspecting consumer with nothing.
Various online market places are great places to sell things for extra money but sellers beware. Never ship any item without payment and be sure the payment has been cashed before the item is shipped. Many a person has gone to cash their payment in the form of a check or money order to find out it is no good. If the item has been shipped there is no way to reclaim it. Using a secure site such as PayPal is the best way to do online trading.