Fixing a bad credit report is not a pleasant experience. There are basically two ways of going about the credit repair process.

Many people decide first to fix their own credit only to discover the process is much more involved than they expected. This is because they are trying to save a few dollars by going the inexpensive route.

Unfortunately you may discover that repairing bad credit is one of those projects that only appears easy. There is so much to the process including legal research and writing, which is challenging even for credit lawyers at times.

If you are not the type of person who enjoys legal research in your free time, or don’t have patience for translating wordy statutes and confusing case laws from around the country, then this might not be for you. But if you are determined enough to plow through the stacks of law books, then you should expect to spend at least a a few Sunday afternoons researching applicable credit laws at your local library.

Assuming you are able to understand the case law and statutes, then you have to move onto the more important part of credit repair. The next step is to write a coherent and compelling dispute letter. You will need to cite the applicable case law and disputed items.

For example, the credit bureaus are trained to be on the lookout for those people trying do it yourself credit repair. They can easily spot the dispute letters written by amateurs. This can be a problem since credit bureaus are infamous for ignoring badly written dispute letters.

Even if you are a good writer, you probably are not going to enjoy standing in line at the post office. To ensure your dispute receives a proper investigation, you will need to mail the letter via United States Certified Mail.

By now you are probably wishing you had more free time. Mailing dispute letters via certified mail takes a lot of time. Unless you are extremely casual about how you spend your free time, this is probably not worth your time.

Disputing bad credit errors on your own also takes an organized office space and a strategic plan. For example, you will need a spreadsheet to track the progress of each disputed item. Plus, you will need to give yourself reminders or some type of alert in the event the bureaus or creditors have allowed the proper investigation period to expire.

As you can see credit repair is not a fun experience. There are so many better and more efficient uses of your time. Plus, it is difficult to learn and apply complex legal statutes and case law to your unique credit experience.

How to Raise Your Credit Score 163 Points with Lexington Law credit repair lawyers. actual client case study – See Proof at www.creditforcouples.com.

You may have noticed on TV the ads for free cell phones for low income families. These are becoming popular these days since many families cannot afford the expensive cell phone plans.

Cell phones have become the norm these days. Just about everyone uses a cell phone. Cell phones are especially useful if there is an emergency. If you were involved in a life threatening accident, you could easily use your cell phone to call for help.

Not everyone is entitled to free cell phones. You and your family must be in the low income range in order to get those free phones. People living on subsidized housing and food should probably be able to get free cell phones.

A limit with free cell phones for low income families is that they have a certain amount of minutes which you can use for free each month. You can probably get about an hour of talk time. After that, you would have to buy more minutes.

Free cell phones for low income families are not free forever. Once you and your family are not considered low income anymore, then you cannot use the cell phones for free. The cell phone company has to check your income every year.

Find a cellular service provider in your area that offers free cell phones for low income families. Not all states have such a program yet, so you will need to check it out.

After you find a carrier that gives free cell phones, fill out their application. Provide to them the necessary documentations showing that you are eligible for the cell phones. You can show your pay stubs or W2s.

Be sure you are keeping track of the amount of minutes you are using. Do not use all of your minutes before the month ends otherwise you will not have any if you absolutely had to use them. You can check the amount of minutes you have used from your phone.

Charlie Zelan is a wealth advisor with many years of experience. For further information on getting government phones for low income families, please visit his website.

The credit industry in the United States grew with the nation’s economy as the world came into the industrial era. Unfortunately, it failed in one critical way – not everyone knows how to manage their credit. As a result there started to be more people owing than there were who could pay back what they owed. And so credit repair services were birthed all over the nation and beyond to help fix this problem.

Credit repair services have one primary function – to repair your credit. That means before you approach them, you must owe more than you can handle. And then you are going to pay them a small retainer to make them make the pain go away. Simply put, that is it.

One thing credit repair services are good at is debt consolidation. This is a way in which you collapse all of your debts into a single one with a lower interest rate that allows you to concentrate your repayments. It is a great idea once you get the hang of it.

All over the internet, there are credit repair services that you can locate with only a few clicks. Since their business is to repair your credit, all they need to know is what you have borrowed, and what their interest rates are. If you are able to get them to sign you up for lower interest, you are in very good luck.

Do not ever think that you can owe in the United States and just vanish into thin air. You have a social security number that the credit institution took down when they were loaning the money to you. That is what they will find you with. And unless you repair your credit, you may never be able to borrow again. You had better locate a service to help you with it.

Credit repair is the only option you have when you look into your future and realize the debts of your past will never let you go forward. That kind of bad credit is thankfully not uncommon in the United States, and you will find you some services that do just that for the right fee.

Getting the loans is easy, but servicing them is something else entirely. Before long, a lot of folks find that they are out in very uncomfortable waters before long. But credit repair is possible for the right price. As such, they are not too far out of luck.

Take a view of your credit report as of today and ask yourself if that is where you need to be. There are a few people who actually are so on top of their credit situation that they have nothing to worry about. However, several other people are badly in need of a credit repair service. If you find you are one of them, get to it already.

If you need to do some credit repair, a credit repair service with a history of impeccable service delivery is definitely your best option. It would be a shame in your eagerness to saddle in with some firm that is only looking to take advantage of you. That is worse even than a bad credit report.

A bad credit rating is well, bad; but it is by no means a death sentence on your chances for more credit if you need it baldy. It does mean that you have got work to do before any credit institution will touch you. You have to find you some credit repair service to fix your credit.

Visit www.friendlydebthelp.com to find the best advice on Simple Debt Consolidation Loans Are Available For Bad Credit Borrowers for you.

It’s not impossible to acquire a student loan even if you have bad credit. However, there are several aspects that you will need to remember as you begin to look at various financial repair solutions. First and foremost, obtaining a student loan with bad credit typically ends in one, painful truth. You will incur unusually high interest rates for a bank to give you the loan. This is because they are taking a great chance in granting you money. Banks operate based on the fact that your credit rating is a sign of how you handle your finances. They take for granted that individuals with a bad credit score cannot manage their funding well and are at high risk of defaulting on the loan. They do not consider the reasons behind your bad credit history, only that your rating is not good.

Repairing your bad credit history is very important when you’re trying to obtain a student loan with bad credit. On-time bill payment is vital. This is the only means by which you can begin to rebuild your credit. The more time you manage without missing or being late on a payment, the higher your credit will be. Nevertheless, this takes a lot of time.

What you can do if you’re seeking student loans with bad credit is to find someone who will co-sign for you. This is usually a parent. Many other people will not back someone with a bad credit history because you are a liability to their own credit score. It is assumed that a co-signer will try to defend their own credit rating, and that people with a bad credit history are much more likely to pay the owed money back to the financial institution.

Typically, student loans with bad credit are granted by financial institutions with a great deal of financial stability. The programs that permit those with a poor credit history are usually funded by the government, and are usually strongly restricted on the amount of money that will be given out. Because of this, it is typically acknowledged that individuals with a bad credit rating will only get the precise amount they need to get through university. This may or may not cover the fees for textbooks for each semester.

It is strongly advised that if you are seeking student loans with bad credit that you talk with a financial advisor at the financial institution where you are intending on getting the funds. This financial advisor can assist you in the process of getting a loan and help you make the decisions that will better your credit history and improve your odds of having your loan application accepted.

Student loans can end up being the biggest debt of your life, possibly even rivalling your home. Before you apply for a student loan, you should be aware of all the implications and gather all the student loan information you can.

Times have become extremely difficult. As many families face trying financial times from illness, losing their jobs, and having less money coming into the household, it is hard to make ends meet. Some of the luxuries we enjoyed have gone away and it is hard to meet financial obligations. This can cause added stress, worry, and grief. You do not have to let all of the weight lay on your shoulders. Thinking of bad debt consolidation options may be beneficial.

If you have creditors calling you repeatedly and you are getting deeper in debt you can turn to a credit counselor that can help with bad debt consolidation. One of the first steps you need to take is to organize your debts. Make a list of everyone you owe, your monthly payments, interest rates, the balances, the creditors contact information, and the duration or terms of all loans.

Once the bad debt consolidation agent can evaluate your financial standing with your creditors they will understand how they can better assist you. If you do not know where to start in seeking assistance there are several companies that are licensed to help you and can be found on the internet. Do your homework and study how they work and how they have successfully helped others.

What is beneficial about a bad debt consolidation agency is they review your debts and contact lenders you provided. They use their knowledge to work with creditors on getting payments lowered to fit your current financial situation.

They are effective at getting the debt reduced to lower acceptable balances. It depends on the experience of the counselor assigned to your case and how well they work with the owners of the debt.

Once this process is done, the bad debt consolidation program will compile all of the balances giving you one total amount owed with one monthly payment. The monthly payments are directed to the debt consolidation company until the balance is paid in full. They will disperse the funds to the creditors on your behalf to get you debt free.

When searching for assistance, you will find there are a variety of agencies that can help and that specialize in debt consolidation. Take careful time to study how they work as some are legitimate and some are not. There are also non-profit agencies who offer advice and direction at no charge to you. You can become debt free.

Layla Vanderbilt is the webmaster for a leading website that offers for debt consolidation advice and guidance.

Did you know that if you have a good credit score, you can become eligible for “good credit” credit cards? This article is dedicated to explaining how you, too, can become eligible.

In the business world, business owners will always seek out those people they perceive to be good customers in order to sell merchandise to them or transact business with them. When it comes to credit card companies, this is true as well. Credit card companies will approve credit cards for those people they feel are reliable, have a good credit rating, and pay their bills on time.

The best credit cards will be offered to those people who are considered to be a good credit risk. These people will garner the “best” credit cards with the best rates and the best incentives. These are the credit cards which are considered the “good credit” credit cards. These cards offer low annual percentage rates (APRs), no annual or monthly fees, and reduced balance transfer rates.

Most credit card companies cater to those people who fit into the “good credit” category. If your FICO score is 650 or above, you will usually win for yourself the title of “good credit” risk. This is desirable. If you are already there, keep up the good work! If not, keep reading!

If you like to carry a high monthly balance on your credit card, you can save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars every year by having a “good credit” credit card. How is this possible? Well, if you calculate the amount you will save by having a low APR, little or no monthly fees, and no annual fee, it’s not hard to imagine the money you will save each month alone. The amount saved on interest charges by itself can run into hundreds of dollars if you have a “bad credit” credit card.

If you currently are not eligible for a “good credit” credit card, you can do some things that should, over time, help you to obtain one or more of these credit cards. Good financial practices will go far in this endeavor. You will need to pay your bills on time (every month), lower your income to credit ratio (pay off in their entirety, some, maybe even all, of your bills, excluding, of course, your monthly living expenses), and stay within your allowed credit limit (do not overspend).

You should see your credit score increase monthly by following these steps. In time, you should be able to apply and be approved for a “good credit” credit card.

A credit score of 650 or above is desirable for applying for a “good credit” credit card. If you apply before your credit score is at least 650, you risk being rejected and that rejection will be reported to the credit reporting agencies.

After you have been practicing better spending habits and good financial practices for a while, you should access your credit report to make sure that your efforts are paying off. You may obtain a copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus – Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. These credit reporting bureaus are legally required to provide, upon your request, one free credit report per year.

Rebuilding your credit is worth the time and effort! Get started today!

Midland Credit Ruined my credit history. What I Did to Get Revenge.

A lot of people often confuse a second mortgage with home equity loan. While both are associated with each other, they have their own benefits. But distinguishing one from the other should not be difficult.

What is a second mortgage? It is a type of home equity loan. Equity refers to the difference between the current appraised value of your home and the amount you have paid towards the first mortgage. The amount you can borrow on a second mortgage is usually based on the difference between the current value of your home and the remaining principal balance on your first mortgage. The second mortgage is an effective means of tapping the asset value of your home so that you can meet your financial needs and avoid acquiring high interest unsecured debt like the one offered by credit cards.

Usually, you can get a second loan wherein the total loan-to-value ratio of your first and second loans equals 85 percent of your homes appraised value. On the other hand, there are lenders in almost all states that allow you to take out a second mortgage that equals to 125 percent of the appraised value of your home.

Second mortgages usually have a fixed interest rate that runs. Also, it is usually a 15- to 30-year loan. As with the initial loan, the rate of interest and points for a second mortgage will be based on credit history, home price, and the current interest rate. The second mortgage may have a higher interest rate, but the fees are typically lower.

A second mortgage is also used to pay out a fixed sum of money to be repaid on an appointed schedule. People who are in an emergency situation usually opt for a second mortgage. This is because when you get approved for such mortgage, you will receive a lump sum, which you can use for expenses like roof repairs and home renovations. You may also use the money from your second mortgage for expenses not entirely related to house expenditures, like school tuition, car repair, vacations, debt consolidation and other financial needs.

Home equity loan is different. This is used to refer to a home equity line of credit (HELOC). A HELOC is often revolving and is similar to a credit card, wherein the interest is charged, and the amount you are allowed to borrow is based on your creditworthiness. Like the second mortgage, a HELOC may be used for any type of expense, but anything that is paid back above the interest owed will be returned to the account and can be used again when needed.

Generally, home equity line of credit loan has a term of up to 15 years. If you sell your home before you have repaid the line of credit completely, you will then have to do it upon completing the sale. This feature is applicable to both the HELOC and the second mortgage. In determining the limit of your HELOC, lenders examine your homes appraised value and start calculations at 75 percent of that value. They then deduct the remaining balance owed on your mortgage.

If you are choosing between the two options, your current financial needs will help distinguish the type of loan that is appropriate for you. For one-time expenses, you can opt for a fixed-rate second mortgage. But if you have a frequent need for extra money, a HELOC would be right for you.

If you want to understand more regarding second mortgage or where to find online home loan equity mortgage calculator, log on to home mortgage online. Find important facts and make informed decisions!

Top 5 Dealership Scams:

1. The VIN# window etching scam

Basically a dealer will charge you $300-$900 for window etching
and they will tell you that you have to pay the money to get the
loan because the banks insists on it.

Some dealers might tell you that the etching is free but will
add on the etch money to your monthly payments to make up for it.

The best way to avoid this scam is to force the dealer to put it
in writing if they say that the etching is free or simply etch
the car yourself.

Remember a lender doesn’t require that you purchase any extras
on a car. All the lender cares about is that you can make your
payments on time regularly. Don’t buy into it.

2. The Financing Scam

I have mentioned this before already, but here it is in more
detail.

Basically you trade in your old car and the finance manager
tells you that your interest rate is good and then gives you the
car.

After a week or two passes you get the call from him that you
didn’t qualify for the interest rates that they gave you upon
making the deal.

Every new purchase has a clause in the contract that usually
states that the deal is “subject to loan approval.”

This gives the finance manager a loop hole in getting more money
out of you.

All that this means in the contract is that the deal is not
finished yet even you already have possession of the car and
have signed the contract.

The dealer can then charge you $1000 more in finance fees and up
your monthly payments by $50.

This scam is generally pulled on people with bad credit because
it is more plausible.

If you are wondering why they would sell you the car at 6% APR
if they knew you had bad credit (remember they ran the credit
search already) the answer is simple; to sell the car.

You can avoid this scam by not financing the car with the dealer
if you know that you have bad credit.

You are better off going to a credit union and financing the car
yourself. When you buy a new car the deal should be made on the
price of the car, not on the monthly payments.

3. The Credit Score Scam

This scam is ridiculous at best. This is when the finance
manager tells you that your credit score is lower than it really
is so that they can get you for higher interest rates.

This scam is pulled on everyone; good or bad credit.

This scam is easy to avoid. Just get your own copy of your
credit report from Equifax.com, and bring it with you.

It is really difficult to lie to you about your credit score if
you have your own copy of it. If your paper and theirs doesn’t
say the same thing, go somewhere else because that dealership is
lying to you.

Don’t forget to let them know it too because it’ll be nice to
watch them squirm.

4. The Forced Warranty Scam

This is when the finance manager tells you that you are not
eligible for the loan by the bank unless you pay an extra $2000
for a 2-3 year extended warranty.

This scam just doesn’t make sense. Basically the finance manager
is telling you that the bank won’t trust you to pay the $20,000
loan for the car, but they will trust you if you pay even more
money. That’s just stupid.

You can avoid this scam if you can force them to put it in
writing that you “have” to pay the extended warranty in order to
get the loan.

That way you can bring a copy of the contract to your local
State’s Attorney’s office to verify that the deal is valid. I
can bet that the finance manager will change his tune pretty
quickly.

5. The Dealer Prep Scam

Let me first let you know that cost is not only legal but very
much common practice. I still refer to it as a scam because it
is just another way for you to end up paying more money for the
car.

Basically the dealer will tell you have to an extra $500 to
cover the labor costs of the dealership’s 5-point inspection.

You are paying for the time it took for the dealership to make
sure that the car wouldn’t explode on you in the first week of
owning it.

This check up that you are paying so much money for is for the
dealership to remove plastic from the seats etc, vacuum the car
out, and making sure that all of the fuses and fluids are ready
to go.

When factories deliver the new cars to the dealerships the cost
of delivery and prep is already covered, so basically you are
paying the dealership for work that they haven’t really done.

I swear they could get the car in perfectly ready to drive
condition and put everything right back in it just so that they
can make you pay the fee again.

You can avoid this scam by simply asking the dealership to add
an extra $500 credit to the deal to make sure you do not have to
pay the money.

If they refuse, you can then decide if the car is worth the
money. If it is fine; buy the car, if not; go to another dealer
that will remove the dealer prep costs.

You’re free to publish this article as long as you included the
Author Bio with an active link to the author’s site.

If you are looking for love online, you may well find it. Every day, more and more people are joining the search, and thousands can now testify to happy, lasting relationships that have formed as a result. Sadly, thousands more have fallen victim to online dating scams.

Here are secrets to spotting these scams, as well as specific ways you can protect yourself.

Online dating scams take a variety of forms, but they have one thing in common: money. If you have met a genuine person in your search for online romance, it should be a long time before the subject of money comes up.

But people who may be working a scam will try to raise the issue as soon as possible. They may take a few weeks to try and seduce you, often through email and chat, but they can afford to invest only so much time in any one possible target.

So, if the subject of money comes up relatively quickly with a prospective partner, you should be wary.

The subject of money can take many forms. Some people may will ask you straight out for cash donations (often to help them deal with supposed emergencies) but others will be more subtle.

Often the money you stand to lose will take the form of payments to what seems like a third party, as in telephone online dating scams. Telephone dating scams often involve the prospective partner asking you to call him or her on a particular number, which is secretly charging you several dollars per minute. These scams can cause you to run up huge phone bills, but because you do not see your bill immediately you may not realize what is going on until you are already in serious trouble.

One of the most common scams is a variation on the ‘Nigerian’ scam, which you may well have encountered before in email. In this online dating scam, the person whom you have an interest in, who often claims to be living in an African country, will tell you that he or she has received some money in the form of money orders that can not be cashed there. The person will then ask you to cash the money orders in your bank and wire the money. The money orders will be forgeries and you may even find yourself charged by your bank for submitting them; however, they can take several weeks to process, so many people fall for these online dating scams and wire the money before they find out what is truly going on.

If the person you have met online lives far away, one of the most tempting ways to spend money is on travel, to enable them to visit you. Many online dating scams take advantage of this with set-ups that enable this prospective partner to pocket the money.

You can avoid these online dating scams by never sending cash and never allowing the other person to determine exactly what travel arrangements or agencies will be used.

While you should not allow these scams to put you off when looking for love online, it is important to be aware of them. Remember that any genuine person you meet will know about these scams, too. If they care about you, they will respect your need to be careful.

Every year at least three million people fall victim to work-at-home scams. The sad part is that avoiding scams is not that difficult if you heed the advice of work-at-home professionals.

It’s my opinion that people fall victim to scams for one (or all) of the following three reasons:

1) A lack of knowledge and understanding about working at home: By reading free articles and website resources about working at home, checking out work-at-home books from the library, and talking with others who work at home, you can learn about common scams to avoid, as well as what working at home is really about. By knowing what’s really involved in working at home, you’ll focus on real opportunities and avoid the bogus ones.

2) Looking for the wrong types of work in the wrong places: When you learn about working at home (#1), you discover that typing and data entry jobs are nearly all scams, that telecommuting is real work and must be earned not bought, and that home businesses are a great way to make money, but that they can’t be done completely on autopilot (there is no money for nothing). Many people get caught in scammers’ web because they buy into the idea that you can pay a job or get paid to do nothing at home. Remember, it’s called work at home, work being the operative word.

3) Allowing emotions to override common sense: Sometimes the desire to work-at-home can take on a desperate tone. When you find something that sounds just perfect, ideal for your situation, your desperation can lead you to send the money before your common sense can question it. You can’t fall for the hype no matter how good it sounds. Real work-at-home opportunities may be simple to run, but they won’t make you rich tomorrow (heck they probably won’t make you any money by tomorrow), and cannot be run by someone else or completely on autopilot.

To avoid scams you must make a promise to yourself not only to learn about working at home, but to also use what you know to critique and analyze work-at-home options, and don’t let your burning desire to work-at-home override your common sense.

Here are some things you need watch for:

1) If its envelope stuffing, assembly work, email processing, payment processing, typing and data entry, it’s a scam. To be honest there are some legit data entry work and occasionally typing (although it’s not called typing it’s called transcribing), but most of them are scams. Home businesses that don’t have a product or service, and any “guarantees” of income or the ability to earn big money doing nearly nothing are also likely to be scams.

2) If it’s advertising for a JOB, but asks for money, it’s a scam. Legit employers never charge to hire you. Ever! But watch out. Many people use this rule incorrectly. It’s only for ads from companies that indicate that for a fee you can work for them. It doesn’t apply to business opportunities, work at home information resources, or even job boards.

3) If a company asks to use your personal bank account to do business, it’s a scam! Don’t do it. It can cost you thousands of dollars and the loss of your bank account until the debt you owe is paid.
The best way to avoid scams is to be informed, take the time to research and understand work-at-home opportunities, and always let your head, not your heart, do the deciding.

The internet is full of affiliate marketing scams disguising themselves as legitimate online marketing opportunities. These scams are devised to generate wealth for their creators without adding value to their customers or associates.

What are the signals then, which reveal an online scam trying to masquerade itself as a real affiliate marketing business? The following are six strong warning signs that a program should be avoided or analyzed:Affiliate Marketing Scam Warning Sign Number One: No Product or Service

If the opportunity to generate income is the only product, then this is probably a pyramid scheme. Pyramid schemes are illegal in the United States. Affiliate Marketing Scam Warning Sign Number Two: No Website

A legitimate online affiliate program will have a detailed website explaining the program. A website does not guarantee that an affiliate program is illegitimate. However, you should be highly skeptical of an affiliate program with no website.Affiliate Marketing Scam Warning Sign Number Three: No Affiliate Contact Support

It is a good sign if an affiliate program has a toll-free phone number. However, the absence of a phone number does not mean you are looking at an online affiliate program scam. If the website does not have an email or contact form, then you are probably looking at an affiliate internet marketing scam. If the website does include an email or contact from, send a basic question. If you do not hear a response from the company answering your question within a few days, then be weary. Affiliate Marketing Scam Warning Sign Number Four: No Track Record

A great affiliate program is going to stick around for a while. Resist being persuaded by marketing hype that tempts you into a brand new business opportunity. However, by all means take up a program that you feel comfortable about and does not set off any of these warning signs. If you are still unsure whether a program is genuine, then wait six months. By that time, reliable affiliate opportunities with quality, high-demand products will still be around with a lot of money still to be earned. While, the majority of the affiliate marketing scams will have disappeared. Affiliate Marketing Scam Warning Sign Number Five: No Free Affiliate Participation

You are not looking at an affiliate program if you have to pay a company to sell their product and make more money for them. Rather, you are looking at an example of multi-level marketing or MLM. Not all multi-level marketing opportunities are scams. Real internet affiliate marketing programs are free to join and participate in. Affiliate Marketing Scam Warning Sign Number Six: No Positive Testimonials

Spend some time online looking for individuals who have had some experience with your program. You should be able to find some positive experiences and success stories, unless a program is brand new. Do not rely solely on the testimonials a company provides on their website. Use your favorite search engine and search the name of the affiliate marketing program, followed by the word “scam”, “testimonials”, “review” or “experience”. Do not straight away flag an opportunity for a bit of negativity. Because even high quality programs will have some negative reviews from individuals, frustrated the program “did not work” for them.

Helping YOU earn multiple streams of massive passive income online!

To Your Prosperity!

James Lowe,

The PIE Guy (Prosperous Internet Entrepreneur)

What are the types of credit card fraud and what is the best way to prevent it? Just wondering since I just saw on my credit report that my ex husband had used my social security number, on all things, doctor’s bills and never paid…and this was 4 years AFTER the divorce.

More than a million people are victims of work at home scams each year.

These days con artists don’t just create work at home scams, they create systems that will damage the lives of their victims long after they have pulled out of the scam. Below are some ways con artists take advantage of you.

1. The “send in your resume” scam. This is a difficult scam to detect because it appears to be legitimate. After all, the company is asking for prospects to email them a resume and cover letter. This is something all legit companies do. However, it’s your email address they want.

Once you email them with your resume or to ask for more information, they will attach a malware to their email. This allows the con artist to gain free access of the job seekers computer including passwords and personal email.

Because many people who work online have PayPal accounts hackers can gain access into these accounts and drain them. They also gain access of the victims address book, thus sending the scam to their friends and family or in sever cases death threats.

Another clever tactic used in this “send in your resume” scam is to ask for a lot of personal information such as full name, address, sex, telephone-cell-fax, bank account number, copy of Driver’s License or Passport, and occasionally a Social Security Number. Once the con artist has obtained this information it is sold to an identity theft ring.

2. The “I love you scam.” This scam doesn’t start out as a work at home scam but is designed as such. It starts with someone, usually in a singles chat room, approaching you to chat. These con artists form bonds with their victims and deceive them into thinking that they love them.

They then pitch a home business idea or tell them that are in are already in business and need their help. Because the victim feels as though they are in love they can’t or don’t say no.

The con artist then requests money to for the business or the victim is made into third party receiver of funds or packages. The packages are always stolen or were bought with fake credit cards. Because the victim “loves” the con artist they continue to send money or packages without questioning why they’re not seeing a dime.

In the case of receiving funds, their bank accounts are drained. Victims are always left heavily in dept and because you are handling stolen goods this scam can get you prospected.

New age work at home scams are far more sophisticated than purchasing a box of junk. They leave heavily the victim in dept; destroy their credit rating as well as your reputation. Fortunately there are more resources today for victims of work at home scams.

With the success of lotteries around the world has come a swarm of lottery scams. Most lottery scams consist of the same basic components. First, they get your name and e-mail address, home address, or phone number. Second, they write you a scam e-mail or letter pretending to be a bank, a lawyer, or a company. After you contact the scammers, they try to get your personal information and then may steal your identity.

After they do this, they could use your credit cards, take out loans in your name, commit crimes under your name, and even get jobs using your name. Don’t fall into this trap! Only play official lotteries run by governments and don’t give out your personal information.

Some Examples of Lottery Scams

There have been huge lottery scams in the UK, Spain, and almost everywhere. For example, in 2004 a lottery scam was enacted in Tennessee and other US States. This scam affected several US residents and costs residents thousands of dollars. There were lottery scam victims in New Mexico, Tennessee and Mississippi. Basically the scam sent out fake letters to potential victims calling their organization the ‘Universal Lotto Promotions. They told the individuals that they had won $50,000 but they have to pay what they call a clearance fee to get their prize and that the fee would be deducted from the prize. After individuals paid the fee they received a counterfeit check and realized they had been scammed.

How To Identify a Lottery Scam

If you receive a letter saying you’ve won the lottery and you want to know if it’s a scam, here are some things to consider. You know the letter is a scam if you did not buy a ticket, you do not live in the lottery country, you did not register your name or information before you were allowed to buy a ticket on an online lottery web site, or you never heard of the lottery name. There are also statements that can help to identify a letter as a scam such as, “All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from 30,000 names from Australia, New Zealand, America…”, “Due to the mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep this award strictly from public notice…” , “This lottery was promoted and sponsored by …Ted Turner, Jesse Jackson, Bill Gates, etc.”

-An important note. No legitimate lottery web site exists without legitimate rules posted which can be verified on official state websites.

Buying Lottery Tickets

If you want to buy these or any other lottery tickets, simply log onto your official state website. These sites explain how to purchase tickets, and often times tickets can be purchased online so you can play most state lotteries from the comfort of your own home. You can also refer to official state websites for custom lottery news. Many sites offer lottery number generators to help make your lottery number picking easier for you.

If you would like to purchase your tickets in person, you can also visit a local lottery terminal. You can also log onto Lucky Lotto for all your lottery needs. This site offers the player the opportunity to play most state lotteries from the comfort of their own home. Make sure to visit LuckyLotto for all of your custom lottery news and check out our new LuckyLotto lucky lottery number generator!

No matter how you choose to purchase your tickets, or which tickets you choose to buy, you’re bound to have some fun!

I have a friend (I swear this isn’t me) whose mother filed for credit cards and loans under both her and her sister’s credit lines, forging their names on the signatures for the money. It has gotten to the point where there is about $80,000 each girl ($160,000 total) in total debt. She has no prior offenses, so if charges were filed, what kind of penalties would the mother be looking at if she were charged with Credit Fraud?