More than 11.6 million people in the U.S. reported having their identity stolen in 2011, 13 percent more than in 2010, and those numbers are likely to rise further. But you can avoid being a victim: Here are four things identity thieves don't want you to know.
When the IRS sends you an email that it owes you some cash, and all you need to do to collect it is click through to their website, it's naturally tempting. Don't bite: No matter how convincing that email is, you can rest assured that it's a scam.
On Tuesday morning, my wife and I discovered our Chase Bank account had been hacked. By that afternoon, I realized we were part of something much bigger. But even a data breach that affected up to 1.5 million accounts is only the tip of the bank fraud iceberg.
This is high season for tax-related phishing scams, as online con artists try to trick you out of your personal data, and thus your cash. But Internet scams and deceptions are a year-round industry. Here are some tips on how to avoid being conned.
You're not going to fall for the old Nigerian prince scam anymore -- but the fraudsters know that, and they've moved on, too. Here are some financial scams that made the rounds in 2011 -- and will likely be back in some form this year.
Even as many Americans struggle to make ends meet, scammers are plotting all sorts of sneaky ways to rob them of their money -- and in millions of cases, they succeed. When it comes to these cons, the best offense is a smart defense, so here's an intro course in how to spot the latest scams.
We all know that buying a fake Fendi is "bad" to the degree that selling such goods is illegal, and they hurt the companies whose good are being copied, and the economy overall. But it turns out that knockoffs are problematic in many other ways as well: Buying them can put your health and your money at risk.
As more Americans shop online for the holidays, they're falling prey to increasingly sophisticated scams. In response, on Cyber Monday, the Justice Department busted 82 sites for allegedly selling counterfeit and pirated goods, but more crooks are out there.
