fraud

Uncle Sam isn't the only one looking to collect from taxpayers this year: A rapidly growing number of Internet scammers are also using the guise of the IRS to siphon money out of consumers' pockets, security experts say.

Of all the regrets commonly expressed by the recently divorced, "I'm sorry I didn't pay my lawyer more money" is probably last on the list. But for one New York woman, the decision to go cheap on the legal fees led to a nasty surprise as she found herself with two husbands.

Despite a rough economy, Americans expect to spend 17% more than last year on holiday gifts. But with money tight for so many, it's more important than ever to be wary of scammers. Here are some of the most common scams you might encounter:

Kris Humphries may be mourning the death of his brief marriage to Kim Kardashian, but that may not be the only thing he has lost recently. It appears he may have been the victim of financial fraud, losing perhaps several hundred thousand dollars. Let his case be a warning to you: Here's what to watch out for.

When Juliette Kimoto took to the stage to accept her crown as Mrs. Nevada in 2006, she seemed an obvious fit for the coveted pageant title. What she declined to mention, however, was that she was also engaged in an online operation that would eventually rob tens of thousands of people of $30 million.

As financial scams evolve to keep pace with the changing American economy, it is important that consumers educate themselves about common scams. Here are five steps you can take to avoid becoming the victim of financial fraud.

Millions of Americans fall victim to financial scams every year, and since the downturn began, many of those cons have been tailored to lure those suffering the most in our shaky economy: work-at-home schemes, fake mortgage modification services, fraudulent job opportunities and a host of unpleasant others.

It looks like an ordinary cash machine, and you type in your PIN without a second thought. But there's a hidden device recording your ATM card's magnetic strip, and capturing your PIN. Big money is about to vanish from your bank account. Or maybe not: Here's how to prevent skimmers from getting their hands on your data.

Five years after tech giant Hewlett-Packard found itself at the center of a headline-grabbing pretexting scandal, DailyFinance has learned that federal authorities have expanded the scope of their prosecution to include other potential defendants.

DailyFinance readers tell us they're frustrated and angry about phone cramming, or the practice of cheating customers by adding illegitimate charges to their phone bills. If you've been a victim of phone cramming, we want to hear about it.