Cons, Frauds and Other Lies
Site dedicated to beating the cons at their own game.

Consumer Scams
Along with the explosion in the use of the information superhighway has come a new avenue for crooks to take advantage of consumers. Along with the rise in Internet fraud, telemarketing scams are also taking their toll on the American consumer. Here are the 2000 Internet and Telemarketing Fraud Statistics as reported by the National Fraud Information Center. Also included is information about: Internet Fraud, Telemarketing Fraud, How to Stop Receiving Telemarketing Calls, How To Report Fraud, and Specific Fraud Alerts.

Consumer Scams, Shams and Spams
All kinds of scams are described.

FinWeb.com
Dedicated to your financial education and well-being. The key to making sound financial decisions is having access to sound financial knowledge. Only by acting upon information from trusted sources can you navigate your way through today's economic maze to reach your goals.

Friends In Business and Business Opportunity Mall
Both sites include warnings about useless home business seminars; online malls that don't deliver; online salespeople who offer to pay for leads but don't; and more.

HOAXBUSTERS (U.S. Dept. of Energy Computer Incident Advisory Capability [CIAC]),
Interspersed among the junk mail and spam that fills our Internet e-mail boxes are dire warnings about devastating new viruses, Trojans that eat the heart out of your system, and malicious software that can steal the computer right off your desk. Added to that are messages about free money, children in trouble, and other items designed to grab you and get you to forward the message to everyone you know. Most all of these messages are hoaxes or chain letters. While hoaxes do not automatically infect systems like a virus or Trojan, they are still time consuming and costly to remove from all the systems where they exist. At CIAC, we find that we spend much more time de-bunking hoaxes than handling real virus and Trojan incidents. These pages describe some of the warnings, offers, and pleas for help that are filling our mailboxes, clogging our mailservers, and that generally do not have any basis in fact.

Internet Fraud: How to Avoid Internet Investment Scams
The Internet serves as an excellent tool for investors, allowing them to easily and inexpensively research investment opportunities. But the Internet is also an excellent tool for fraudsters. That's why you should always think twice before you invest your money in any opportunity you learn about through the Internet. This alert tells you how to spot different types of Internet fraud, what the Securities & Exchange Commission is doing to fight Internet investment scams, and how to use the Internet to invest wisely.

Investment Scams
Tutorial includes: Different Types Of Scams; Bulletin Boards; Newsletters; Dealing With Investment Fraud; and more --- from Investopedia.

Investor Protection Trust (IPT)
To provide independent, objective information needed by consumers to make informed investment decisions. Founded in 1993 as part of a multi-state settlement to resolve charges of misconduct, IPT serves as an independent source of non-commercial investor education materials and operates programs under its own auspices and uses grant to underwrite important initiatives carried out by other organizations.

John T. Reed's Real Estate Investment Information
Lists real estate gurus and courses that you can and cannot trust.

McAfee.com: Virus Hoaxes
There are a lot of viruses out there. But some aren't really out there at all. Virus hoaxes are more than mere annoyances, as they may lead some users to routinely ignore all virus warning messages, leaving them vulnerable to a genuine, destructive virus. Next time you receive an urgent virus warning message, be sure to check this list of known virus hoaxes.

National Consumers League
Provides government, businesses, and other organizations with the consumer's perspective on concerns including child labor, privacy, food safety, and medication information.

National Fraud Information Center and Internet Fraud Watch
Think you've been a victim of fraud? Help us fight con artists and protect other consumers by reporting your experience. Two ways to report fraud: Online and By Phone.

National Investor Fraud Center (InvestorFraud.com)
Learn about investment fraud, brokerage fraud, investor fraud, investor protection, securities fraud, stockbroker fraud, disputes, arbitration and recovering losses. Tracy Pride Stoneman is a nationally known lawyer whose practice consists almost exclusively of representing investors in investment disputes. She is a dedicated and strong advocate for the investor. She does not accept a case unless she is willing to try it, which results in higher settlements and better results for her clients. Her experience includes time as a judge, a partner and trial lawyer in a large law firm, a published author, and a frequent lecturer in the area of securities fraud. She is a long-time member of and on the Board of Directors of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association, a national organization of attorneys who represent investors in securities cases. In addition to her book, Ms. Stoneman has also authored and published articles on numerous subjects important to investors.

Stanford Law School: Securities Class Action Clearing House
Provides detailed information relating to the prosecution, defense, and settlement of federal class action securities fraud litigation and maintains an Index of Filings of 2497 issuers that have been named in federal class action securities fraud lawsuits since passage of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Also contains copies of more than 20,500 complaints, briefs, filings, and other litigation-related materials filed in these cases.

Stock Broker Fraud Lawyers Online
Is able to help investors who have been defrauded by a broker or brokerage firm. If you bought certain stocks from Merrill Lynch, Solomon Smith Barney or other brokerages, and lost a substantial amount of money, you may be entitled to recover. It is often difficult for the average investor to determine when fraud has been committed. If you have experienced large losses in your account you should request a complete explanation from your broker. If the broker's explanation is not understandable and you have doubts about what has happened, you may need an experienced fraud attorney to assist you.

Top Ten Consumer Scams
The current "top ten" consumer scams in North Dakota are listed below by the Attorney General of the state. You can click on the link to find more information regarding each. This information is updated continually, as different scams are common at different times of the year. (Consumers can check their state government web sites to see if a similar service is available where they live.)

Top 10 investment scams
The stock market has picked up steam lately, but for many investors the resurgence isn't enough. Instead, they look for quicker ways to bolster their portfolios. The problem is, some promised high-return opportunities are downright frauds. Scams take millions of dollars from millions of Americans every year. Here is a summary of the top 10 investment cons.

Virus Information: Hoaxes, scares and misunderstandings
Virus hoaxes are false reports about non-existent viruses, often claiming to do impossible things. Unfortunately some recipients occasionally believe a hoax to be a true virus warning and may take drastic action (such as shutting down their network). Sophos provides information about virus hoaxes to assist companies and individuals. Although we do provide information about some non-virus-related hoaxes, chain letters, scams and misunderstandings, the primary aim of this section of the website is to provide information about hoaxes which are virus-related.