The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has presented a whole new array of possible scams for those looking to cash in on the situation. Among them - schemes designed to steal money from people looking for a job -- especially work involving helping to clean up the BP mess.

The office of Colorado Attorney General John Suthers has filed a lawsuit against Real Talk Network, and its corporate officers, David Allen Burke and Erik Sale, on suspicion that they engaged in false and deceptive trade practices and violated Colorado's consumer credit laws.

Millions of consumers now use Amazon.com to purchase everything from books to cookware, so it's no surprise scammers have latched onto the online retailer as a tool in their phishing schemes.

Shifty home improvement contractors across Pennsylvania are under the gun.
Attorney General Tom Corbett has launched consumer protection lawsuits against seven contractors accused of failing to start work, collecting excessive down-payments, not finishing projects, performing work in a shoddy manner, failing to pay refunds, not honoring warranties and other violations of the state's Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act.

Most adults past a certain age probably remember applying for their Social Security number. There really wasn't any reason to get one until you got your first job.
But things are different now. Since the 1980's, children in the U.S. have been issued Social Security numbers (SSN) at birth. Since they don't use them until for credit purposes until they are at least 18, the number lies dormant for 18 years. That's plenty of time for an identity thief to steal it.

A new "Trojan" computer virus is making the rounds, stealing user names and passwords of an undisclosed number of British online banking customers, resulting in the loss of more than $1 million.

If you're offered a chance to install a "dislike" button on your Facebook page, ignore it. It's part of a phishing scam.
The idea behind the "dislike" button is to allow users to flag comments they don't like. Facebook has a "like" button but not a "dislike" button, and says it has no plans to add one.

Identity theft is considered to be one the fastest growing crimes in the United States, affecting approximately 9-10 million consumers each year. What you do or don't do now to protect your identity may affect the outcome of your life for years to come. It's important to take proactive steps, right now, to protect your future.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, 29 percent of all identity theft complaints nationwide in 2006 were from young adults, aged 18 to 29 years old. College students typically fall into this category, which represents the largest group among all identity theft victims.

A credit repair operation has reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and has agreed to stop making false claims and stop charging up-front fees.

"Despicable," "outrageous," causing "tragic" consequences for victims, are phrases and words a federal judge used in sentencing a suburban Chicago man to prison for swindling some 75 victims -- many of whom lost their retirement funds and life savings.

Desperate consumers increasingly fall for unrealistic promises from companies that claim they can repair your credit. Instead, consumers are often left with no change in their credit status, despite paying a large, up-front fee.

Discount club marketer Webloyalty.com, Inc. will refund defrauded consumers who were charged unauthorized fees and will also pay $5.2 million in penalties, costs, and fees to the state of New York, a total settlement worth $8.5 million.

Two New Yorkers have been sentenced to prison terms for their part in a fraudulent advance-fee scam involving a supposed $23 billion Federal Reserve note that spanned years and defrauded victims across the country of millions of dollars.

Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel today filed a consumer protection lawsuit against a Texas-based company that pledges to offer a quick fix a consumer's damaged credit history.

The crackdown on consultants promising desperate homeowners they can “rescue” them from impending foreclosure continues. The State of Florida has sued three South Florida companies allegedly charging upfront fees for their services.

Losses from credit and debit card fraud have hit a record high, driven by a surge in crimes using stolen UK card details in the United States and other countries.

Between January 1 and June 30, plastic card fraud losses totalled £301.7m - up 14% on the same period last year, according to figures issued yesterday.

At first glance they appear to be one of the few assets left that are immune to the vagaries of the economy. Crates of vintage wine seem a safe bet as banks go bust and the stock market slides.

An initiative by Glasgow city council to rescue people from doorstep lenders and instead provide access to mainstream financial services was last night named overall winner of the Guardian Public Services Awards 2008.

Bernard Madoff, one of Wall Street's most respected financiers, apparently planned to carve up his last $300m (£200m) between friends, family and employees before making the shocking confession that his investment prowess was really the result of one of the world's biggest ever frauds.

He was immensely rich; a man of prodigious enterprise; a Midas without the ears, who turned all he touched to gold. He was in everything good, from banking to building. He was in parliament, of course. He was in the City, necessarily. He was chairman of this, trustee of that, president of the other."

The Serious Fraud Office is looking into two multimillion-pound suspected fraud cases in Britain that have come to light in the midst of months of credit market turmoil, the Guardian has learned. Following the allegation of the biggest financial fraud in US history last week, Britain's SFO believes it is looking at "a step-change in the kind of cases we've been looking at in terms of money at risk".

A Kenyan businessman who ran a share-selling scam from offices in London and Barcelona has been forced to hand back a quarter of the £4m that his company managed to dupe out of British investors.

No word yet on precisely how hackers broke into Jack Straw's constituency Hotmail account. But it's a safe guess that it was either (a) malware on the machine that passed all sorts of other details via keylogging or (b) a good guessing attack against the username and password. (How about "jackstraw" and "iraqdoeshaveWMDsIamsure"?)

A couple funded a luxury lifestyle of champagne and top-class hotels by siphoning off up to £650,000 from a Citizens Advice Bureau office, a jury was told yesterday.