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Pyramid Schemes

What are Pyramid schemes? First it's important to know that they are illegal! A pyramid functions by recruiting persons to pay money to participate, with minimal or no other legitimate business purpose for its existence. Often times there appears to be a legitimate targeted concept or product but the primary objective of Pyramid schemes is to recruit persons to give money to the persons at the top of the pyramid.

Over time there are fewer people willing to participate in this scheme and those at the bottom lose out. According to the Federal Trade Commission the majority of investors in Pyramid schemes lose money. These get rich efforts and scams usually last a brief period of time before they close down. The enticing trap to these operations is based on personal greed and the attraction of making money by recruiting others to participate. Often our friends.

As with all scams there are certain things you should be aware of to prevent yourself from being taken to the cleaner. These include:

• Be suspicious of any offer to make money by recruiting others. Also, high profit pitches of working at home with little effort required should also be avoided.
• Before you invest in any business offering get advice from a trusted advisor or business associate.
• Check out the legitimacy of the business.
• Don't get pressured into sales tactics especially those with a time-limited offer.

Identity Fraud

Without doubt one of the largest and most alarming scams targeted towards seniors is identity theft. This scam involves stealing your identity by using personal and confidential data including your name, credit card numbers, date of birth, health insurance information and other valuable financial information.

Complicating matters is the frequency and the quick duration in which these illegal activities take place. We may not even realize that our credit cards or personal information has been stolen for days after the fact. Though, most credit cards holders have protection of lost or stolen cards the inconvenience and emotional anguish that we go through can be unbearable. We feel personally violated and vulnerable when our personal identity has been taken over by some imposter!

Remember that there are no exceptions to the vulnerabilities that we all have when it comes to identity theft. There are however, steps that we can take to greatly reduce the odds of our personal information being stolen.

• Be careful about giving out personal information. Give this information out only when it is absolutely necessary, and only to a business or agency you know to be legitimate.
• Be careful of what you dispose in the garbage. Personal documents that disclose vital information about you can easily end up in the hands of crooks.
• Discard unwanted mail as soon as possible, particularly unsolicited credit applications.
• Direct payments and benefit checks to bank accounts instead of them being mailed to your home.
• Immediately report identity theft to your local law enforcement agency.

Remember that no body wants to fall prey to these con artists. Education and awareness are your best defenses in preventing these senseless crimes from happening to you. Take the TIME - prevent CRIME!

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