Money transfer scams are on the rise. Be very careful when someone offers you money to help transfer their funds. Once you send money to someone, it can be very difficult, if not impossible, to get it back

The Nigerian scam (also called the 419 fraud) has been on the rise since the early-to-mid 1990s around the world. Although many of these sorts of scams originated in Nigeria, similar scams have been started all over the world (particularly in other parts of West Africa and in Asia). These scams are increasingly referred to as "advance fee fraud".

In the classic Nigerian scam, you receive an email or letter from a scammer asking your help to transfer a large amount of money overseas. You are then offered a share of the money if you agree to give them your bank account details to help with the transfer. They will then ask you to pay all kinds of taxes and fees before you can receive your "reward". You will never be sent any of the money, and will lose the fees you paid.

Then there is the scam email that claims to be from a lawyer or bank representative advising that a long-lost relative of yours has died and left you a huge inheritance. Scammers can tell such genuine sounding stories that you could be tricked into providing personal documents and bank account details so that you can confirm their identity and claim your inheritance. The "inheritance" is likely to be non-existent and, as well as losing any money you might have paid to the scammer in fees and taxes, you could also risk having your identity stolen.

If you or your business is selling products or services online or through newspaper classifieds, you may be targeted by an overpayment scam. In response to your advertisement, you might receive a generous offer from a potential buyer and accept it. You receive payment by cheque or money order, but the amount you receive is more than the agreed price. The buyer may tell you that the overpayment was simply a mistake or they may invent an excuse, such as extra money to cover delivery charges. If you are asked to refund the excess amount by money transfer, be suspicious. The scammer is hoping that you will transfer the refund before you discover that their cheque or money order was counterfeit. You will lose the transferred money as well as the item if you have already sent it.

Protect yourself:

• If you have been approached by someone asking you to transfer money for them, it is probably a scam.
  
  
• Never send money, or give credit card or online account details to anyone you do not know and trust.
  
  
• Don’t accept a cheque or money order for payment for goods that is more than what you agreed upon. Send it back and ask the buyer to send you payment for the agreed amount before you deliver the goods or services.
  
  
• Ask yourself if it is really safe to transfer money for someone I do not know?

People have delighted in the true serenity of knowing their physician endorsed solutions are sheltered and successful. Be that as it may, a great deal has changed following the 1980's, including the presentation of the overall web - which has prompted an increment in maverick web drug store locales. Sadly, criminal systems around the globe have turn out to be progressively refined, exploiting a large number of patients around the world by offering shoddy fake medications on Internet locales, a number of which take on the appearance of true blue drug stores and showcase the trusted banner.

Since it is so natural to make a site, there are at present a huge number of these illegitimate locales. The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy has investigated more than 10,000 of them with really terrifying results: Only 3 percent of the destinations give off an impression of being in consistence with drug store laws and practice standards.

Fake online pharmacies use the Internet and spam emails to offer drugs and medicine at very cheap prices and/or without the need for a prescription from a doctor. If you use such a service and you actually do receive the products in response to your order, there is no guarantee that they are the real thing.

There are legitimate online pharmacies. These businesses will have their full contact details listed on their website and will also require a valid prescription before they send out any medicine that requires one

Protect yourself:

• Avoid sites that are located outside of your country
  
  
• Avoid sites that don’t indicate any physical address
  
  
• Avoid sites that don’t have a license by the relevant government authority
  
  
• Avoid sites without a licensed pharmacist to answer questions
  
  
• Avoid sites that do not require a prescription
  
  
• There are no magic pills, miracle cures or safe options for serious medical conditions or rapid weight loss.
  
  
• Never commit to anything under pressure.
  
  
• Don’t trust an unsubstantiated claim about medicines, supplements or other treatments. Consult your healthcare professional.
  
  
• Check for published medical and research papers to verify the accuracy of the claims made by the promoters.
  
  
• Ask yourself if this is really a miracle cure, wouldn’t my healthcare professional have told me about it?

A counterfeit medicine or a fake medication is a prescription or pharmaceutical item which is created and sold with the expectation to misleadingly speak to its source, validness or viability. A fake medication may contain wrong amounts of dynamic fixings, or none, may be shamefully handled inside of the body (e.g., ingestion by the body), may contain fixings that are not on the mark (which could possibly be destructive), or may be supplied with incorrect or fake bundling and naming. Solutions which are intentionally mislabeled to hoodwink purchasers - including mislabeled however generally certifiable bland medications - are fake. Fake medications are identified with pharma misrepresentation. Drug makers and wholesalers are progressively putting resources into countermeasures, for example, traceability and verification advancements, to attempt to minimize the effect of fake medications.

Honest to goodness, accurately marked, minimal effort non specific medications are not fake or fake (despite the fact that they can be forged), yet can be discovered up in anticounterfeiting authorization measures. In that regard, an open deliberation is boiling over in respect to whether "fake items are as a matter of first importance a danger to human wellbeing and security or inciting tension  is only an astute route for rich countries to make sensitivity for expanded assurance of their protected innovation rights". Bland medications are liable to ordinary regulations in nations where they are made and sold.

Tips for Avoiding Counterfeit Prescription Drugs:

• Be mindful of appearance. Closely examine the packaging and lot numbers of prescription drugs and be alert to any changes from one prescription to the next.
  
  
• Consult your pharmacist or physician if your prescription drug looks suspicious.
  
  
• Alert your pharmacist and physician immediately if your medication causes adverse side effects or if your condition does not improve.
  
  
• Use caution when purchasing drugs on the Internet. Do not purchase medications from unlicensed online distributors or those who sell medications without a prescription. Reputable online pharmacies will have a seal of approval.
  
  
• Be aware that product promotions or cost reductions and other "special deals" may be associated with counterfeit product promotion.

Most all of us have been there: a beloved wife, husband, mother, father, daughter, son, or dear friend is diagnosed with cancer. We know the treatment is painful and the cure, chancy. We hate the thought of the suffering ahead. What we want more than anything is a breakthrough - a cure that will also protect our loved ones from debilitating side effects.

And then we hear about a revolutionary cancer research project that sounds completely on the up and up...it just needs financial backing. Seductive? You bet. Understandably, people fall for it like a ton of bricks.

Take a case out of the FBI's Jacksonville office:

A woman claiming to have a master’s degree in clinical nutrition was successfully marketing a full-body "electrotherapy cancer machine" across the United States.

The wind up: She said it was a breakthrough development by a London-based team of doctors, lab technicians, and physicists from the combined research fields of electromagnetic field therapy, radio frequency therapy, crystal healing therapy, and "human energy" healing.

The pitch: The machine had been tested on local cancer patients in London who were now cured, and a European company had promised to buy the machine for millions of dollars. Money was needed to complete the project...and the return on investors’ money would be at least 50% and likely much more.

The foul: Thanks to an alert local bank investigator who was suspicious of an account suddenly receiving massive numbers of wire transfers in 2003, our Jacksonville office was contacted. We opened a case and turned two undercover agents into wannabe investors. It was just a matter of time before a joint investigation with our local Florida police partners turned up hard evidence that the full-body "electrotherapy cancer machine" was a complete fraud...to the tune of $2.5 million illegally raked in between 1997 and 2003.

Game over: In mid-2004, investigators had enough evidence for indictments on wire fraud charges. With our police partners - the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office in Florida and the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana - we arrested two subjects. Trials are coming up shortly.

Lessons learned: We’ve said it before, but we’ll say it again: If it sounds too good to be true, it IS too good to be true. Whether it’s a miracle cure or a miracle return on investment that interests you, please first go down our checklist on how to avoid these classic "advance fee scams".

If you are age 60 or older- and especially if you are an older woman living alone - you may be a special target of people who sell bogus products and services by telephone. Telemarketing scams often involve offers of free prizes, low-cost vitamins and health care products, and inexpensive vacations.:

• Senior citizens are most likely to have a "nest egg," to own their home, and/or to have excellent credit - all of which make them attractive to con artists.
  
  
• People who grew up in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s were generally raised to be polite and trusting. Con artists exploit these traits, knowing that it is difficult or impossible for these individuals to say "no" or just hang up the telephone.
  
  
• Older people are less likely to report a fraud because they don’t know who to report it to, are too ashamed at having been scammed, or don’t know they have been scammed. Elderly victims may not report crimes, for example, because they are concerned that relatives may think the victims no longer have the mental capacity to take care of their own financial affairs.
  
  
• When an elderly victim does report the crime, they often make poor witnesses. Con artists know the effects of age on memory, and they are counting on elderly victims not being able to supply enough detailed information to investigators. In addition, the victims’ realization that they have been swindled may take weeks - or more likely, months - after contact with the fraudster. This extended time frame makes it even more difficult to remember details from the events.
  
  
• Senior citizens are more interested in and susceptible to products promising increased cognitive function, virility, physical conditioning, anti-cancer properties, and so on. In a country where new cures and vaccinations for old diseases have given hope for a long and fruitful life, it is not so unbelievable that the con artists’ products can do what they claim.

There are warning signs to these scams. If you hear these - or similar - "lines" from a telephone salesperson, just say "no thank you," and hang up the telephone:

• "You must act now, or the offer won’t be good."
  
  
• "You’ve won a free gift, vacation, or prize." But you have to pay for "postage and handling" or other charges.
  
  
• "You must send money, give a credit card or bank account number, or have a check picked up by courier." You may hear this before you have had a chance to consider the offer carefully.
  
  
• "You don’t need to check out the company with anyone." The callers say you do not need to speak to anyone, including your family, lawyer, accountant, local Better Business Bureau, or consumer protection agency.
  
  
• "You don’t need any written information about the company or its references."
  
  
• "You can’t afford to miss this high-profit, no-risk offer."

It’s very difficult to get your money back if you’ve been cheated over the telephone. Before you buy anything by telephone, remember:

• Don’t buy from an unfamiliar company. Legitimate businesses understand that you want more information about their company and are happy to comply.
  
  
• Always ask for and wait until you receive written material about any offer or charity. If you get brochures about costly investments, ask someone whose financial advice you trust to review them. But, unfortunately, beware-not everything written down is true.
  
  
• Always check out unfamiliar companies with your local consumer protection agency, Better Business Bureau, state attorney general, the National Fraud Information Center, or other watchdog groups. Unfortunately, not all bad businesses can be identified through these organizations.
  
  
• Obtain a salesperson’s name, business identity, telephone number, street address, mailing address, and business license number before you transact business. Some con artists give out false names, telephone numbers, addresses, and business license numbers. Verify the accuracy of these items.
  
  
• Before you give money to a charity or make an investment, find out what percentage of the money is paid in commissions and what percentage actually goes to the charity or investment.
  
  
• Before you send money, ask yourself a simple question. "What guarantee do I really have that this solicitor will use my money in the manner we agreed upon?"
  
  
• Don’t pay in advance for services. Pay services only after they are delivered.
  
  
• Be wary of companies that want to send a messenger to your home to pick up money, claiming it is part of their service to you. In reality, they are taking your money without leaving any trace of who they are or where they can be reached.
  
  
• Always take your time making a decision. Legitimate companies won’t pressure you to make a snap decision.
  
  
• Don’t pay for a "free prize." If a caller tells you the payment is for taxes, he or she is violating federal law.
  
  
• Before you receive your next sales pitch, decide what your limits are-the kinds of financial information you will and won’t give out on the telephone.
  
  
• Be sure to talk over big investments offered by telephone salespeople with a trusted friend, family member, or financial advisor. It’s never rude to wait and think about an offer.
  
  
• Never respond to an offer you don’t understand thoroughly.
  
  
• Never send money or give out personal information such as credit card numbers and expiration dates, bank account numbers, dates of birth, or social security numbers to unfamiliar companies or unknown persons.
  
  
• Be aware that your personal information is often brokered to telemarketers through third parties.
  
  
• If you have been victimized once, be wary of persons who call offering to help you recover your losses for a fee paid in advance.
  
  
• If you have information about a fraud, report it to state, local, or federal law enforcement agencies.