SCAMS

A foole & his money, be soone at debate:
which after with sorow, repents him to late.
 by Thomas Tusser, 1573:


It's not possible for use to keep track of all the ways one can be scammed. Several websites already do a go job. The goal with this page is to provide a list of good sources to use to check-out questionable solicitations.  

CONSUMER SCAMS and CYBERCRIME

BobSullivan.net blog provides interesting commentary about:


MEDICAL SCAMS 

Medical and health scams, often referred to as Alternative or Complementary Medicine,  can be very convincing, especially to people desperate for answers and remedies. If this stuff worked, it would simply be called Medicine -- not alternative of complementary. It only prolongs getting proven treatment and separates one from his money. 

MUST visit sites are:

 - Quackwatch by Dr. Stephen Barret, MD, retired psychiatrist and renown medical editor
 - National Council Against Health Fraud
 - American Council on Science and Health 
 - Healthcare Reality Check
 - Science-based Medicine 


FRAUD

If a deal seems too good to be true,  it's almost always is a scam.  Below is a listing of the most popular places to check it out.  Also check our page about Identity Theft.
 - The National Fraud Center 
 - The Federal Trade Commission  
 - Multilevel Marketing Scams
 - Identity Theft Resource Center    
 - Scambusters


Last are the SCAMS one forwards to friends in the form of HOAXES that are propagated via email chain letters.  Before sending that bit of "special news," check it out on SNOPES , ABOUT Urban Legends , HOAX-SLAYER , FACT-CHECK , POLITIFACT

DARK PATTERNS 

Tricks used in websites and apps that make the readers do things that they didn't mean to, like buying or signing up for something

DARK PATTERN Reading List (including hyperlinks)

 Click here for a thread of our posts on Scams.