Everybody wants to feel safe and secure when surfing the internet and the best way to achieve that goal is through having quality products protecting your computer.

That means an antivirus program at the very least and quite possibly a full internet security suite.

One of the most notable security vendors is Trend Micro who have today announced a 30% price reduction on many of their products.

Make it a Merry Christmas for both of us by bagging a great discount whilst earning me a commission

To benefit from this great discount just use the coupons below between December 25th and January 10th -

For United States customers

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Trend Micro Announces 30% Discount On Internet Security Products is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

Finding someone to invest in your ideas in this day and age isn’t easy.

You develop a new idea, a unique plan or a superb niche which you think could earn you a good income, but you don’t have the money to put it into fruition.

So what do you do?

You look for people, who are willing to invest in your idea.

You should remember though, that there are many scammers lurking out there on the internet.

Therefore, be very careful before disclosing your plans to anybody, especially someone whom you have just met on the internet.

Forums

Something that fraudsters have begun doing is visiting forums, communities, and announcement boards, and posting that they have cash waiting to invest in new products or ideas.

The victim thinks his luck is in, gets talking to the scammer and reveals all his plans in the process (scam artists are very good listeners after all!).

Afterwards, the scammer disappears and never returns, leaving the victim thinking that maybe their idea wasn’t as attractive as they first thought.

On the contrary, however, the scammer WAS interested.

‘Investor’ Turns Copycat

So much so that he has extracted all the information required to go and implement the plan himself without the need to partner with the victim at all.

If you are looking for an investor the best plan is to give them as few details as possible at first until you are sure you can fully trust them.

Even then, ensure you have genuine contact details for them, not just free email accounts and mobile phone numbers.

It may even be worth getting them to sign a Non Disclosure Agreement before divulging the best parts of your plans in order to retain your usefulness in the bargain.

Investor Scam is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

If you receive an email, or notification via regular mail, from an ‘estate locator’ claiming that there may be an unclaimed inheritance to which you are entitled then don’t get excited too quickly.

Sure, there are times when someone dies and leaves a sum of money to people who didn’t know them, or didn’t expect to inherit anything from them, but that tends to be the exception rather than the rule.

So, if you do receive such a notification from an ‘estate locator’ suggesting that you have an inheritance due then remember that if something sounds too good to be true it typically is.

THE INHERITANCE CON

Con artists will adopt any scheme that they think will part a fool from his money.

They will tell you that you are due an inheritance and that they have found you by undertaking extensive research.

Don’t feel flattered that they have found you though – inheritance scammers bulk mail the same message to hundreds, or even thousands, of people at the same time, hoping that one or two may reply.

Those people who do reply are then enticed into a classic advanced fee scam, being told that they need to pay for various expenses before they can claim their inheritance.

Such fees can include estate reports, legal costs and processing fees.

Needless to say, this money disappears without a trace and no inheritance is ever forthcoming.

PREVENTION

Keeping yourself safe from inheritance scams is relatively easy and just requires some commonsense.

If you receive mail from an ‘estate locator’ then check sources other than the ones they quote to you, such as relatives and obituaries.

Additionally, business services such as the BBB and the AG’s office could tell you if you are being approached by an individual or company that has been investigated in connection with inheritance scams.

Remember too that legitimate law firms and executors of wills will never require you to pay a fee in order to determine whether you are entitled to an inheritance or not.

If you have been unfortunate enough to become a victim of such a scheme then report it to the authorities so that others do not have to experience the same fate.

Inheritance Scams is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

Later in this article I will state why I think Halloween is a scam.

Firstly though, here is what Halloween is all about -

A BRIEF HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN

Around 2,000 years ago the people of Ireland, then known as the Celts, celebrated their new year on November the first.

This date signified the beginning of winter, a time when mortality rates were much higher, due to the cold and dark associated with the following few months.

Therefore, the Celts believed that on the night before, October 31st, there was a link between the worlds of the living and the dead.

On this evening, they thought that the ghosts and spirits of the dead would return for a night, intent on damaging crops and causing great mischief for those they left behind.

To this end, they celebrated the night with a festival known as Samhain which was a time for Druids and priests to make predictions about the coming year.

Furthermore, the Celtic people would wear costumes made from animal skulls and skins, and would sacrifice animals and crops to their deities on huge bonfires.

In later years, the Celts became integrated with their Roman conquerors and there was a mixing of their respective cultures, beliefs and festivals.

The Romans honoured Pomona, goddess of trees and fruit. Her symbol, an apple, became associated with Samhain and may explain why ‘apple bobbing’ is still popular on Halloween to this day.

Later still, Pope Boniface IV attempted to hijack Samhain for the Church.

This he did by assigning All Saint’s Day to November 1st. The olde English translation of All Saint’s Day was ‘Alholowmesse’ which later evolved into ‘All Hallows’.

Therefore Samhain, the night before, became known as All Hallows Eve.

I believe the majority of Americans still use this term, though in Britain the phrase further evolved until October 31st became known as Halloween.

MODERN HALLOWEEN COSTUME

A large part of modern Halloween celebrations involves dressing up in costumes, much like the original Celts.

However, the nature of the attire has changed somewhat.

Instead of animal skins, people are far more likely to be seen dressed as ghosts, skeletons, vampires or even popular television characters. (Staggeringly, the winner of the best Halloween outfit at my kids’ school last year went at Snow White!!).

HALLOWEEN GAMES

Bobbing for apples has already been mentioned but it is not the only game that is based on the early celebrations.

Another game often played is divination where a blindfolded child has to choose a piece of paper upon which is written a prophecy.

By making the choice themselves, it is said that the prophecy will come true for them during the course of the following year.

Another game that is well known is trick or treat.

This is probably the main point of interest for children at Halloween, as they not only get to dress up, but they also go knocking on people’s doors, asking for treats.

If a treat is not forthcoming, then a trick will be played which will often involve throwing eggs at windows for example.

PUMPKINS

The pumpkin is itself a part of Irish tradition, though not originally part of the Samhain festival.

Whilst emptying a pumpkin and placing a light inside to turn it into a lantern was begun by the Irish, the carving of faces onto pumpkins actually originated in America where crops grew to a much larger size.

WHY DO I THINK HALLOWEEN IS A SCAM?

At the beginning of the article I stated that I believe Halloween is a scam.

Why do I think that?

Well, it has nothing to do with occultism, something that ‘Devil’s night’ has become associated with in recent years.

That is because Halloween, as you now hopefully know, was never a Christian festival in the first place.

Instead, my belief that Halloween is a scam is to do with the commercialism of the event.

Samhain began as a festival, borne on the fears of those who lived at the time, who did not fully understand or comprehend the world they lived in.

Two millenniums later and modern man has a good grasp of science, adequate heating (in the majority of countries), crops tend not to fail and, for the most part, people do not believe in mischief-making ghosts and spirits coming back to play havok on October 31st.

Why then, do we still recognise and celebrate Halloween?

Simply, because clever marketing tactics are employed by retail companies looking to turn a profit, and here’s how -

• Overpriced pumpkins
• Overpriced and flimsy costumes, unlikely to be re-usable the following year
• Increased sales of sweets and other gifts to be handed to trick or treaters
• Associated sales of plastic teeth, ambient music collections and other worthless rubbish

Oh, and don’t forget that dentists see an upturn in business after the kids have eaten all the sweets they receive too

CONCLUSION

Halloween can be great fun, especially children who come home at the end of the evening with a huge amount of sweets.

Conversely, it can also be a huge annoyance.

I know personally that after the 50th knock on my door it starts to test my patience.

Additionally, some may even live in fear of Halloween.

I know some elderly people in my area who feel quite intimidated by elder children who levy all kinds of threats if sweets or money are not given to them.

Ultimately, Halloween in this day and age bears little to no resemblance to the original festival of Samhain.

Verdict : Halloween has become a RETAIL SCAM, designed to extract money from those who probably have no idea what they are commemorating in the first place.

Halloween (All Hallows Eve) – Trick Or Scam? is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

If you are a UK telephone user then the following email about a new scam is something you need to read.

Of course the scam is not committed by BT themselves but rather by an African (so it seems) who claims to be a representative of that company -

Subject: BT phone scam

PLEASE PASS ON TO YOUR FRIENDS & FAMILY.

The new telephone ’scam’ has arrived.

“I received a call from a ‘representative’ of BT, informing me that he was disconnecting me because of an unpaid bill.

He demanded payment immediately of £31.00 or it would be £118.00 to re-connect at a later date.

The guy wasn’t even fazed when I told him I was with Virgin Media, allegedly VM have to pay BT a percentage for line rental!

I asked the guy’s name – the very ‘English’ John Peacock with a very ‘African’ accent – & phone number – 0800 0800 152.

Obviously the fellow realized I didn’t believe his story, so offered to demonstrate that he was from BT.

I asked how & he told me to hang up & try phoning someone – he would disconnect my phone to prevent this.

AND HE DID!! My phone was dead – no engaged tone, nothing – until he phoned me again.

Very pleased with himself, he asked if that was enough proof that he was with BT.

I asked how the payment was to be made & he said credit card, there & then.

I said that I didn’t know how he’d done it, but I had absolutely no intention of paying him, I didn’t believe his name or that he worked for BT.

He hung up.

Did 1471 & phoned his fictitious 0800 number – not recognised.

I phoned the police to let them know, I wasn’t the first! It’s only just started apparently but it is escalating.

Their advice was to let as many people know by word of mouth of this scam.

The fact that the phone does go off would probably convince some people it’s real, so please let as many friends & family be aware of this.

This is good but not that clever.

He gave the wrong number – it should have been 0800 800 152 which takes you through to BT Business.

The cutting off of the line is very simple – he stays on the line with the mute button on and you can’t dial out – but he can hear you trying to (this is because the person who initiates a call is the one to terminate it).

When you stop trying he cuts off and immediately calls back.

You could almost be convinced!

The sad thing is that it is so simple that it will certainly fool the elderly and vulnerable.”

Unlike some email forwards this one is real and the police are aware of it.

So if you get a call like the one detailed above be very wary.

If you think you may actually have an outstanding bill then I would recommend hanging up, waiting 10 minutes in case someone really is messing around with your line, and then calling your telephone company using the number found on your latest bill.

0800 0800 152 And The ‘BT Phone Scam’ is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

I remember hearing Sawyer, from the TV series “Lost”, mentioning the hulla hoops scam in one episode so that is why I had to go find out what it was…

With increasing interest rates, many people quickly find themselves in financial difficulties, especially if they already are subject to a large number of hire-purchase or financing contracts.

A number of people often find themselves victims to vehicles or houses being repossessed.

Many people often will attempt to take other measures rather than losing their property or being blacklisted by financial institutions, such as attempting to sell the property and making a small profit, if possible.

More often than not these people might find that selling their property, especially vehicles, are not as easy.

Finding a buyer may proof to be futile.

It is in this battleground where many fraudsters flourish and target innocent victims with promises of a quick fix for their financial difficulties.

In the majority of instances it is this ‘quick fix’ offer that will end the victim up on the wrong side of the law.

HOW IS THE HULLA HOOPS SCAM COMMITTED?

Offenders of this scam generally advertise their services in newspapers, offering assistance to vehicle owners who are no longer in a position to afford their monthly instalments.

They often also offer vehicles to people who do not qualify for vehicle finance.

These offenders will offer a vehicle owner the opportunity of being introduced to a person willing to take over the vehicle instalment.

This will prevent the repossession of the vehicle and blacklisting of the owner by a financial institution.

The client will then enter into an agreement with the new person taking over the instalments and pay an administration fee to the offenders.

The person taking over the instalments will then be responsible for paying the instalments to the offenders, who will in turn be responsible for making payments to the bank.

When the monthly instalments are received by the offenders, they will never make the payments to the financial institutions.

This subsequently leads to the repossession of the vehicle and also criminal charges laid against the victim.

HOW DO YOU PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST HULLA HOOPS SCAMS?

Always remember that, legally, you are not allowed to let another person take over your vehicle instalments.

Never pay any third party offering this service.

If you are in financial difficulties, it is unfortunately a fact that you would have to return the vehicle to the financing institution.

Hulla Hoops Scams is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

Surfing around the net, looking for interesting articles to read about spyware, etc, I come across all sorts of things.

Some of those incluse posts which suggest that Spyzooka may be a scam.

This, however, only highlights why you shouldn’t necessarily believe everything you read on the internet -

What many of these web sites and blog pages are failing to disclose to you is the fact that they are in competition with Spyzooka – reading through what they have to say I’ve spotted a good many affiliate links which lead to competing anti-spyware products.

They then pop the ‘Spyzooka’ name into their post titles in order to capitalise on the associated search engine traffic.

The same tactic is applied all over the web for other products too so its something you ought to be aware of.

By the way, you can get a free Spyzooka scan right here.

Spyzooka Scam? Nope, And This Is Why You Shouldn’t Believe It is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

On Wednesday December 21st 1988 a Boeing 747-121 named Clipper Maid of the Seas was destroyed by a bomb.

Pan Am Flight 103 was a Pan American World Airway’s scheduled transatlantic flight, travelling from London’s Heathrow International Airport to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.

When the bomb exploded the fuselage of the plane was ripped apart, leading to the deaths of 243 passengers and 16 members of crew.

Additionally, the debris fell upon the town of Lockerbie in southern Scotland, causing 11 further fatalities on the ground.

APPORTIONING BLAME

Even though there has been a trial and conviction in the Lockerbie case, doubts still seem to remain in the minds of many people as to what really happened, who was responsible for the bombing, how the bomb was detonated and what motives the perpetrator(s) may have had.

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, a Libyan national, who was serving life in prison for the atrocity was released yesterday on compassionate grounds as he is suffering with terminal prostate cancer.

His alleged co-conspirator, Lamin Khalifah Fhimah, was found to be not guilty.

Since the original verdict on January 31st 2001 there has been one appeal dismissed and another is pending, likely to be heard in early 2009.

Whilst a level of uncertainty remains in the conviction of Megrahi, the conspiracy theorists continue to speculate as to what they believe may have really happened.

Here is one of many conspiracy theories that have gained a level of popularity amongst those who subscribe to such thoughts -

DRUGS, BOMBS AND THE CIA

One of the many conspiracy theories suggests that that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had set up a protected drug route from Europe to the United States.

Some people allege that this route was known as ‘Operation Corea’ and suggest that Syrian drug dealers, led by Monzer al-Kassar (who was involved with Oliver North in the Iran-Contra scandal) used it to ship heroin to the U.S.

These conspiracy theorists say that the American intelligence community then received intel on Palestinian groups based in Syria in exchange.

It is alleged that the CIA protected the suitcases containing the drugs and ensured they were not searched.

The theory suggests that on the day of the bombing a suitcase containing drugs was switched for the one that contained the bomb.

WHITE POWDER AND $547,000

After the explosion debris fell on Lockerbie.

In the aftermath of the disaster two teenagers claim to have found over half a million dollars in travellers cheques.

A reporter, David Johnstone, reported on white powder being found in polythene bags.

Furthermore, Wikipedia reports that a mountain rescuer wash ushered away from a field containing a large tarpaulin.

Conspiracy theorists believe that the tarpaulin covered a container which they believe may have belonged to Major Charles McKee, belived to have been a special forces operative.

This particular theory continues by suggesting that the CIA allowed the alleged drugs and bomb to be switched because the protected drugs route was a rogue operation, and Maj. Charles McKee had found out about it, and was on his way to Washington to tell his superiors.

YOUR VIEWS

Personally, I think this particular theory sounds quite spurious but does it hold any truth for you?

Was a Libyan responsible for bombing Pan Am 103, or is there an alternative answer?

Pan Am 103 – The Lockerbie Conspiracy – The CIA Theory is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

A great many people have been ripped off by data entry scams.

Visiting a website that offers a good rate for entering simple data into fields seems like an offer that is too good to be true.

Usually it is.

After parting you with anywhere up to $99 for registration, the data entry website will then send you an ebook instead of the work you were expecting.

This ebook will explain that the way you get paid is by writing advertisements for the Adwords system that Google operates.

You also have to pay to run the Adwords campaign, however, you do get paid whenever one of the ads is clicked on (call me cynical, but this also seems to be encouraging click fraud on top of the scam doesn’t it?).

Google Adwords is most definitely not a scam.

However, it takes a lot of skill and knowledge to utilise to it’s full potential.

Also, the fact that you have now become, in effect, an affiliate, is nothing to be unduly worried about either.

It just means someone else is earning off the back of your hard work.

You have been duped though -

• This is not the type of work you had been led to believe it was by the original advertisement
• You have paid a registration fee – work should be earning you money, not parting you from it.
• You will be required to part with more cash to operate an Adwords campaign

All this in advance of receiving a penny back from your employer.

So what can you do to protect yourself from this sort of shady business opportunity?

Firstly, search the web for the company you are thinking of affiliating with.

Add the word “scam” or “problems” to the search string to see if others have experienced problems.

Secondly, pay by credit card only.

This will afford you some limited protection if you find you have been completely ripped off.

Data Entry Scam is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

I have a post coming up soon which will be taking a look at the Loch Ness monster and asking whether it is a hoax or not.

In the meantime I was wondering what you guys think?

Nessie – ancient sea monster or tourist-attracting hoax..

Please let me know your views via the comments.

The Loch Ness Monster – Do You Think Its A Hoax? is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009