Modern Scams & How To Beat Them

From Entrepreneur.com on MSNBC

They contact you by phone, fax and e-mail. They’re ready with invoices for you to pay, services for you to order and P.O. boxes to collect your money. Modern scammers have thought of everything: The only thing that stands between them and your money is keen awareness on your part.

“They give two credit cards to the retailer — both are valid and go through. Of course, you find out later that they’re stolen credit card numbers. Then they order heavy items to bring up the shipping charges and ask you to prepay the shipping to a P.O. box at a distant location,� explains Appleby, adding that they often select special order items that the company will have a harder time disposing of, making the victim more likely to front the shipping bill for the big special order.