Identity theft
Identity theft is not new, but it is on the rise, running rampant over the Web at breakneck speed. The thieves need only a few elements to victimize you -- usually, your name and Social Security number will do. Obtaining this information is often intertwined with other crimes -- advance fee scams and bogus job offers among them.

The name for this scam is "phishing" -- as in fishing for your information but with a "ph" as in "phony."

Almost any scam can be sprinkled with a smattering of identity theft -- advance fee scams, fraud jobs and online auctions included. All it takes to become a victim of identity theft is a leak of your personal information. Your garbage may be targeted. (That's why you should shred anything that has your account numbers, Social Security number or that says you are "pre-approved" for credit -- before you throw it away.) Telemarketers and e-mail spammers may attack you under the guise of protecting your accounts, auction transactions and credit cards. Some even pretend to be law enforcement or government agents.

If anyone from any company you do business with or that claims to be a representative of a government agency (like the police or FDIC) demands your personal information or an immediate payment for any reason, ask for a number and tell them you will call them back. Then get the number from a different source (bank statements, credit card statements or the phone book) and ask if the call was for real. Four bazillion dollars says it wasn't.

If this bet is wrong and there is some particularly friendly company making these sorts of calls, it won't mind if you say you need to call back. Remember that clever phishing con artists are always looking for a new angle -- they may say they are from various different companies or agencies. Don't get caught off guard.

Advance fee / Loan scams
Advance fee scams are easy to spot: You pay a fee in advance for receiving a credit card, loan or scholarship. In return, you get nothing valuable -- either the scammer disappears or you get a bunch of worthless junk. For example, one reader called to tell us about an advance-fee credit card scam that had tricked her. She paid a fee in advance to receive a new credit card. What she got was a list of banks that have credit cards -- all for the hefty price of $198. You should never pay in advance for a credit card.

Searching for a loan may lead you down a similar path. Recently, the Federal Trade Commission spotted several fake loan ads. The ads look real and even use the logos of real banks and credit unions. But the phone number in the ad will lead you to an imposter on a cell phone who asks for your personal information, tells you where to wire money for a fee, then disappears -- stealing your cash and identity.

Lotto scams
It should go without saying that if you get an e-mail saying you won something -- and you didn't enter -- you should just delete it. This is a common scam.

Here's how it works: The e-mail says you've won, but to receive your lottery winnings or whatever the prize is, first you must pay the taxes or a handling fee. You hand over your cash and you never hear from this person again. Or, you are told you won a hotel or resort stay, but in order to use your prize, you have to pay for your own airline ticket -- booked through the agency that is awarding you the "prize." The ticket price will be inflated to cover the cost of the hotel.

If you didn't enter anything, you didn't win anything. And even if you did enter, taxes go to the government, not to the organization running the contest. Also, do not give out personal information such as your Social Security number or bank account number to anyone to claim a prize. They're just trying to steal your identity.

Money-making schemes
When people are down on their luck, they may turn to get-rich-quick or money-making schemes. Somehow the scammers make old scams, such as the Nigerian scam and pyramid schemes, seem like plausible ways for you to make a lot of cash in a hurry.

You've probably been courted by the Nigerian scam, also known as the 419 scam (named after the section of the law pertaining to it). It comes in e-mail or letter form and may start, "Dear Sir, I got your information from a confidential source.... " The letter then goes on to tell you a story of a huge amount of money hidden overseas that the writer of the letter wants to put in your bank account. In return, he promises you a big cut of the cash.

Long story short: Any checks you receive from this person will be fake. The con will ask you to keep part of the money and send him the difference. Shortly after you send him the difference by mail or wire, his check bounces, and you owe the total amount to your bank. Warning: Sometimes, people are told by their banks that the check has cleared, so they wire the difference to the Nigerian scammer. But don't be too sure: The scammers sometimes forge a cashier's check, which fools the bank into prematurely reporting the check as "cleared." Once the forgery is discovered, the bank will hold you liable.