There's a chance you'll be ripped off in 2009.
The Identity Theft Resource Center in San Diego is predicting a number of new scams in the new year, among them (and this is not the complete list):
1. Real Estate-based scams -- As if we haven't had enough of these in the past few years, the ITRC says to beware of more. It recommends checking with your trusted bank or mortgage company before engaging any unknown business looking to refinance your home. Just last month, state Attorney General Jerry Brown announced the arrest of three suspects in a foreclosure scam. That scam allegedly promised homeowners to renegotiate their debt, but instead ripped them off.
2. Credit Card scams -- Everything from easy credit to debt consolidation. As always, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
3. Job scams -- The ITRC's example in this category is "an offer to act as an account’s receivable clerk for a company outside the U.S. – opening an account, receiving checks, depositing them in the bank and then wiring them to the company." (Sounds like some of those e-mails I keep getting, the ones that begin with "Dear Beloved, Please to be help me ...")
The complete list is available online from the ITRC.
