The economical crisis has now grown to almost epic proportions. The credit crunch that once loomed is now in full swing and we are all paying the prices for the boom or bust years.  With money so tight, there are so many people looking at ways to earn that extra buck.  It is when these troubles are at their worst when people, feeling that there is no other choice, can become involved in illegal and fraudulent activities.  It is no excuse, there never can be to commit a crime, but some people just act in desperation and there will always be someone behind them manipulating and using their insecurities.  To make matters that little bit worse, as those that still have scruples also look for ways to make some extra cash, they become more susceptible to cons and scams, the lure of extra money can often blind us from the truth.

There is every chance that you will come into contact with some sort of scam every day, especially when using the internet.  However, most of us delete the garbage mail or soon evade the pop up ads. We have become suspicious (and rightly so) of those deals that seem too good to be true because in reality, we know that they are.  So it might come as a surprise that most of the scams which people are being caught with these days are actually in real time, with real people.  Perhaps this is the real reason we are caught, we do not see what could be happening in front of a very eyes, the suspicion is always of what is happening behind closed doors.

Many people believe that the online casinos are the biggest threat, but actually, they aren’t; certainly not any legitimate ones anyway.  The biggest problem is when you are using a credit card when playing at the real casinos.  There have been more crimes linked to this in conjunction with identity theft than any other reported.  It has been claimed that no fewer than half a million people fall foul of identity theft each year in the United States alone.

In reality, these crimes are easy to avoid if you keep the threat prominently in your mind. Just be sure not to let any of your card details be passed over especially if it is not secure. Additionally, make sure you can see what is going on at all times.  A card needs to be swiped through a certain machine to be cloned, if you keep the proverbial eye open, there is little chance of that happening.

Finally, keep up to date with all the latest scams; there are plenty of warnings online.  Forewarned is after all forearmed.