It’s surely not the best way to be on the good side of people, but when it comes to making money, whether online or offline, you’ve got to be skeptical. The internet is like a jungle; it’s unregulated and composed of completely diverse individuals. There are lots of good people, and there are equally lots of hackers and bandits looking to steal strangers’ money. Be that as it may, always be on the lookout for anything that asks for your money, especially online. When online, always be a cynic. Regardless of how beautiful the website is or how seemingly legitimate the company is, take time to evaluate its validity. To help you decipher if a company or website is a scam, here is a list of the popular online scams that you must be aware of.

Credit card scams

If you have bad credit, it’s normal to approach other credit card companies and request that they buy off your bad debt in exchange for a fee, usually a huge one, which you can pay using a more flexible payment term. This is where online credit card scams come in. They act as legitimate "credit fixers" and promise to pay your bad debt in exchange for a relatively small fee. But in reality, they just want you to disclose personal information such as credit card number, address, social security, etc. and use your identity to dig you into even more debt.

Health and medical products scams

The website is usually filled with great reviews and fantastic testimonials. Some even go as far as presenting video testimonials and pictures of doctors endorsing the products. In all honesty, this scam is rather unnoticeable and borderline sneaky because the products may appear to be legitimate, but they produce nothing but a mere placebo effect. Watch out for these. It is always necessary to do the required research such as talking with your doctor or a pharmacist before making a purchase.

Pyramid/Ponzi scams

There a lot of pyramid schemes online. You’ve probably heard of this one already as so-called investment expert Bernie Madoff popularized this kind of scam just recently. A Ponzi scheme requires a constant influx of new investors who basically pay off the people above them. Then they get paid also as new recruits are made. Then the vicious cycle goes on and on until the market becomes saturated and no new recruits are made, forcing the last batch of investors to end up losing all their investments.

"Please help me" scam

Of all the scams listed above, this is perhaps the most interesting one because it is beautifully or chestrated and it actually works. One typical morning you’ll receive an email from a pitiful widow from a far away country who happens to have a wad of cash from her wealthy husband, but she needs a foreign account to get it out of the country. Naturally, she seeks assistance from you and promises to reward you with 20% of the millions of dollars she would get. Assuming you were kind enough to help her out and she has convinced you to meet her in some place instead "because something went wrong with the money transfer", the next thing you know you’ve been kidnapped, and primed for extortion. This may seem extreme, but according to the state department, this scam has successfully tricked a lot of Americans.