Most often, financial scams are lurking in your email inbox. Here are some common types of scams:

Advance fee frauds- These take many forms, but all feature the lure of a huge sum of money or a consignment of jewelry, gold, or other valuables. They are called advance fee frauds because they all involve the victim being asked to pay fees in advance. If the victim pays the fee, there will always be another fee that must be paid before the money or consignment can be released. This will continue until the victim realizes it is a scam, or simply runs out of money to send.

Lottery scams- The scammer will pretend to be from a legitimate or a fictitious lottery that claims the victim has won a large sum of money. Again, there will be the endless requirements for fees to register, to claim the prize and so on, until the victim has given up or runs out of money.

Check or money order scams- If you have been asked by someone you don't know to cash a check, money order or traveler’s check and send on the proceeds or goods, please act with extreme caution. The scammer hopes that the victim's credit union will not realize the check is fraudulent right away and will clear it. The victim is then expected to send back the money that was deposited to the scammer. Once the credit union later realizes the check was counterfeit, they will debit the victim's account, and the victim will lose the money he/she sent back to the scammer.

Charity Scams- These scams pull on the heart strings of good natured people by claiming to be a charitable organization or a victim of a disaster requesting donations.

Now that you are aware of the various forms of financial scams, here are specific characteristics that are consistent in most fraudulent approaches.

 It all sounds too good to be true and the offer claims you have the potential for a large gain with very little investment of time or money.  The offer has come out of the blue and the scammer probably does not address you by name and there is an insistence on urgency and on confidentiality.

 There's an early request for personal and detailed information from the victim, such as address, date of birth, bank account details, or identification such as a passport.

 The scammer uses mobile phone numbers rather than official company landlines.

 Each fee is said to be the last and the scammer may even have claimed to pay some of the fee to build confidence and trust.

If you feel you might have fallen victim to a financial scam then it is important to cease all communications with the scammer immediately. Delete any emails unopened and hang up if the scammer calls you. Report the scam to your local police and to the Internet Crime Complaint Center.