Today’s post continues from where I left yesterday

Pinaki Ghosh 

The Bait:
The report that you’ve been “pre-qualified” to receive something like a low-interest loan or credit card, or repair your bad credit even though banks have turned you down is the ultimate bait here. To take the benefit of this, you must first be ready to shell up a processing fee which may be of some several hundred dollars.
The Take:
A lawful and pre-qualified take also means you’ve been given the chance to apply. Firstly you must try and complete a form which can still be turned down just in case. If you have paid a fee in advance for the promise of a loan or credit card, you’ve been hustled. There may be a list of lenders, but there’s no loan, and the person you’ve paid has swiped off your money and run away.
Your Safety Net:
If in case you think it’s just a promise with no legal documents, do not pay! The legal lenders never base their cards on “guarantee” or talk about loans before you even apply. It may require that you pay for the application, appraisal, or credit report fees, but these fees rarely are required before the person who is lending is identified and the terms and conditions are completed. The plus is that the fees which are generally paid to the lender and not to the middle man who arranged the much “guaranteed” loan.
You can forward unsolicited email containing credit offers to spam@uce.gov.
 

Debt Relief
The Bait:
This is when the mails advertise themselves in a way that one can combine their bills into their monthly payment without even borrowing; or the stop credit harassments, foreclosures, repossessions, tax levies and garnishments; or pay off your credits.
The Take:
The offers, often involve a lot of bankruptcy proceedings, but rarely say so. The reason being, that it has a negative and at the same time a long term impact on your creditworthiness. A bankruptcy stays on your credit report for 10 years, and can hinder your ability to get credit, a job, insurance, or even a place to live. To top it off, you will likely be responsible for attorneys’ fees for bankruptcy proceedings.

Your Safety Net:
Try getting the main idea from the mails. Before actually resorting to the bankruptcy, get into a conversation with your creditors about arranging a modified payment plan, contact a credit counseling service to help you develop a debt repayment plan, or carefully consider a second mortgage or home equity line of credit. But you must take care that while a home loan may allow you to combine your debts, it may also require your home as security. And just in case you do not make your payments, you could unfortunately lose your home.
You can forward debt relief offers to spam@uce.gov.
 

Investment Schemes
The Bait:
The mails which promise one the “investments” and the high rates of return with little or no risk are the bait here. In one way it seeks the investors to form an offshore bank. In another way it is absolutely vague about the nature of the investment, and also the stress in the rates of return. The promoter’s sometimes publicize the high-level financial connections; and also the fact that they’re privy to information from within the body; also that they’ll give a guarantee on the investment; or again that they’ll buy it back. To stop the deal, they would often serve up phony statistics, and then misrepresent the significance of a current event, or stress the unique quality of their offerings.

The Take:
Most of the unsolicited plans are often a good investment for the advertisers, but not so for the ones taking part. Promoters of fraudulent investments operate a particular scam for a short time, close down before they can be detected, and quickly spend the money they take in. Here, they might open an account in a new name, and also by selling another  

Investment scam.
Your Safety Net:
Take as much time in understanding the offer as the higher the promised return then the higher is the risk. Do not let an advertiser put you under pressure into committing an investment before you are sure that it’s legal.
To understand and sign up for any investment offer, get yourself an attorney or an accountant who can help you understand.
In case of any scam spam, forward it with investment-related schemes to spam@uce.gov.