How Not to Get Conned Out of Your Money

Like my blog? Sign-Up for a FREE newsletter! OR Give a ‘Like’ to my FaceBook Page

“A good deal of tyranny goes by the name of protection” ~ Crystal Eastman

This guest article was written by Adrienne Carlson

Making enough money and being able to save some of it is a big thing in today’s economy, what with all the jobs that are being lost and the investments that are going down the drain. So imagine your plight if you end up being conned out of your hard-earned money. In today’s world, it’s not just enough to know how to earn money, spend it wisely, and save some of it for a rainy day; you also have to know how to protect it from fraudsters who are out to scam you out of your dough. In order to keep your money in your account and prevent it from falling into the wrong hands, here’s what you need to do:

How Not to Get Conned Out of Your Money

• Keep your credit and debit cards carefully: It’s easy to steal money from people who are not careful with their credit and debit cards and their PIN numbers. Thieves who are on the lookout know how to skim credit card numbers and use them to perpetrate online fraud and use your account to purchase goods and services. If your cards are stolen or lost, report them immediately so that you’re not held responsible for their misuse. And teach your children too how to use credit and debit cards wisely.

• Check all your bills: Check each receipt for your credit card before you sign it and ensure that you check your statement every month before you pay your bill. If you know for sure that you are being billed wrongly, file a complaint well in advance so that you sort out the matter before it becomes too complicated. And keep your receipts so that you can cross-check them with your statement at the end of each month.

• Never get greedy for “free” money: This is one of the biggest ways people get scammed – in case you receive an email or text message claiming that you’ve won the lottery and that all you have to do is provide your bank information, delete it at once. Once you give out your account number, you will be asked to pay a certain amount of money as “processing fees” before you can receive the larger amount. And since you want the jackpot, you don’t mind paying out the smaller amount, and this is how you get conned out of your money. Be very wary of people who ask you to pay upfront for providing you with a service or just getting a prize to you.

• Don’t give out sensitive information: It’s not wise to give out even seemingly innocuous information like your date of birth and your mother’s maiden name to strangers or even put these up on your social network pages. If any information out there could be used to hack into your bank or email accounts, remove them at once, even if there is just a tiny possibility of this happening. You can never be too careful living in a world that is always connected and where your money can be stolen without guns and holdups.

This guest article was written by Adrienne Carlson, who regularly writes on the topic of online executive mba programs. With a background in journalism, Adrienne brings both her background in writing and passion for business and entrepreneurship which she obtained from University of Houston to her feature pieces at Executive MBA programs. Adrienne welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: adrienne.carlson1@gmail.com

Moneyhacker thoughts: I believe people who are rich generally have well understanding on how to protect your money and that is the reason they are being rich and rich more! What is your opinion on that?

Picture: Henrique Vicente

About Guest Writer
This post was written by a guest writer. If you’d like to add a guest post in Money Hacker, please check out Write for Us page for details about how YOU can share your knowledge with our community.