Learn to avoid scams

Trust me on this: No one overseas is interested in anything a person from Georgia is selling and NOT all Certified Bank Checks or Cashier's Checks are good. If someone wants you to deposit a check for a large amount and send them part of it and keep the rest for yourself, it is a SCAM. The same thing goes if they offer, or "mistakenly", make the check out for more than the price you are asking for and want you to send or give them cash back. It is a SCAM and you should just ignore the email.

Scammers close to home: Free advertising in most categories of the North Georgia Trader is for individuals only. Business may post one ad at no cost to mention their business. If you answer an ad for a vehicle or real estate and discovered the advertiser is with an Auto Dealer or Realitor, there is a good chance they are a scammer and someone you should not barter with. If a business or 'sell for profit' person is posing as an individual to avoid paying the North Georgia Trader a small fee, you can bet they do not plan to be fair with you.

When I started an online ad site my intentions were to provide the local area with a great place for individuals to buy, sale and trade. That is still my goal. The North Georgia Trader will never go the way of eBay. Advertisers and their merchandise must be in or within 50 miles of Georgia. However the www is World Wide and anyone, anywhere can access this site; therein lies most of the potential for scams. While scams can originate as close as the house next door, most online scams originate from overseas. The country Nigeria and West Africa comes up very often during discussions of online and email scams. While the North Georgia Trader is not responsible for any transactions made by persons advertising or visiting this web site, I do have the opportunity and means to inform you of possible situations.

Online Resources I could go on and on but there is no need to repeat here what is being said all over the Internet. If you want to learn more about online scams, how to avoid them, and whom to report scams to, here are a few links. A simple Google of online scams will produce thousands of results. Dateline© and other TV networks often do stories on different scams.

• Fake Check Scams National Consumer League's Internet Fraud Watch:
• Avoiding Cashier’s Check Fraud A Consumer Advisory by the US Government Treasure Department.
• Recognizing and Avoiding Email Scams Information from US-CERT (United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team)
• Cashier Check Scam Snopes.com has an excellent article here.
• Nigerian Scam Another great article on Snopes.com
• Nigerian scams keep evolving Read this article on MSNBC.com
• OnGuardOnline.gov provides practical tips from the federal government and the technology industry to help you be on guard against Internet fraud, secure your computer, and protect your personal information.
• Federal Trade Commission(FTC) The FTC warns about "Check Overpayment" Scams
• Western Union's Web site Consumer Fraud Awareness
• Mostly Pet Scammers Known Scammers

More good reading. Here are some more links about fraud. http://www.midwestpetfinder.com/scam_email.htm

• United States Secret Service- Financial Crimes Division

If you find these or any links on this site no longer active, please let me know.

If you know of any good sites, sent me the link so I can check it out.

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