I just finished reading an article on ScamBusters.org that really shook me to the core. Unfortunately, in this day and age, almost everyone has lost a family member or friend to cancer. When I read stories of people and families who struggle to battle this disease, my heart breaks—and that is exactly the reaction that some scammers hope to get.

The so-called "cancer fraud" scam works like this: A cancer-free person shares a story with the world that he or she has the disease and isn't financially stable enough to seek medical treatment. This dubious claim is targeted at churches, non-profit organizations and specific people to get money and gifts. Those of us who have lost a loved-one to the disease are good candidates that could fall victim to this type of scam. This rip-off is a hard to uncover, because scammers have found a way to forge records stating that they are sick. Not to mention, it's pretty hard to say, "I need proof that you really have cancer."

Con-artists who are capable of such a wicked offense, have found two effective ways of pulling off their scam. They may reach out to their community by asking for assistance and in return, they receive money and sometimes gifts. Or, they could choose to target their victims via email. The "Nigerian fee cancer emails"--often sent to religious organizations--state that a woman has cancer and needs assistance. The bonus is that she has millions of dollars set aside that she will send when she recovers!

So, how do you protect yourself from this type of scam, but still give to a cause that you care about? Ultimately, it is safer to give to a legitimate organization that helps cancer patients and their families than to give to an individual--whom you don't know--that is making the claim that he or she is ill. Many charities provide their mission and financial information to our office. Visit our our Check-a-Charity page to learn more. Secondly, if you receive an email suggesting you send money to an individual and in exchange they'll send you millions, be wary! This type of email is almost always a scam.

We often say that fears of online ID theft are overblown - that the old-fashioned way is still the most popular. By that I mean rummaging through garbage ("dumpster diving") and mailboxes, stealing purses and wallets, etc.

But people do use the Internet to steal identities - no doubt about it. The feds have made what they call their first arrest of an ID thief who used file sharing to get his info. This is a lesson to watch what all you make available to file-sharing programs on your computer, supervise your kids' activities online, and of course -- my mantra -- check your free credit report 3x/year to find out if you've been an ID theft victim.

Sorry, that headline was just too easy.

The help-wanted ad Web site has announced that hackers accessed the personal information of 1.3 million of its users. Interesting, Monster says the stolen data did not include what we refer to as "sensitive information" - that being Social Security, bank or credit card numbers. Instead, it was contact info - name, address, phone number, etc.

It's certainly an invasion of privacy that would make you feel uneasy, but it's hard for a thief to commit ID theft with just that information.

Still, it's a reminder that even the biggest Web operators are vulnerable, and your personal info is not safe. So I repeat my mantra: you must be watching for signs of ID theft. Check your bank and credit card statements at least monthly, and check your free credit report three times a year.

We write a lot about Internet scams for good reason. According to the Kansas City Star, U.S. consumers lost more than $7 billion in web scams last year. The article cites a recent Consumer Reports survey that indicates Internet phishing scams are on the rise.

Further, the study reveals that "zombie" spams are the source of many consumer complaints. The zombie spam is delivered and hides deep in personal computers. When the victim opens an attachment that seems to be as innocent as a picture file, the spam software can take control of your computer. The statistics can be overwhelming; for instance, you face a 1 in 4 chance of being a "cyber victim." But that isn't where the story has to end. You can defend yourself from viruses and phishing scams by installing software to block such spyware. Always remember not to open attachments and emails from companies and people you don't know. Most importantly, continue to check sites like this blog to keep up on all the latest scams.

Missouri consumer writes:

What is the Email of the Federal Trade Commission? I received a very bad email and I want to report them. How do I go about this? In my email software, when I click to designate an Email as Spam, does that get permanently get rid of it?

The federal government wants e-mail scams sent to the Internet Crime Complaint Center. This is a federal agency that monitors consumer complaints about online scams and fraud and looks for patterns to track down the crooks.

As for your question about designating spam, that will depend on your software and the cleverness of the spammer. E-mail programs let you block an entire address or even parts of an address - for example, you could block any address with the word "sex" in it. But if I'm a clever spammer, I'll send mail from lots of different addresses, so I'll have a good chance of getting through -- at least the first time.

Two posts earlier I told you I got an e-mail from a work at home scam, where I was invited to supplement my income by working with a consulting business. My guess was it would either be an ID theft scam or an overpayment scam. Both are still candidates. I told the scammer I was very interested. Here's what I got back. (By the way, he obviously doesn't read this blog - he's in Poland or so he claims.)

He greeted me with a nice note thanking me for my interest and touting his high-quality company. Then he got down to business (my comments in caps):

You will accept funds coming as a payment for our Services as: - payment to your bank accounts (TRANSLATION: I WILL RAID YOUR BANK ACCOUNT) - cashier's check/money order (TRANSLATION: I WILL SEND YOU BOGUS CHECKS, BUT YOU'LL PAY ME BEFORE YOU CATCH THAT) After the funds are received and cleared you will forward them to our payment credentials minus the appropriate fees. You get your 8%. It means that if you withdraw and cash out $1000 you get $80 and send us $920.

He then asked for my bank account and routing number, which I won't give him. Moral of the story is to be very suspicious of work-at-home offers. You need to talk to real people who have had success before you get involved.

And when you give out bank or credit card information to a stranger, expect them to use it.

You may have seen this email that's been making the rounds for several years:

Cell Phone's - Reminder about deadline REMINDER ..10 days from today, all cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sales calls. .....YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone: 888-382-1222 . It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a minute of your time. It blocks your number for five (5) years. You must call from the cell phone number you are wanting to have blocked. You cannot call from a different phone number. HELP OTHERS BY PASSING THIS ON TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS OR GO TO: http://www.donotcall.gov/

This is a hoax, but at least it's a hoax with good intentions.

As the Federal Trade Commission explains, there are no plans for cell phone numbers to be turned over to telemarketers. Having said that, there's nothing wrong with signing up for the national Do Not Call registry, which is run by the FTC.

FYI, we are trying for the umpteenth year in a row to allow you to register your cell phone number on Missouri's No Call list, which is enforced by our office. The legislature has yet to make that change, however.

A Missouri consumer writes:

Several years ago I had made an offer to settle a debt for less than the amount the bank claimed I owed. The bank accepted the terms of my offer. Recently I received a phone call from a debt collection company claiming that I owed the balance the bank had previously agreed to write off. What recourse to I have, under state and/or federal law?

Hopefully you got this agreement with the bank in writing. If so, send copies to the debt collector. Remember that this debt may also appear on your credit reports, so check there too. If it does, initiate a dispute and send a copy of the agreement to the credit bureaus. When you check your credit report, you'll see dispute instructions. If you don't have it in writing, your job will likely be harder. Debt collectors are not teddy bears. But it's worth at least trying.

If plans A and B fail, you can file a complaint with our office. We have great success getting debt collectors off the backs of people who are incorrectly targeted.

The Federal Trade Commission offers a summary of your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Easier said than done. Observe the comments from this frustrated Missourian:

We were recently victims of I.D. theft. One of the ways they were able to use our credit card data on line was by obtaining our home mailing address. It is readily available from those "people search" data bases. Now, I know what you are going to say. I've removed our information from the data bases, only to have them show up again at a later date.

I must admit, I have never seen my credit card information online in a people search site. If someone has, let me know. Otherwise, this is a familiar story. You never know where your personal information is going to show up, and most of these outfits will tell you they're not violating any laws - because they simply post info that's already available to the public.

The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a consumer resource, has a good primer on how to opt out of these various lists.

The privacy battle is never ending: Attorney General Nixon last year shut down four operations that were selling customer cell phone calling records without permission.

Surely you've heard the commercials for freecreditreport.com - the one place not to go to get your free credit report (I'll explain in a minute).

For the second time in two years, the Federal Trade Commission went after and got a settlement with the company for implying that you get a free credit report from them. Actually, you do get one - but only after your buy something else.

Freecreditreport.com is run by Experian, one of the three national credit bureaus. They got in trouble and settled with the FTC for the same misleading marketing in 2005. They've had to pay more than $1 million in fines for this ad campaign, which has convinced a lot of consumers that they are the place to go for a free report.

As for truly free credit reports, there is only one place to get them with no strings attached. Here are the instructions.

This is starting to become a springtime tradition. I warned last week about this scam, and now we're starting to get consumer complaints on it.

Con artists are calling Missouri consumers claiming to be from the IRS, asking for verification of Social Security numbers. Make no mistake: this is not the IRS calling. This is a scam. Attorney General Nixon issued a consumer alert on it today.

This scam also happens via e-mail. Here's a sample.

#1 rule of thumb with ID theft: never give our your personal information to anyone who contacts you. Only give it out when you have initiated the contact.

To mark Valentine's Day, here's an item that goes to show you can get ripped off doing just about anything — including looking for a date online.

If you're getting to know that special someone on a dating Web site and you hear sob stories and an eventual request for money, look out. I personally took a call from a consumer a couple of years ago who was convinced she had met (though never in person) her soul mate. The man claimed to live in another country and wanted to move to Missouri to marry her... after he bribed an African government to get his kids released from captivity. Naturally, he needed some of her money to pay the bribe. I couldn't convince her it was a scam.

Never heard the outcome of that story, but good chance he broke her bank account as well as her heart.