Sweepstakes, lottery, and “money holding” scams come in all types, but the bottom line is almost always this: You've won, inherited, or are being asked to hold a whole lot of money, but in order to claim it you have to send a smaller amount of money back to the people from whom you received the notice. These kinds of scams often use foreign royalty, celebrities or other famous names to make their offer seem more genuine. If it's a sweepstakes or lottery notice, and you aren't sure, don't click on the link but instead go directly to the homepage of the company mentioned. If they are really giving away $1 million, there will be some kind of announcement on their website.

There are a lot of “secret shopper” scams, work-from-home scams, and other phony job offers out there, too. E-mails, websites and online applications all look very professional, and the candidate is even interviewed for the job (usually over the phone) and then receives an offer. In order to start the job, however, the candidate has to fill out a “credit report” or provide bank information for direct deposit of their “paychecks.” These forms are nothing more than a way to capture sensitive personal data such as Social Security numbers, bank accounts, etc.

Legitimate companies like Craigslist and Western Union are used for an inordinate amount of scamming these days—especially check-cashing scams. Here's how it works: Someone contacts you via a Craigslist posting, maybe for a legitimate reason like buying your old couch or perhaps through a scam like hiring you as a secret shopper. Either way, they send you a check for more than the amount they owe you, and they ask you to deposit it into your bank account and then send them the difference. A deposited check takes a couple of days to clear, whereas wired money is gone instantly. When the original check bounces, you are out whatever money you wired—and you're still stuck with the old couch.

In challenging economic times, many people are looking for help getting out of debt or staying out of foreclosure. Unfortunately, almost as many scammers appear to take advantage of these desperate situations. Some sound like a government agency, or even part of the Better Business Bureau or other non-profit consumer organization. Most ask for an up-front fee to help you deal with your mortgage company or the government (services you could easily do yourself for free), and almost all leave you in more debt than when you started.

We'll talk about a few other types of scams in next week's column, including a newer tactic known as “phone cramming” that has already drawn the attention of some powerful members of the United States Senate.