Business scams are more prevalent than mosquitos breeding in swamplands, more noxious than the end products of 43 un-toilet-trained toddlers, more hurtful than bashing your head with a hammer and other charming analogies.

PT Barnum said it best...there's a sucker born every minute. Your challenge is not to be that sucker! And here's how you'll learn. It's time for:

Before You Begin - Popular Business Scams

Lesley Fountain of Friends in Business has a most magnificent course catalog of common scams at Scams 101 Definitely visit this site - it's worth its weight in all the money you'll save by being an educated consumer.

Next, waltz on down to Entrepreneur.com and read their Green Eggs and Scams. Written from a business perspective, it contains nuggets useful for layfolk as well.

Other useful sites are:

• FTC Names Its Dirty Dozen: 12 Scams Most Likely to Arrive Via Bulk Email

• FTC Bizopt Scam Resources

In a nutshell, the most popular business scams are:

• MultiLevel Marketing

• Stuff envelopes at home

• Pay for anything regarding business leads

• eMail Processing

• Typing at home

• Send a dollar to these 5 people

• etc.

So how can you tell if something is a scam? Good question! It's time for:

Step 1 - Research!

The instant you consider a business opportunity, research it on the Internet. Go to Google for example and type in:

name of business scam

If folks have been scammed by it, it should be picked up! For example, try:

Quixtar scam

newest way to wealth scam

"nourish the children" scam

craft assembly scam

See how easy it is to research?

Next, you want to:

Step 2 - Post Your Questions

You're not alone on the Internet (not by a long shot!!). Find and participate in forums that will give you the low-down on business opportunities (for example, if you have a question about a business website, just post the URL and other contributors will comment).

Some boards to consider include:

• Friends In Business

• Entrepreneur's Success Board

• Work at Home Message Boards

• Bizy Moms Message Boards

After doing your due diligence, it's time for:

Step 3 - More Resources

There are bunches of places online that are dedicated towards erradicating scams. By all means, visit the following and enjoy.

• Urbans Legends Pages - lots of great facts regarding all sorts of scams and urban legends.

• Make Money Fast Hall of Humiliation - most amusing and educational

• Scambusters.org - over 100 different scams listed. Evil WIFI Twins was quite an eyeopener.

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