Scams, or "If its too good to be true..."

So I was watching CNN today, and they started talking about that Madoff guy, as he got a cool 150 years in jail. This got me thinking about scammers, and the scams they perpetrate. And it also got me thinking about the kind of people who get taken in by this kind of thing.

For those of you who don't know, Bernie Madoff ran what was essentially a Ponzi Scheme for decades. He got caught, and his 'investors' went from millionares to broke overnight. These 'investors' were drawn in by Madoff telling them that while everyone else was averaging 3-5% return annually on their funds, he was able to get 10% returns. Really? Double the return of anyone else out there? And no one thought, "Gee, maybe there's something a wee bit fishy about this?" The only people in that mess I have sympathy for are the people who were sent to Madoff by investment agencies that thought he was gold, and didn't do their research.

But there are other, more blatant scams out there, and I have literally no sympathy for the people who fall for such crap. If you have an email account, you've likely gotten one of the following messages before:

"A rich oil sultan in Saudi Arabia wishes to transfer money to the US. I have been asked to find someone to help us facilitate this transaction..."

"Congratulations, you just won the Nigerian National Lottery! Please send us your bank information so we can deliver your winnings!"

"My husband just died, and I wish to devote his monies to improving the lives of people like you..."

There are many others, of course, but 99% of the scams out there are so blatantly obvious, you have to be a complete idiot to get taken in by them. News flash, people! There's no such thing as getting something for nothing. Practice a bit of healthy skepticism, do your research, and never give out your information!