Today more people than ever are being approached by scammers, it could be by email, telephone,mail, or even door to door sales. Some like the Nigerian scam are pretty easy to spot, most everyone has gotten the fake emails from Paypal with the bad spelling and poor English. But scammers are getting better all the time and some scams may be a little harder to spot than others. There are two things that all scams have in common and that is they will either appeal to your heart or to your wallet! This hub profiles just a few of the scams out there. But being alert and on guard will go a long way towards ensuring your safety, and in this day and age you simply can't afford to not be informed.

The pyramid scheme probably the best known scam has existed for at least a century. And something that everyone should be aware of is that it's also illegal. Structured like a pyramid. It starts with one person - the initial recruiter - who is on top, at the apex of the pyramid. This person recruits a second person, who is required to "invest" $100 which is paid to the initial recruiter. In order to make his or her money back, the new recruit must recruit more people under him or her, each of whom will also have to invest $100. If the recruit gets 10 more people to invest, this person will make $900 with just a $100 investment.

Probably the 2nd most well known scam is the Nigerian scam which originated in Nigeria and involves a money transfer scam.

With the Nigeria scam you will usually receive an email or sometimes a fax from a very polite person asking your help in transferring a large amount of money. Their excuses vary but it's usually that they need your help with the transfer because of war or a corrupt government trying to get it's hands on their money and in return for your help they will promise you a large amount of money. They will then ask you for your bank info which is the worst possible thing that you could do.It always amazes me that in this day and age people are still being scammed by the Nigerian scam, but it does happen and the consequences for the victims can be financially devastating.

Remember there is no such thing as free money!

You will receive an email seemingly from the IRS that notifies you of an audit on your tax return. The unusual thing about this email is how official it looks, many times it will actually be addressed to you by name (because of the sheer volume of emails sent, the typical scam e-mail is not personalized.)

Charity scams usually see a surge after a natural disaster such as Hurricanes or Earthquakes.So how can you avoid them?

First you will receive a call from someone claim to be a Visa or Master Card rep. He then asks if you authorized a purchase, and if you didn't he will go on to say that your card number was stolen. He then advises you that he can help you to cancel the card and have the charges removed and all that you need to do is to confirm your credit card number.

* It's better to be safe than sorry. If something sounds to good to be true it probably is!

* If you feel your life has been threatened contact your state/local Police immediately!

* Never let someone into your home unless you're 100 % sure of who they are!

*Always be on guard and never give out personal information over the phone.

* Never respond to emails asking for your personal info.