I've often heard about these kinds of e-mail scams. But what I experienced was not anonymous like these e-mails from Nigeria. I was one of the thousands affected by a ponzi scheme, one of the largest and oldest. I'd never even heard the term ponzi till it was all over and done with. The man who headed it up was someone I had known since the late seventies, long before meeting my husband. He was the type to always remember a birthday or hand write a thank you card. He was known worldwide as the creator of very famous "boy bands". So this was not an e-mail in the night, this person or "his" bands were EVERYWHERE. Thankfully he was eventually stopped and is doing jail time. But my mothers inheritance to me (which she invested with this person) is gone. I also took a loan to buy more "stocks/shares" in a company that anyone who didn't live under a rock in Tibet had heard or heard about. For YEARS I received monthly updates on how well this company (later finding out that it wasn't just one company but MANY) was doing. The groups were all over TV, on the radio, even in the supermarket speaker system as I bought my vegetables....this was a successful venture. I had gotten in on the ground floor - it could only go up, right? This tale does not have a happy ending. I'll spend the rest of my life paying off the loan I took out, but many seniors put up their entire retirement funds with the promise that their funds were guaranteed by our government. Our government had nothing to do with any guarantees. So these folks have needed to go back to work when all that they had already worked for and saved had been squandered irretrievably.

I am living in the moment. I have a roof over my head and enough food to feed my family. I do not have the money anymore to be able to send my kids to college. But today, right here, right now, I am still here.

Maybe the woman 'did all the right things' on researching before cashing the check, BUT my first question would be, Did YOU enter the Australian lotto? You don't just up and win a lottery without BUYING a ticket or something to show you entered the lottery. How can you think you won something like the lotto if you did nothing to enter. Just like the IL lottery...you can't win if you don't buy a ticket.

I'm sorry that people are being conned on line but on the lottery scam whatever happened to ..."if you didn't enter a lottery or buy a lottery ticket you can't be a winner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

larose50 ... I toally agree and just posted the same comment! I enter contests online by reputable companies/sites and I know what I've entered and I've n ever been scammed. And I certainlly wouldn't fall for a lottery scam. So many sites have contests, such as Oprahs site even and other magazine websites so I know what I'm entering.

Hi,

I really enjoyed today's show on scam artists. I am a Nigerian(American citizen)living in Chicago.I get scam emails on a daily basis and it amazes me when I hear that people fall for these scams.

It is very easy to detect a scam from the grammar of these guys which is so low.Their spellings and sentence construction are so bad.A serious institution such as the Central Bank or any other bank must have its' outgoing mail well edited to fit its' status.And for those scams that say you are going to be named as a beneficiary of a late billionaire and then share the booty 50/50,one doesnt need a soothsayer to show what it really is.Tell them to use their friends or relatives as beneficiaries.

And for eBay and Craigslist scams,anything that looks too good to be true is something to run away from eg. a 2008 Honda accord (no flaws and low mileage)which was advertised for $8000 when the original price is about $22,000.

I hope we will all try and fight these wicked fools who are just out to destroy innocent people.Good luck to us all!

I would like the entire country to hear this story and know the pain that I am going through right now with local scam artist.

I am a current victim of a scam artist in Charlotte,NC and this is not the email scam. I was scam out of believing a fake moving company packing up my entire househood material and store it for next day delivery. We settled on a flat fee of $300.00 because they claim they had a special for 3men and a truck for $70.00hr. They spent only 2hrs which was $140 and the rest was the overnite storage and delivery at my new residence. The next day, when I got ready for my property, this alleged 'Carolina Moving Consultant then began to request more money from me. Then he called me to tell me that balance $200.00 was not going through on my credit card. I called the credit card company to check and was told this guy had tried 3 transactions for $900,$760 and $500 which were all declined. I requested that he deliver my properties and we could complete the transaction and he refused; asking for 700.00 more before he could release my things to me. I called the cops and they spoke with this Terry Earl guy on the phone and asked that he return my belongings. He agreed to returned my things but he only returned few items keeping my 42inc Panasonic HDTV ;32inc RCA TV; 36x36 inc antique mirror and 4boxes of new lady shoes I had purchased to sell. When I talk this guy about my things, he began asking me for blank checks or other credits that he could charge or withdraw money from. This incident occured on Nov 29,2008 and as of today's day Dec 4th, my property is still in his possession and the cops will not take any action because they claimed it is a civil matter. This 'Carolina Moving Consultant go around and put business cards around offering low rates due to the recession and once you have intrusted them with your property, the mover-Terry- then seize your property requesting for more money before he can deliver them. I have checked the North Corolina Secretary of State website and that business doesnot exit. In fact,they card my credit card through a beauty salon. Please, Oprah I want the entire country to hear this story. I donot want this to happen to any other singel Mom with 3 small childen. My kids had to go to school wearing the same clothes becuase this man will not deliver our belongings.

Find a scam.

Hop on board.

Be vulnerable.

Give more than you can afford.

Save to give.

Work real hard.

They want what you got.

License to steal greeting card.

They'll get you with spam.

They don't care how.

They hide the scam.

The illusion is now.

Takes money to make money.

Takes money to lose money.

Scammers steal what they can

without a care for their fellow man.

by Jim McClintock

what was the web site that them gave out to see if my name was in a scam?

Also be very leery of the Craigslist scams in the rental housing section. They often entice you buy having a very low rent amount for a property that would rent for double that amount, which is red flag number one and when you reply the scammer indicates that they had to leave their home because they are a minister working in West Africa and they will have to conduct all transactions by fedex or wire transfer. I have received 4 nearly identical emails between CA and NV that state the same thing. It seems that the internet is both a blessing and a curse.

I think it is sad that there are people out there that believe stuff like this. I am sent at least 5 different scams everyday, things from winning GBP's to wanting to use my information for whatever reasons. I do not pay attention to anything of any magnatude, where other people from other parts of the world want my personal information. If people are that gulable then sorry to say they deserve to loose whatever it is they will loose.

Hello, thank you for your inquiry. Information from this show can be found on the show's information page. I'll include a link here for your convenience:

http://www.oprah.com/dated/oprahshow/oprahshow_20070413

I hope this is helpful. Have a nice day!

-HarpoBear, Oprah.com Community Producer

I am being scammed even as we speak! I can not get a reply of any kind from the Acai co. in which when I saw it on the Oprah site I ordered the trial size for the shipping price of $4.95 but was charged 44.95. I after holding on the phone for 56 min. got an answer and told them how unsattisfied with the co. I was and to make sure that I was canceled from any further deliveries. I was sent an e-mail of my cancelation on 11/23/08 but now I am overdrawn in my account with charges from this co. of $39.95 + $36.00 od + other transactions that were no good and charged more od fees! Please HELP!!!!!!!!!!

Regena

Hello, thank you for your inquiry. We're sorry to hear you're having this problem. There are many companies out there that say a product was 'featured' on The Oprah Winfrey Show. If you cannot find it listed on Oprah.com, then it is not a product featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Here is some information that has been posted on Oprah.com regarding scams:

What The New Scam Artists Don't Want You to Know: http://www.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/200704/tows_past_20070413.jhtml

Oprah Scams: http://www.oprah.com/email/email_scam.jhtml

Please know we hope good things for you.

-HarpoBear, Oprah.com Community Producer

How on earth can people be so gullible to fall for these scams "you have won some thing you haven't entered in " or you have a long lost relative. come on people wake up there is nothing for free in this world, I get those letters from nigeria and fed ex and other companies say if they send me a check will I cash it and they will refund me, PLEASE do me a favor. the first thing I do is span them. never send anyone no matter what your money with the promises that they will send you money back .

My sister was scammed out of several thousands of dollars and actually has attempted suicide three times since her husband died. She met the man known as "Ron Micheal" through my space or a dating website. This man had her sending money to Nigeria to him with the promise that he needed money for a plane ticket or one of many other stories of what he needed money for. My sister has some behavioral health issues and almost lost everything. I took control of her finances and have kept her from losing everything she has. I tried to trust her with just her grocery money and she even went so far as to send him all of her grocery money except for $50 in October of this year. I actually had to turn off her internet to stop her from talking to him because she doesn't have the strength to not talk to him even though she knows he is a scammer. Now I cannot trust her with any large amount of cash money for fear that she will send it to him. Has anyone else out there been scammed by a man known as Ron Micheal? His profile is on romancescams.com. You have to do a search on Ron Micheal. He tells his victims that he is a civil engineer and lives in Ford City Pennsylvania. He says that he is working in Nigeria building roads. He is a smooth talker and tells his victims that he loves them and that he is a Godly man looking for a trustworthy woman. Sincerely "Looking Out For My Sis"