While we are trying to idenfy fraudulent schemes in this forum, it would also be good if we try to come up with a survival guide on how to avoid getting scammed. The guide should be in layman's term so that everyone can understand. Let us start the ball roling.

Secure your PC. Install the necessary anti phishing and anti spyware applications. While these applications can help you catch "intruders", it always pays if you stay vigilant and practice safe surfing.

I don't think installing antispyware and anti phishing applications will stop scammers from scamming you. I'm not even sure if you know what the word scam mean. Anyway, to avoid getting scammed you should not pay any programs. You should never pay for work.

Antispyware and anti phishing applications will not stop scammers from scamming you. But these tools will help you avoid falling prey to the hands of scammers. I suspect you have not been involved in any get paid programs (not free) that is why you don't know what you are talking about. Why don't you get yourself a payment processor and observe emails you receive. This is one way you will come to know what phishing is all about. Believe what emails would tell you to do like you need to reset your password. Or if you would like to learn more by experience why don't you allow trojans to lurk in your PC . After you do the above, I am sure we we will have a common idea later of what a scam is really all about.

Avoiding being scammed is really easy I think, just don’t give out specifics. If somebody ask you about something personal that’s not really necessary in the forum why give it away? Spywares only help you detecting viruses I think but not scammers so, never give out any specific details about yourself to be safe.

I agree with the idea of igauresh. We should be vigilant and careful enough not to give personal information to other especially if we don’t know them personally. It’s the simplest means to shun away from the danger of being scammed.

installing an anti-spyware program may help. I suggest Ad-Aware. It's so good in removing spywares that might steal your personal information like passwords. also, be extra careful when dealing with transactions. when they ask money from you, then you should think twice because it may be a scam.

To avoid being scammed we can follow few simple steps.

a) Don't rush after a scheme/plan offered to you by strangers. Be negative in this regard to avoid loosing whatever resources you have.
b) If you are really interested in a product/ marketing scheme then please do a thorough search in any search engine to get more information on it.
c) Try to know the person with whom you are dealing.

As most of us look for better opportunities there will be risks also. Unless we try things out it becomes difficult to know which one is genuine. As a safety measure we can try to know as much as possible about the product/seller before going through with the process of transferring money.

Well I think you should do business with those whom you know well and also you can trust them. Never deal with stranger person. Also not hoping big money deal because it turnes into scam. Check addresses when you got mail from any company or payment prossesor. Always check site info with whois.com