RIP-OFF ALERT: The FTC has announced the largest-ever bust of telemarketers as part of its “Operation Tele-PHONEY.”

Here’s the scoop: Scammers were trying to sell people all kinds of things over the phone, from advance fee loans to big savings on Rx to magazine subscriptions to household products for seniors. Though they were many independent telemarketers, the common thread here is that they all sought to get your checking account information. Once they had it, they would bill you and try to empty out your account.

The banking industry continues to have zero security in place for drafts on your account. A legitimate person trying to cash a hardcopy check will be put through the ringer at bank. But if you just have an account number and present a draft, they’ll pay it no questions asked. This is a true Achilles’ heel that can easily be exploited by criminals.

The takeaway is simple: Never give out your check routing number over the phone or on the web. Pay via money order if you’re dealing with a collection agency. Sure, you may pay a nominal fee to do so, but this is the only truly safe way to settle up your debt.

There's something brewing right now that Clark considers akin to a national scandal. The cell phone companies are in cahoots with rip-off artists and they're stealing your money. Here's the background: Do you recall back in the landline days when people were falling victim to "The Cram"? Phone companies would bill them for fake charges attributed to a "marketing" company. These bogus fees would pop up on a page of unregulated charges on a monthly bill. The phone companies would get a cut of the action when they teamed up with these 3rd party aggregators who initiated the charges. Many people would pay year after year without questioning because they were so confused by their bills.

Now this same garbage is popping up with cell phones. The cell carriers are doing courtesy billing for 3rd party crooks that push a variety of messaging services. And of course they're getting a cut of the money once again. People are getting burned in 2 ways, actually, because cell companies are also raising the cost of text messaging. This is a virtually free transaction for them, yet they're raising rates to as high as 20 cents/text message. People are being billed for messaging services they never signed up for. For example, Clark is getting spam text messages ads. The cell carriers love this -- especially if you're not on an unlimited texting plan -- because every spam message is more money for them. If the history of "The Cram" is any indication, the FCC probably won't get involved for several more years. So you must take the responsibility of reviewing your cellular statement page by page every month. Many people just get their bill charged to their credit card every month and never see a statement. Don't be one of them! Get a paper statement and scrutinize it. This is war. They think they can get away with stealing your money, but they can only do so if you allow it.

One scam that has become more sophisticated recently is the "pump and dump" scenario. In this scam, you will get a phone call, e-mail, letter, or fax offering you a tip about a hot stock. The tip is false! Many companies fall on hard times but fill out a public registration statement so that they can issue the stock to the people. They are worthless -- a "shell" company. Criminals will buy stock in such companies and put out false press releases, phone calls and e-mails about the investment opportunity. People will then buy this stock, and the price will rise. Then, the criminals sell their share for many more times what they paid. However, there was one "pump and dump" scam that was so over the top that the criminals got caught. In Florida, the criminals called and left voicemails around the country, pretending that the call was for someone else about an insider tip. So when you get information touting a hot stock, be on guard! You might just get scammed! Instead, Clark says you always have to do your homework and research a company thoroughly before investing.

Sprint manages to be at the front of the cell phone industry pack for the world’s worst customer service. Sprint has fired 1,000 customers because they asked for too much customer service! What kind of company fires customers because they want to talk to customer service too often for billing problems and technical problems? The real problem is that Sprint runs a lousy business—they are the only major cell phone company losing customers. If you call customer service too often for their taste, Sprint lets you out of your contract! So if you’re unhappy with Sprint and don’t want to pay the cancellation charge just call a lot for help and you’ll get dropped! This is your way to get rid of Sprint: by making them want to get rid of you.

One more trick of the trade: If the four major cell phone companies -- Verizon, AT&T (formerly Cingular), Sprint and T-Mobile – send you some legal mumbo-jumbo and try to change your contract, and you are unhappy with them, you can deny the new terms of service and get out of it without having to pay a penalty. On a related note, Clark says the new iPhone is absolutely neat. That’s mostly because Apple demanded to be in charge of the cell phone’s abilities. Apple went to the various carriers and demanded control over the phone. AT&T was the only one that took them up on the offer. However, Clark doesn’t like the iPhone contract AT&T insists that you sign.

Some older folks are getting ripped off by monopoly phone companies who still charge for leased telephones that date back more than 20 years. According to the Chicago Tribune, 750,000 households nationwide are still being billed for these leased phones, which probably don’t exist in the homes anymore. In addition, AT&T has been ripping off widows who leased these phones years ago and are still paying a monthly fee for them. Before the telephone companies broke up in 1983, people paid to lease telephones. Most of them were rotary phones that are obsolete now so most people have bought new phones. But some older people are still paying AT&T, BellSouth, Verizon and Qwest to rent a telephone they no longer use. If your parents are still living in the same house they did in 1983, check their phone bill for this charge and get it removed. Telephones cost a pittance these days. And for the companies still charging this bogus fee, Clark thinks you should be ashamed of yourselves.

For years, Clark has taken calls from people who have fallen victim to cram charges. These are phony charges applied to phone bills – usually businesses – that go undetected because bills are so hard to understand. Well, it turns out that the Gambino crime family has been behind this scam, according to the New York Times. Only in America could the mob get involved with local phone companies and add phony charges to your bill. The phone industry claims that FCC regulations require them to provide billing services for everyone who wants a phone in their home or business. But the local phone company has taken a big cut of this cramming action. Law enforcement claims that about a quarter of a billion dollars has been stolen. So, how did it work? In some cases, the mob sent out almost exact replicas of phone bills from made-up phone companies. For instance, the legitimate company may be Southwestern Bell. The phony bill, which looked almost identical, came from “Southwestern Bill,” and claimed that the company needed immediate payment or their phone service would be cut off. People got scared and paid. About a half a dozen people have been arrested. But the majority of the money was siphoned through the local phone companies, which allowed the charges to go through. So, you need to read your bill each month and challenge charges that don’t look right to you. If you see “unregulated charges,” it’s a red flag that could indicate you are being charged unnecessarily. Don’t just accept what they send you.

Clark often reports on ripoffs going on in the consumer world. Today, he has a Top 10 list of scams, schemes and scandals, provided by the state regulators who watch over financial analysts and brokers. Drum roll please…. The No. 10 scam is variable annuities. If you don’t know what these are and you don’t have any, good. If you do, you don’t want to put any more money into these plans. They have massive commissions and are absolutely horrible for your wallet. No. 9 are scandalous mutual fund companies. No. 8 is Internet fraud. No. 7 are “high yield investment” scams. Some that Clark has received calls on involve exotic overseas investments that are a complete scam. Insurance agents who sell people bogus investments come in at No. 6. Most insurance agents are honest, but a number of them have been involved in very scandalous affairs. No. 5 are church ripoffs. Just because someone seems religious does not mean that person is on the up and up. At No. 4, phony brokers. Just because someone says something is going to be a great investment doesn’t mean it will. Promissory notes – or fake CDs – are No. 3. These are promises that someone will pay you later if you give them money. But there is no guarantee, and it’s not safe. No. 2 is any kind of scam against seniors. If you’re not involved in your parents’ finances, be nosy! And, the No. 1 scam in the U.S. involving your wallet are Ponzi schemes. These are schemes where criminals recruit people to pay back other people who have invested, and then you have to recruit someone once you’re in. Eventually, these collapse because there are no more people willing to “invest.” There a lots of people who will sell you sizzle, but that’s all it is.