Clark wants to reiterate his warning about the dangers of criminals targeting the accounts of small and medium-sized businesses.

These types of businesses aren't large enough to have an IT department, but their high level of cash flow makes them appealing to cyber-thieves -- many of them based in Eastern Europe.

Small businesses need to take special care because of how they're treated under the Uniform Commercial Code.

The UCC dictates that small businesses may be held partly or totally responsible if their lines of credit or accounts are compromised.

Isn't it odd that the very businesses that are the backbone of our economy are left unprotected?

The consumer champ has two key takeaways to help small business owners and entrepreneurs protect their accounts:

• Go to your bank and have them put a block on wire transfers from your business account(s). Citibank has already set up a procedure where its customers can block wires to foreign banks, according to Forbes. But Bank of America will not permit a business to block this. So you may want to consider moving your business accounts away from Bank of America.

• Have a dedicated computer that you use solely for the purpose of accessing your financial accounts. No surfing the web on your dedicated computer. No e-mailing. No visiting Facebook, MySpace or Twitter. This is the cheapest insurance Clark can suggest.

Forbes also has some additional recommendations to help avoid online scams that can lead to your account being compromised:

• Look for the logo of your bank being in odd place on the webpage. This is a tell-tale sign.

• Do not open links from an e-mail.

• Use a Mac for accessing your business accounts.

The insurance industry is revamping variable annuities into an even worse deal to protect itself from any future market turbulence.

When you buy a variable annuity, you buy an insurance product where you invest in something like mutual funds. If your holdings go down and you die, your heirs receive a payout equal to what you put in. As variable annuities have gotten more complex over the years, it's sometimes possible to redeem the money before dying.

Some people were able to work the system beautifully with last year's market collapse. In fact, certain insurers were forced to seek bailout funds to stay alive when they had to make good on their promise of making investors whole again.

Now the insurance industry is dialing back the benefits and raising the costs on variable annuities to prevent a repeat of what drove them to insolvency, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Instead of opting for a variable annuity, Clark prefers that people look at plain vanilla index funds.

The annual management fees associated with a variable annuity can be as much as 30 times what you'd pay for an index fund. Moreover, most index funds can be sold relatively quickly with no penalty. Not so with your average variable annuity. Some even have a 10 percent surrender charge for exiting out of your contract before 10 years.

So why do people buy variable annuities at all? Because they are sold as a magician's illusion by a salesperson who tells you that you can't lose -- and nets a monstrous commission in the process. That's why you often hear Clark say that variable annuities are "sold, not bought."

There's not a day that goes by without another a story about a Ponzi scheme or investment scam.

The latest one to catch Clark's attention involves the theft of $80 million from those conned into believing they were investing in ultra high profit ATMs. The alleged con-men said they had high-traffic locations that would be profitable and promised a large return on investment on each machine.

When investors asked where the ATMs were located, they were typically told about locations that were across the country. The scheme went on for three years because early investors were paid with money from later investors. Of course, no Ponzi scheme can last forever; it eventually collapsed on itself.

Remember, be wary whenever you're promised an opportunity with great return on investment without risk. There is no such thing. Low risk always has low return. High risk has the potential for high return or the equally likely possibility that you'll lose all your money.

If you want safe, stick with CDs and earn two percent or less!

RIP-OFF ALERT: Clark has a trio of Ponzi scheme stories to share with you today.

First, The Wall Street Journal reports $250 million was swiped in an investment scheme to sell telecommunications services to Las Vegas casinos. The promoters convinced those who didn't have money to refinance their homes and cash out in order to buy into this "can't lose" opportunity. People were wiped out, many of them senior citizens.

In this particular scam, the promoters would buy lists of people who were 50 and older from data-mining companies and then invite them to investment seminars. People would turn over their life savings and lose it all.

"Rather than having a comfortable retirement like we thought we'd have," one senior told The Wall Street Journal, "we're living pension check to pension check."

The second Ponzi scheme involved a fellow who stole $52 million from people by promising returns of 35 percent every 90 days in other investments, according to The Los Angeles Times.

Now, stop for a moment and consider this: Savings is earning around two percent. Stocks typically return nine or 10 percent in good cycles. So how in the world could anything return 35 percent every 90 days?!

The Los Angeles Times also had a separate story about another scam that netted $35 million from people. In this one, unsuspecting investors were told they would earn monthly returns of 14 percent paid out ever quarter by getting into government-guaranteed loans.

Here's what you should know: "Can't lose" opportunities promising more than nine or 10 percent are either unbelievably risky or completely a scam. If you want "safe," stick with bank CDs and money market funds.

And finally, don't buy what you don't understand!

A new survey from BankRate.com finds that customers of giant monster mega-banks are being hit with a triple whammy when it comes to ATM fees, checking account fees and overdraft fees.

• The typical fee to use an ATM as a non-customer is now $3.54.
• The typical monthly checking account fee is $12.55.
• Overdrafts fees on accounts can be between 2,500 percent and 3,250 percent!

Of course, the responsibility ultimately comes back to you. Giant banks don't force you to be their customer. If you're getting ripped off with a giant bank, it should be your mission to fire those "banksters."

There are many fine people in the banking business, especially at community banks and credit unions. Both do a great job for the customer. The one drawback is that they may not have branches coast-to-coast like the giant banks.

Second, know that there are many offers for truly free checking accounts with online banks, community banks and credit unions. Don't believe the giant banks when they promise you free checking that's actually known as "fee checking" in the lingo of the industry.

And on the issue of overdrawing, it is your responsibility to know what you have in your account. This can be tricky with auto debits and other drafts if you're not on top of your bank register. But the responsibility does come back to you.

After all, giant banks can't rip you off with 2,500 percent charges on an overdraft if you don't overdraw your account in the first place!

RIP-OFF ALERT: A sophisticated identity theft ring responsible for $1.5 million in thefts has been cracked by federal prosecutors, according to The Los Angeles Times.

Some 53 alleged criminals posed as bank representatives via e-mail or over the phone to get otherwise savvy victims to divulge personal account information. The info was then used to empty out bank and brokerage accounts. A part of the $1.5 million stolen was routed overseas to Egypt, where another 47 un-indicted co-conspirators remain at large.

This is one of the unintended consequences of dealing with such large organizations today. We don't know who we're doing business with. So unless you're being contacted by an employee who you have longstanding personal experience with, don't divulge any sensitive information. Clark instead recommends calling your bank or brokerage house and asking them if they really requested any updated info on the account.

Keep in mind that banks are duty bound to restore your funds in the event of a breach. However, there is no similar law requiring the restoration of money for a brokerage or mutual fund account.

So if you have a meaningful amount of money in a brokerage house, check your account several times a week. Executive producer Christa and her husband avoided financial Armageddon this way when a hacker targeted their account.

RIP-OFF ALERT: The Federal Trade Commission has filed nearly 400 actions against scammers promising people easy access to their supposed share of the $787 billion stimulus law.

More than 270,000 businesses and individuals are believed to have already fallen prey to offers of "free government grant money" that can allegedly be used for bills, travel, education, health care and more.

Among the organizations targeted were Grant Connect, LLC; Grant Writers Institute and its telemarketers; and a robocall and website operation working under the name "Cash Grant Institute." Of course, the FTC's reproaches are really just a slap on the wrist. It's not as if they'll result in any jail time for the perpetrators.

Come on, people. Do you really think Uncle Sam has money burning a hole in his pocket for you?! Don't fall for it.

Have you seen former child actor Gary Coleman doing late night TV ads for a company called CashCall?

Coleman's endorsement legitimized the company in the eyes of some consumers -- even though CashCall's loans were issued at 139 percent interest for a term of three years.

Who gets up in the morning and says, "I want a three-year loan for 139 percent interest?!"

Actually, it turned out the Diff'rent Strokes star was himself indebted to the company and filmed the ads in exchange for loan forgiveness!

The attorney general of the state of California has now fined CashCall $1 million for misleading ads and using loan shark tactics to collect debt.

CashCall had been advertising loans at 36 percent interest with mice type on the TV screen stating that the rate only applied to active duty military personnel.

In addition, the company would talk about personal financial info to borrowers' neighbors, bosses and co-workers in an effort to shame people into paying.

Finally, there were threats of wage garnishment without going through the standard legal routes to obtain garnishment.

The moral of the story here is that you've got to use your own good judgment before you get into trouble. Nobody will just hand you money at a good rate with no questions asked.

Do you give any companies the right to draft your checking account for a monthly bill? It could be a utility company, a health club, a mortgage lender, your cable service, a cell provider or any other business.

Once your contract with them ends, that business may continue to make monthly debits via Automated Clearing House (ACH) from your account. Giving authorization to regularly draft an account is an open-ended arrangement, regardless of your contract.

Getting that money back can be a grueling process. The problem with ACH payments is that there are no consumer protection statutes governing what happens if you're cheated on purpose or in error.

The New York Times reports one consumer had a real nightmare with a car loan. The note was paid in full, yet the loan servicer continued to take monthly payments! The customer's own bank was no help and it was a fight every month to get the money back.

So what's the solution? Use electronic bill pay that you set up so you can shut it down anytime you want. That's the distinction between e-bill pay and traditional ACH payments. The former you control, the latter is out of your control.

And never allow a health club to draft your checking account. We've had more complaints about this industry than any other on the show.

Remember last year's successful hack of an ATM network? We're not talking about a single machine being compromised by crooks using a card skimmer. We're talking about an entire network of 2,200 Citibank-branded ATMs at 7-Eleven stores being hit!

The crooks captured possibly millions of card numbers, which allowed them to take about $2 million from ATMs using duplicate cards.

Now The Financial Times of London has a sobering report about points of weakness in our nation's ATMs.

It's important to realize that you can't prevent hacking en masse like this. So it becomes extremely important to check your bank statement every month.

Unfortunately, the number of people balancing their checkbooks has, as a rule, declined over time. It's become difficult to keep track with so many automated deposits and debits in modern life.

But this is a case where it pays to go back to basics. Try carrying a check register and writing down each transaction as you do it. Or if you use a smartphone, try a free app to help with your balance sheet. Finally, you can also sign up for the free Mint.com and let them track your spending by hooking directly into your account.

The banks are so powerful that you lose if you delay bringing a fraudulent transaction to their attention in a timely manner.

Consider the inequity: If you mistakenly get a credit to your account, your bank has an unlimited number of years to take the money back from you. Yet if it's a debit in error or by fraud, it's incumbent on you to report it in 60 days or you're out the money.

Charles Schwab has been sued by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for misrepresenting auction rate securities to investors, according to The Washington Post.

Auction rate securities were sold very heavily by just about everyone, including Merrill Lynch, Citibank, UBS, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan Chase and Wachovia. They were typically pitched as a "safe as cash" substitute to savings accounts and money-market accounts.

Schwab brokers told customers they could easily liquidate their auction rate securities at any time. But many investors found themselves stuck with their holdings when the big banks stopped buying auction rate securities during the credit freeze.

Many of the companies involved in selling the securities have since made refunds to their customers that lost big money when they were unable to sell. Schwab has so far resisted any similar concessions, hence Cuomo's lawsuit.

The sad thing for "Chuck" is that no matter what happens in court, they've already lost in the court of public opinion.

Clark has a simple rule that should protect you from getting burned on unsafe investments in the future: Know what you are buying. If you can't explain it to a fifth grader, don't buy it!

The theft of 130 million credit and debit card numbers by 28-year-old Albert Gonzalez of Miami has gotten so much press.

But Clark wants to take a contrarian spin on what's being called the largest identity theft of all time and explain why you shouldn't really be concerned!

Gonzalez and two unidentified Russians compromised the accounts of retailers like 7-Eleven and supermarket chain Hannaford Brothers, along with back-office merchant processors like Heartland Payment Systems.

Yet this is not a big deal for the average credit card holder. If you find fraudulent charges on your statement, just dispute those charges. The bank will already know about the security breach and just issue you a new card with a new number and you're done.

Debit card holders who may have been compromised will encounter more hassle. There are no ironclad protections for debit cards as there are for credit cards. Instead of the typical 60 days you have to dispute a credit card charge, you have 2 days to report fraudulent activity with a debit card. After that, it's your responsibility.

The real problem is true identity theft, where someone pretends to be you and opens new accounts in your name. That could easily be rectified if the banks used smart chip technology in cards. But they know it's cheaper to deal with cases of fraud on an individual basis than to overhaul the entire system.

Too bad.

RIP-OFF ALERT: The Sun Sentinel reports that con artists are calling people on the phone posing as credit card fraud investigators in an effort to steal sensitive account information.

The crooks often pretend as if they're calling to investigate a supposedly questionable charge that you may want to dispute. But as part of their inquiry, they'll ask you to verify that you are still in possession of your card. They'll instruct you to turn it over and read the three-digit security code on the back to them.

Don't do it! That's the key piece of info a crook needs to have an online shopping spree at your expense if they already have your credit card number.

Have you gotten a call like this and already divulged that security code? Call the telephone number on the back of your card immediately and explain the situation to them. Remember, your credit card company will never ask you for those three digits on the back of your card.

Sometimes you may get an automated call from your credit card company where they want to verify a charge on your account. Clark had this happen recently after he used his card to make a charitable donation.

They had left one number on his answering machine, but he wasn't familiar with that number. So he simply called the number on the back of his card to reach the fraud department. That's a surefire way to stay safe.

Remember back when the "can't lose" business opportunity of the 1990s was owning payphones? The monopoly local phone companies were getting out of the payphone business because they read the tea leaves about cell phone popularity. Their exodus paved the way for con artists to come in and market a variety of "dare to be rich" schemes.

Now so many people have rusting payphones sitting around their properties after this business opportunity proved to be a bust. The payphones were typically sold in groups of five for $19,000-$25,000. It was a big-time money loser.

Today we have the same scenario going on with foreign currency trading, which Clark sees as the modern equivalent of the payphone craze. You see the ads on the web and in infomercials. We're also getting a lot of calls on the show about currency trading.

Is there a legitimate business here? Yes, people do this for a living, but the risks outweigh the benefits for most people. Even if it's not a scammer you're dealing with, you're likely to get burned in this high stakes, high risk deal. It is the ultimate in speculation and the complete opposite of investing.

Dow Jones reports that institutional currency investors are getting out the game and individuals are getting in. When the professionals pull out, you know you'd better be wary. Think back to the payphones.

Yes, Clark knows the idea of currency trading really appeals to people who are afraid of the stock market and real estate and have grown tired of puny returns on CDs. But this is not gold. This is fool's gold.

RIP-OFF ALERT: The Securities and Exchange Commission has taken action against Prime Capital Services for allegedly operating free-lunch seminars designed to sell variable annuities to senior citizens.

In general, free-lunch seminars are extremely popular in Arizona, Florida and Nevada. Seniors in their late 70s to late 80s are usually targeted. During the event, a charming salesperson will typically come up to them and offer to schedule a free private consultation where the real sales pitch comes.

"[PCS] used free lunches as the low-tech bait for their high-scale scheme," according to a statement from the SEC. "These con men lured elderly and retired investors into purchasing highly unsuitable variable annuities, enriching themselves with commissions while ignoring the financial goals of their victims."

In other words, they get rich and your parents (or you) get poor.

Money put into a variable annuity is generally not accessible without penalty until 10 years after the origination date. That makes no sense for a senior who needs to be able to spend their money. If you ever get a free-lunch pitch, you should run the other way.

Remember, the most expensive meal you can ever have is a free one. It will result in the biggest case of indigestion you could ever have.

RIP-OFF ALERT: There's a new version of an old scam from the '90s that Clark wants you to know about. In it, consumer writer Greg Dawson of The Orlando Sentinel reports that people are contacted by phone and told they've won the Jamaican lottery.

The catch? You have to pay upfront to patriate your winnings to the United States. But there is no Jamaican lottery.

Years ago, there were mailings about similar lotteries supposedly originating in Canada, Germany, Australia and elsewhere. And people lost untold millions trying to get their "winnings."

"It's just an incredible amount of money that's coming down here," a rep from the U.S. Embassy in Kingston, Jamaica says. "We've got cases from Honolulu to Maine."

One New Jersey resident lost nearly $250,000 in this Jamaican lottery scam. This woman was a retiree and that was every penny she had. After being scammed, her disillusionment reportedly drove her to take her own life.

This scam has become so competitive in Jamaica that gangs are fighting and killing each other to get what are called "sucker" or "reload" lists of people to target in the United States.

Here's a simple rule: If somebody says you've won something, why are you paying money for it? Don't do it!

The key here is to be your own skeptic, be your own police officer. Don't let somebody sell into your desire for easy money. You'll just lose your dough and there's very little recourse after that.

Several months ago, Clark told you about R. Allen Stanford, a Texas businessman who allegedly stole $7 billion through the sale of off-shore CDs. These CDs were supposed to be ultra-safe and have higher returns than you could get elsewhere.

The money that people handed over to Stanford supposedly went into island accounts, like those at his self-operated Bank of Antigua. But the allegations are that it really just went into his pocket as part of a Ponzi scheme, according to The Wall Street Journal.

So far the feds have pinned $1.6 billion on Stanford himself. $1.1 billion is "completely unaccounted for," while another $5 billion has been "lost," according to the Justice Department.

And, remember, we're talking about a guy who had a fleet of jets. Not a single jet, a fleet!

Here's all you need to know: If you ever get a pitch about super-safe off-shore CDs, the odds are it's not gonna end well -- even if it is a legit opportunity.

The interest rate you're promised may get eaten up with currency fluctuations; the bank may go insolvent, in which case there's no FDIC to help out; or the promises could constitute an outright scam!

So be careful out there whenever you're promised higher rates than the market generally bears.

Years ago, a listener who happened to be a disgruntled bank employee shared a trade publication called Fee Income Report with Clark. In the pages of Fee Income Report, bankers would share tips about ways to take advantage of customers via fees.

Clark also learned from the publication that banks typically raise fees and change terms and conditions twice a year: Once during the summer (usually in August) and then again around Christmas.

Those are the 2 times of year when most people are out of their routine and focusing on family and vacation. Perfect times to stick you with a gotcha, right?

In that spirit, USA TODAY reports that the giant monster mega-banks are getting ready to pile on checking account fees.

Wachovia, for example, is doubling its fee to transfer money from one account to another to cover insufficient funds to $10. The actual real cost to the bank for such a transfer? Zero dollars.

Bank of America, meanwhile, is increasing the monthly fee on MyAccess accounts by 50%.

So what can you do about it? Take your business to a credit union (where customers are owners) or to a smaller community bank (where they build relationships with customers).

The latest Ponzi scheme to collapse and come to light involves a New York lawyer named Marc Dreier who admits stealing $400 million by selling promissory notes.

As the name suggests, promissory notes are essentially IOUs. You give a person or organization your money in return for a piece of paper that says they promise to pay you back at later date with interest.

Dreier used the money from the promissory notes to buy a $10 million Manhattan apartment and an $18 million yacht, among other things.

Consumer Reports' Money Adviser recently offered some pointers to avoid being taken in a similar scheme:

• Buy only legitimate regulated investments.
• Know what you own. Don't put your money on cruise control in someone else's hands.
• Be skeptical. Question the returns. You may also want to consider hiring a fee-only financial planner as well.

RIP-OFF ALERT: More than 20 websites are marketing products they claim will either cure or prevent the swine flu, according to the FDA. One in particular markets a package containing shampoo, lotion, conditioner and soap for $200 that supposedly protects you by depositing traces of silver on your skin.

The reality is that there are legitimate medications available if you are diagnosed with swine flu.

Yet pandemics remain a scary thing. The Black Plague killed 1 in 3 people throughout Europe. The flu epidemic at the end of World War I sickened 1 in 3 people on Earth, and about 10% of them died.

There were no medications available at either time.

But today, we do have medications. Just look at how the avian flu was contained several years ago. The media coverage of swine flu has now generated fear that's disproportionate to the fact that science offers so much more protection today than it ever did in the past.

Meanwhile, on a totally unrelated scam topic, Barron's reports that our Secret Service is not doing anything to pursue criminals who operate Nigerian scams. These long-running scams involve all the phony checks and pleas to wire money around the world.

A recent Barron's article profiled one man who has targeted 13.5 million Americans with a work-at-home e-mail scam. He's made over $40 million since December 2008! And he's one of about 100 people around the world who run these kinds of scams, according to British authorities.

So even though this is an "oldie but baddie," you still need to beware!

RIP-OFF ALERT: The latest Dare To Be Rich scheme now making the rounds involves currency trading. It's a pitch that really appeals to people who are afraid of the stock market and have grown tired of puny returns on CDs.

First, it's important to understand that there is a legitimate business opportunity here. The main purpose of currency trading is to allow businesses that operate in multiple countries to lower the risk of exchange movement and its effect on their profits.

But the only people making money on currency trading are the ones who push a variety of "how to" info tapes and seminars. They want you to believe that you -- as an individual in your spare time -- can take their course, watch their tape or complete their webinar to learn this tricky business.

The reality is that currency trading is extremely high-risk territory. It's not the "insta-business" it seems.

The New York Post recently did a story about the currency trading frenzy. According to the article, one trading desk did just under $7 trillion in trades for clients in 2008. Another company claims one top employee earned monthly returns of 1,951% on his money.

Those kinds of numbers really get your attention and make you think you can make real money. But don't believe the hype. Clark wants you to stay safe and preserve your capital.

RIP-OFF ALERT: Beware of bogus credit unions promising to lend money and then making off with a processing fee after your application is approved.

One alleged phony operation was running ads in national newspapers around the country that promised it had money to lend. The Los Angeles Times was just one of the newspapers that ran the ads. This impostor credit union even listed a real address that was the address of a shopping mall.

The Pennsylvania Department of Banking and the state of Michigan have both revealed this particular operation to be a scam. (Editor's note: Clark has elected not to identify this fake operation because its name is very similar to that of a totally legitimate credit union.)

This was a classic advanced-fee loan scam. People applied for a loan and were told they had been approved…but still needed to pay hundreds of dollars to continue processing the application.

These kinds of scams come out of the woodwork in tougher economies. You can also spot them if the person or organization advertises itself as a "loan broker."

Just remember it is pure poison for your pocketbook.

It seems like everyday Clark brings you news of a new Ponzi scheme. Many of these operations have been around for years and now they're collapsing one after the other.

According to The Los Angeles Times, the Securities and Exchange Commission now alleges that a woman named Celia Flores ran a Ponzi scheme for 3 years that took in $23 million.

Clients of Flores' Maximum Return Investments were promised a return of 25% per month on their money. She claimed to have special methods of investing in oil, silver, gold, exploration activities, real estate and banking.

This was, however, just a classic Ponzi scheme. She was taking the money from original investors and paying interest with money from newcomers…on and on, month after month. Flores even offered a 10% referral fee to those who brought her new clients.

So where did the $23 million go?

Flores allegedly bought a fancy home and used another $3 million to pay for a party intended to bolster her company's public profile. Maximum Return Investments was active in California, New York, Georgia, Utah, Nevada, Texas and Illinois.

The message here is simple: Don't buy into it anything where you're promised an outlandish return.

Cash gifting schemes are the latest scam to make their way from the hotel ballrooms to the web, according to the Better Business Bureau.

The pitch, however, remains the same.

You still learn about the fabulous wealth that awaits you by gifting money to someone else and having other people gift money to you.

You still hear about how it's entirely legal because it is a gift.

And you still get people swearing up and down that it's not a scam and not a pyramid. (Yeah, right!)

Only now, the message is being delivered via viral video on YouTube or Facebook. The goal is to try to build a friend network for the purpose of gifting money.

YouTube has roughly 24,000 cash gifting videos online, according to The San Francisco Chronicle. Those videos have been viewed 28 million times!

That's roughly 9% of the American population trying to decide if this is a viable way to make money.

The problem with any form of passing money is that the people who get more than they put in are getting illegal gains; those who come in last get nothing; and those in the middle may break even. The one constant, mathematically speaking, is that you quickly run out of people on Earth to sustain a pyramid scheme like this.

In addition, The San Francisco Chronicle found that 90% of participants lose their initial gift money. So you have a 90% chance of losing money?! Not good. And the 10% who make it are doing it illegally.

RIP-OFF ALERT: How many Americans get taken in Internet scams over the course of a year? 100,000? 500,000? Newsday reports it's more than 5 million of us!

Clark is absolutely stunned by that stat -- and he takes calls about this stuff all day long for a living!

By now you've probably become familiar with the usual suspects when it comes to Internet scams. There are the Nigerian scams; the bogus notices of international lottery winnings; the offers of unexpectedly enormous checks for a Craigslist or eBay item; and so many more.

There's a scam born every millisecond. According to the Newsday stat, it's like taking 13,699 Americans and filling a basketball arena every day of the year.

That's how many of us get taken annually!

In related news, yet another Ponzi scheme was busted earlier this month, according to a separate Newsday report. $55 million was allegedly taken by an investment adviser who set up 7 supposed funds to hold the money. He even generated statements for his clients -- something that's not very hard to do with a simple word processing program.

There are a few lessons here to note. You want to get your statements from a real brokerage house or fund complex like Merrill Lynch, Charles Schwab, T. Rowe Price, Vanguard or Fidelity, to name just a few.

Monitor your money and do not let your guard down! This is of special importance for successful entrepreneurs who may not have a lot of time to think about managing their money. That would be a real mistake.

RIP-OFF ALERT: Ready for news of yet another Ponzi scheme?

A Georgia estate planner named Robert Copeland stands accused of bilking investors of $35 million, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Copeland had promised returns of 15% every 6-12 months using a "special" method of real-estate investing.

As with any Ponzi scheme, it initially works out because you can pay new investors with the money you've taken in from the original investors. But eventually, you mathematically run out of enough people to keep up the ruse.

So Clark wants to once again sound a familiar refrain: No one can promise a return on your money that's completely safe and somehow earns up to 5 times what anyone else is offering.

Think about Bernie Madoff. He duped a lot of supposedly sophisticated investors out of $50 billion. These investors suspended common sense because Madoff claimed to have a "special" system to safely generate annual returns of 10% or 12%.

Historically, a return of 10% or even 15% is not outrageous. That's why the cleverest Ponzi scheme operators promise returns that are right in that sweet spot. Their goal is to fly just below the radar to avoid detection, and to attract people with great amounts of money.

Be wary of any "no risk, great return" pitch. Simply go to BankRate.com and see the highest rate of interest you can earn on CDs. That way you can gauge what's normal if someone tries to offer you a substantially higher rate with their investment scheme.

The story of Margot Somerville is a true cautionary tale about identity theft. Clark originally read about this 64 year old's story in The San Francisco Chronicle and was floored by the unbelievable details.

Today, Somerville was a guest on the show and gave a firsthand account of what happened to her.

Before we begin, it's important to note that Somerville spent 25 years with Wells Fargo and retired as a vice president at the financial giant. Yet it was the very bank she was so loyal to that accused her of masterminding a check fraud scheme.

In June 2006, Somerville's wallet was stolen in San Francisco and she promptly filed a police report. She practically forgot about the whole episode until the following November. It was then that she went online to pay some bills and noticed $20,000 missing from her bank account.

After reporting the suspicious activity, she was asked by police to take a number of handwriting tests and lie detector tests over the course of several months. Much of the testing took place in Denver, where at least part of the missing money was withdrawn from her account by crooks.

But while Somerville thought she was helping police build a case and catch the criminals, they were really building evidence against her.

She still didn't have her money back 6 months after the initial $20,000 went missing.

Then in April 2007, Somerville was arrested at her Walnut Creek, Calif., home and spent the night in jail. She was charged with 19 counts of ID theft because Colorado authorities believed she was in fact an ID theft ringleader and not a victim.

The case was ultimately thrown out of court in November 2008. But Somerville says it was only dismissed because the police couldn't get enough evidence to pin it on her; they still believe to this day they had the right woman.

So what's the takeaway here for you? Somerville sees a twofold lesson.

First, always file a police report no matter how simple you think the crime may be. It always helps to have documentation.

The second lesson is a bit more surprising. Somerville told Clark that she learned the drawbacks of being too cooperative. Had she not been so willing when it came to taking multiple handwriting and lie detector tests, the police may have pursued another line of inquiry and none of this would have ever happened.

By the way, Somerville did eventually get her $20,000 back after much grief.

Last month, a number of callers were reporting that Chase was trying to raise the interest rate on their fixed-rate cards.

The bank was telling customers that in order to keep their low interest rate for life, they'd have to pay an annual fee of $120. They were also charging interest on this $120 fee! That's outrageous on both counts, considering that Chase had entered into a contract with customers when they locked in the original low fixed rate for life.

Imagine being a rep at Chase customer no service and having to tell customers with a straight face that this is how it's going to be.

Meanwhile, as the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve were both sleeping, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo was on the ball. Cuomo went after Chase because he believed their actions were illegal.

Now Chase has agreed to refund all the money they charged customers on this rip-off. Clark would like to hear Chase CEO Jamie Dimon say, "We messed up and we are sorry." But that's not in the DNA of a giant monster mega-bank.

Remember, this is one of the banks lined up at the trough of the federal bailout guzzling our tax dollars.

Furthermore, the consumer champ believes Cuomo should continue with criminal charges. Yet there's no need for jail time or home detainment. Clark has another more fitting punishment in mind: Dimon should be sentenced to 30 days on the phone in customer no service so he can talk to the people he's ripped off every day and face them!

RIP-OFF ALERT: USA TODAY has done some new research into how the giant monster mega-banks rip you off.

This should be of special interest to customers of Bank of America, Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, HSBC, PNC, U.S. Bancorp, SunTrust and others. Here's a quick rundown of the newspaper's findings:

• All the banks allow you to overdraw at the ATM -- except Citibank.
• All the banks allow you to overdraw online.
• All the banks allow you to overdraw at the register -- except Citibank.
• The majority of the banks won't even give you a warning at the ATM to deter overdraft.

Bank of America recently settled a class action lawsuit over their overdraft fees. It turns out they had software to calculate how to generate the most overdraft fees when a customer went negative on his or her account.

A typical overdraft fee at most banks could easily be $35.

This is the game the giant monster mega-banks play. So it's incumbent on you to do a few things. First, you can take your business to a credit union or smaller community bank instead. Second, you can continually monitor your account online to make sure you're in the black. Third, you can use a bank register to track your account to the penny.

Don't let the banks play Jesse James with your money. The real irony here is that at least 3 of these banks -- Bank of America, Chase and Citi -- are like pigs lining up at the trough of federal bailout money from we the taxpayers.

And this is how they turn around and thank us?!

Meanwhile, to add insult to injury, Chase had been planning on buying 2 private jets at $60 million a piece, and wanted to spend $18 million to dress up an airplane hangar, according to a TV news report Clark saw. Chase has now agreed to delay these purchases until they pay taxpayers back.

Finally, senior producer Kim brought some perspective to the USA TODAY article by explaining how ING Direct went above and beyond when she nearly overdrew her account. Talk about great customer service!

RIP-OFF ALERT: The Orlando Sentinel recently reported on a new scam where crooks call senior citizens and impersonate their adult grandchildren in order to hit them up for money. Heed this warning if you have aging parents or friends.

Here's how a typical conversation might go:

The phone rings and the senior picks up…

Scamster: (in a low tone) Grandma?
Senior: Is that you, Jimmy?
Scamster: Yes, it's me and I'm in trouble. I'm in jail. I need you to wire money so I can get out.

The typical take on this scam is anywhere between $3,000 and $4,000. There's even a reload on this one. If the scamster gets money, they'll have another person call up impersonating a police officer and ask for additional funds in order for their "grandchild" to be released. They claim there are extra charges for property damage.

Once the money is taken, you'll never see it again. As The Orlando Sentinel says, you should never give out personal info over the phone or send money to unknown sources through a wire service.

A recent report in USA Today suggested that we're now in the midst of a third major breach of credit card numbers that could affect both Visa and MasterCard holders.

This breach again involves the back-office operations where credit card numbers are processed on behalf of merchants. Surprisingly, these operations typically use the most sophisticated levels of encryption available for our obsolete magnetic strip card system.

The direct danger to you is if the crooks behind this breach make a duplicate of your credit card and start charging it up. Of course, you can always dispute the charge with your credit card company. Ultimately, your liability is zero.

However, if they have your debit card number, you have very few rights under the law. You can have checks bouncing all over the place if they empty out your account. And your bank is not even required to cover you for overdrafts under this circumstance!

Neither Visa nor MasterCard are talking, so we don't know exactly how many people may be affected either way.

Unfortunately, we will continue to be vulnerable until we get modern "smart chip" security standards for our credit cards like they have in Europe. American Express tried to lead the charge on this stateside, but the banks pushed back. Sounds like the heavy hand of government may have to intervene with some regulations on the industry before anything gets better.

So if you use a debit card, here's your assignment: You've got to monitor your account everyday online. This is the only way you can limit the amount of harm in a potential breach.

RIP-OFF ALERT: In the latest scam-a-day, there's now a report that nearly half a billion dollars was allegedly stolen by two men operating a hedge fund that was actually a classic Ponzi scheme. Paul Greenwood and Steven Walsh have been charged with conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud.

Hedge funds are for the wealthy -- institutions, universities, non-profits, etc. Greenwood and Walsh posed as hedge fund managers and targeted respected universities like Carnegie Mellon and government bodies like the San Diego County Employees Retirement Association, to name just two. They reportedly netted $553 million in their scheme.

$553 million! These are real dollars they took from sophisticated organizations that had investment managers who are supposed to vet this kind of stuff out of the system.

Anyone with rudimentary computer skills can create a spoof website, right? Well, Greenwood and Walsh would create official looking statements and mail them to their clients. But Clark's 9 year old could do the same with a little guidance using Open Office or Microsoft Word.

An official looking balance statement does not a legit investment make.

It's true that a complete regulatory failure allows people like Madoff, Standford and others to slip through the cracks. But the responsibility ultimately falls to us. If you are paying an individual investment manager to handle money for you, the money should go through a recognized financial operation. It should not be handled by somebody who spits out statements using a word processing program and mails them to you each month.

RIP-OFF ALERT: There's a new warning from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission about an infiltration of Ponzi schemes that they're now seeing.

The Chicago Tribune also reports that scamsters are pushing the opportunity to make money at low risk or no risk if you're willing to turn your money over to them to do trades. This can involve gold, silver, titanium, platinum, orange juice futures -- you name it.

Here we are at the beginning of 2009 and already 8 criminal rings have been busted. A man in Hawaii stole $1.4 million from 125 different deaf people. Somehow this individual wiggled into the hearing-impaired community and promised smart and safe commodity investments. Instead, he bought a million dollar home, took flying lessons and purchased fancy electronics.

In another example, a Canadian-based ring stole just under $5 million while pretending to do a variety of commodities trading. That money allegedly just flat-out disappeared.

Commodities trading has always been subject to fraudulent activity because understanding how a commodities exchange works is not for the faint of heart. It's very easy for a huckster to make a good pitch with a Powerpoint presentation or a sample DVD and win your confidence.

But commodities trading can be so tricky that it burns even the most brilliant people who do it. So any promise of a method to guarantee safe returns is a big lie.

More and more Ponzi schemes are coming to light in the wake of Bernie Madoff. In the latest example, Texas businessman R. Allen Stanford allegedly stole $8 billion through the sale of CDs that were supposed to be ultra-safe and have higher returns than what you could get elsewhere.

Stanford ran a bank in Antigua and was promising returns of 6-10% for over a decade at a time when real CD rates were far lower. The Securities and Exchange Commission now thinks he was actually putting the money into speculative ventures involving real estate and private equity. The latter is a euphemism for those kinds of investments that aren't traded on a stock exchange and typically have very shoddy record-keeping.

What will happen to all the people who collectively put up the $8 billion? Clark has no idea. The feds did a big raid on Stanford like you'd see in a Hollywood movie, but the investigation will take some time to unwind. There's no assurance that those who were duped will get any of their money back.

So the takeaway is this: Beware of false promises of safe and secure CDs that magically earn higher returns than what's available in the market. In fact, beware of any promise of a safe investment that has no risk.

Investing is risky by its very nature -- you risk your capital in the hopes that it will grow. Saving is not risky; however, you only earn puny returns.

It's one or the other. You can't have both.

Bernie Madoff $50 billion Ponzi scheme made many Americans numb to the very idea of Ponzi schemes. But that's a dangerous attitude to have in a down economy -- typically a time of vigorous Ponzi scheme activity.

Madoff targeted the sophisticated, the wealthy and the famous. Yet it was the middle class which was the target of Nicholas Cosmo and his alleged $380 million scheme geared toward blue-collars workers and government employees.

The consistent element with Madoff, Cosmo and all other Ponzi schemers is that they claim to have a "special" way for you to make money. In Cosmo's case, he was involved in high-yield bridge loans, according to The New York Times. Some 1,500 people took their entire life savings and handed it over to Cosmo. They even took second mortgages on their homes to "invest" with Cosmo.

Here's a fact: CDs only pay 2 or 3 percent and that's one of the few options for growing your money with no risk. What people fail to realize is that investing by its very nature means you put your principal at risk; it's very different than the safe harbor of saving.

No one can promise you returns without risk. Beware of the "can't lose" promises -- no matter how small or great they are; remember that Madoff himself was only promising 10 percent!

Be particularly wary of affinity fraud as well. That's where someone like you -- either in profession, religion or ethnicity -- pitches you on a "can't lose" scheme. There's danger in letting down your guard just because someone is familiar to you in some way.

RIP-OFF ALERT: Have you gotten an e-mail that appears to be from the IRS and says you're owed a small refund or perhaps have some unclaimed stimulus money?

It's that time of year again when crooks come out of the woodwork pretending to be part of the IRS.

These e-mails are typically branded with the IRS logo and look legit. They sometimes originate from an address that ends in ".us," which most people think is a sign of authenticity. A ".us" domain name, however, is the same as a ".com" -- it could be set up by anybody. Some of these e-mails may even come from an address that ends in ".gov," signifying a government organization.

But know this: The IRS does not send e-mails to taxpayers or request detailed personal info through e-mail. For specific examples of fake IRS e-mail scams, please see IRS.gov.

The bogus e-mails explain that the money you're supposedly owed will be deposited into your account -- provided that you send your account number and secret access code. If you comply, your account will be cleaned out by cyber-criminals.

RIP-OFF ALERT: In most states, there are public records of who is falling behind on a mortgage. That's created an opportunity for swindlers who show up at your doorstep with a "personalized foreclosure rescue package" for you.

Likewise, we've all seen the "stop foreclosure now" signs on the side of the road. The punch-line in both cases is that you have to pay money upfront to stop the foreclosure. The average amount these swindlers steal from people is around $3,000, according to a recent New York Times report.

Meanwhile, there are some legitimate parallel tracks you can explore if you're facing foreclosure. These include seeking free counseling from a local affiliate of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling or going through the HOPE NOW Alliance. Be forewarned that Clark thinks the latter is a "political puff piece"; he'd prefer you go with the former option.

Lastly, you can try contacting your lender directly if you're in dire straits. It's surprising how many people won't talk to their lender when they get in trouble. Bad move.

RIP-OFF ALERT: An Idaho man named Darren Palmer is under investigation for running an alleged $100 million Ponzi scheme. He's no Bernie Madoff -- recall that man's recent $50 billion scheme -- but Palmer still took in some real money.

Palmer was promising a 25%-40% return on people's money every year. It is impossible for anybody to ever deliver this kind of money in a legitimate non-criminal activity.

Quarterly dividends were being paid to early investors with money taken in from later investors. Suddenly, the dividends stopped coming. That's what happens in a Ponzi scheme because you mathematically run out of people to fund it.

This is just another in a long line of cases where people trusted an associate, a friend or a friend of a friend and suspended normal disbelief when told about the returns they could earn.

As one duped investor said of Palmer, "He just seemed so legit. He grew up in the area."

Being born in the same zip code, or going to the same house of worship or country club does not make you legit. This is known as affinity fraud.

With affinity fraud, we let our guard down with someone who is like us. However, we wouldn't trust a stranger with the same claim.

So be careful out there, and remember, just because somebody is familiar to you, it does not mean what they're offering is good.

Up to 100 million of us could have sensitive financial info exposed because of a new security breach after a back-office credit card processing operation was hit by hackers.

Heartland Payment Systems was hit despite having modern encryption software. The crooks who breached their system got credit card numbers, expiration dates and internal bank codes for Visa and MasterCard users.

While the exact number of compromised accounts is not yet known, the Heartland breach is expected to surpass the massive TJX breach of 2007.

How can you protect yourself? You've got to thoroughly check your credit card statements and report any suspicious activity.

Beyond that, Clark feels it's unacceptable that we still use '60s-era magnetic strip technology in our credit and debit cards while other nations have gone to smart chip technology. With smart chip technology, even if a crook had your credit card number, they'd still need an additional secret PIN to make any charges.

It's only through sheer corruption that bank regulators haven't required smart chip technology of the banks.

If you discover false transactions on your credit card, you're protected under the law, right? But what about your debit card? There's nothing required in current regulations to forbid your bank from charging you NSF fees if a thief steals your debit card. Your bank is only required to restore funds -- they're not required to waive any bounced check charges. Shame on the banks.

These kinds of things will continue happening until we implement real security. Be sure to vote in Clark's poll about smart chip technology.

RIP-OFF ALERT: Payday lenders offer consumers an easy way to bury themselves under mounds of debt. The typical payday lender allows you to walk into their establishment, turn over a personal check that's postdated to your next pay date and walk out with cash -- minus some high fees.

How high exactly? Try 391% as an annualized percentage rate! The February issue of Consumer Reports features an article with mention of a high school principal in Albuquerque, New Mexico, who paid more than 600% APR.

Some states like Ohio have capped the interest rate at 36%, which has effectively driven payday lenders out of the state. But The Chicago Tribune also reports that some payday lenders are getting around restrictions by making loans over the Internet.

The military has long had a problem with soldiers not being allowed to deploy because they couldn't get security clearance after their finances were fouled up by payday lenders. So Congress had to cap the loan rates to soldiers and their families at 36% as well.

Some credit unions are now coming up with short-term loan programs to siphon business away from the payday lenders. One credit union even bought a large payday lender and is trying to figure out how to best offer convenience and reasonable rates.

But know this: Whatever problem you think you're solving by taking out a payday loan, you're actually only making things worse.

RIP-OFF ALERT: Several years ago, Clark alerted listeners to the dangers of ATM card skimming. To refresh your memory, skimming is when criminals put a small piece of hardware on an ATM where you insert your card.

The skimmer captures info from the magnetic strip on the back of your card. Crooks can then remove the skimmer, download the info and create duplicate copies of your card. There's also typically a camera hidden somewhere so the thieves can record you typing in your PIN. Once they have duplicate cards and your PIN, they employ a team of runners to empty out your account.

Now the Sun Sentinel reports that the skimming crime has escalated, especially with ATMs at gas stations. Thankfully, the article also reveals a technique you can use to avoid putting yourself in harm's way. Try shaking the area where your card goes in. If it has a skimmer, it will be obvious because they're designed to be installed and uninstalled quickly. If you suspect there may be a skimmer on the ATM, let the bank or gas station know.

Meanwhile, beware when using an ATM that's not from your bank or credit union. It can take weeks to dispute any issue with the ATM owner.

Police officers do an important job in our society, putting themselves in harm's way for the public good. When a police officer pulls you over, it's a natural assumption that they're the real deal. Very rarely it will be an impostor -- and it always makes big news. In the Internet world, however, it's much harder to tell friend or foe.

The hottest way to steal your personal info right now is through pop-ups or other ads that claim to be for antivirus programs. A new report suggests that 30 million of us have been fooled in this way. That's 1 in every 7 adults! Panda Labs -- a company selling legitimate antivirus software -- reports there's now 7,000 phony solicitations from the bad guys out there in cyberspace.

Don't click on those pop-ups about antivirus software! Ignore those e-mails about free services!

A North Carolina State study found that a majority of us believe when a dialog box pops that the people initiating the Internet chat are legit. Don't fall for it. The Internet does not have brave men and women running around acting as police officers to protect you. You've got to be your own cop on the beat.

If you need antivirus software, see our suggestions for free or low-cost options. And heed this warning: Don't visit our messageboards looking for a link. Yes, we police our forums with the help of a team of moderators, but we can't ensure that every thing on the forums is completely legit.

In related news, be wary of e-mails promoting secret shopping and mystery shopping. It used to be that you'd get taken for $20 or $30, but now the scammers are angling for $2,000 or more. You should never pay to be a mystery shopper -- whether it's $20 or $2,000.

Finally, Christa read an article in the Pocono Record that reports the money transfer scam -- an oldie but baddie -- is back. Here's how it works: You're contacted to act an intermediary who transmits money for others. You're sent a check and told to keep 10% of it and wire the rest to a certain person or business. It turns out to be a stolen checking account number, perhaps from a real business. When the police come after you for cashing fraudulent or washed checks, that's when you get to wear some new jewelry -- handcuffs! Don't do it!

RIP-OFF ALERT: Scamsters have been getting very sophisticated in their phishing attempts following the numerous bank failures in our nation. Clark himself says he received a phishing attempt that looked very legitimate after the Wachovia collapse.

Here's one example of what's been going on: Within minutes of the original plan for Citibank to take over Wachovia, the scamsters were blasting out e-mails. Each message said that in order to access your Wachovia account, you'd have to fill out an online form that asked for all kinds of personal info. Unfortunately, many people fell for it because they were dumbfounded by the news of the day about Wachovia.

Meanwhile, The Los Angeles Times report that British researchers have found sophisticated phishing scams such as this one have a 90% success rate. That's really scary!

The takeaway here is that you should never reply to any supposedly legitimate e-mail from a financial institution asking for personal info. Nor should you ever click on a hyperlink in an e-mail that supposedly takes you to your bank or brokerage house's website. If you are in doubt, close out the e-mail in question; open a new browser window; and type the URL directly to verify the info contained in the e-mail.

Think you may have already given up sensitive info? Then immediately contact your financial institution and tell them you need to restrict access to your account.

RIP-OFF ALERT: Cell phone companies have been engaging in a practice that's been ripping you off! It's happening most often to those who have an add-a-phone service (where you add a friend or family member to your plan.) The industry is making huge money doing 3rd-party billing for "services" that other companies claim they've provided you -- services such as ring tones, joke-of-the-day texts, etc. The cell phone company gets such a large commission for doing this kind of billing, that they've been purposely deceptive about the practice. The Cyberfraud Task Force of the State of Florida went after AT&T for billing their customers for services that they'd advertised as being free. The settlement was over $10 million, for Floridians alone.

Clark knows that cell phone bills are impossible to understand. Clark's last cell phone bill was 56 pages long! But Clark goes through it page-by-page each month. About once every four months he'll find something that's not legit. (Most recently, he found a $2.95 charge for a ring tone that the provider's website claimed was free - but they lied.)

The cell phone companies have no incentive to clean up their act, since it's such a cash cow for them. And according to Smart Money magazine, they go out of their way to make these charges hard to find on your bill. Therefore, Clark says he needs YOU to be the cop for your own phone bill. Look for deceptive terms such as "Premium Content", or "Direct Bill Charge" (sometimes referred to as "DBC" on your bill.)

RIP-OFF ALERT: Here's an oldie but baddie that dates back some 20 years ago to Clark's first days on the air.

According to the FBI, advance-fee loans have roared back into action after years of being off our radars. Business owners and individuals are the typical targets.

Here's the way it works: Businesses are in a cash crunch because so many lenders are reducing or shutting down their lines of credit. That creates a fertile ground for smooth-talking con artists who represent themselves as being industry experts on finding loans. Unwitting victims get taken when they pay them an upfront fee for loan origination -- and never hear from them again.

The Wall Street Journal reports that some 100 business owners lost untold millions recently in one week because of this practice. But it's not always big-money targets the crooks go after. In one instance, the owner of a daycare was taken for $2,000 in the hopes that she'd get a $20,000 loan. On the other end of the spectrum, another business owner seeking a loan of $250 million wound up paying $260,000 upfront.

The answer to the credit crunch is never paying someone a fee to get loan for you.

There is, however, a related gray area -- and that's selling off credit card receivables. It's a way to generate revenue today on income that will be coming to you down the road. While this practice isn't illegal, it does often come with a massive rate of interest that can be upwards of 60%.

So if you're a small business owner in need of funds, see if you can find another way to keep things going. Selling your credit card receivables may be legal, but you may just dig yourself into a deeper hole.

There's been a widespread security breach at some 5,700 Citibank ATMs. Heed this special warning if you've used a Citibank ATM (including those found at 7-Eleven stores) at any point this year.

Criminals hacked into the bank's system and were remotely able to capture account numbers and PINs. They then made duplicate cards that were used to withdraw money from accounts for about 7 months.

The banking industry's longtime rule has been that the burden of proof was on you if your PIN was stolen. They believed their system was impenetrable and if something went wrong, well, you must have been at fault by not protecting your account or PIN. But the hacker community shares info about how to break into back-end systems on a variety of message boards.

The real problem is that our banks rely on 1960s ATM card technology. Over in Europe, they've long since switched to using smart chips in ATM cards. These smart chips defeat the ability of hackers to duplicate a card should they capture a number.

Washington D.C. has also been complicit in this backwards-looking policy. Federal regulators who are in cahoots with the banks have not followed through on requiring them to follow international banking security standards.

The takeaway for you is that you've got to thoroughly monitor your account and follow up on any discrepancies.

Meanwhile, the folks at Wired magazine originally broke the Citibank story. And Citibank, to its shame, is still being hush-hush about the number of people affected and the amount of money that's been stolen. Ukrainian immigrant Yuriy Rakushchynets and 2 others are the likely culprits of the crime.

Our banking industry operates at below-Third World standards when it comes to data safety. It's well past time for our government to mandate that the banks adhere to recognized world standards in the field. Clark also thinks banks should be required to provide full disclosure to the media and the American people when breaches like this one occur.

RIP-OFF ALERT: There's a sophisticated ruse going on right now where criminals use the triple threat of e-mail, phone calls and text messages to trick you into yielding your account information.

This trio of messages will look and sound completely legitimate. They may prompt you to call a seemingly legit toll-free number and talk to an "investigator," or direct you to a website that looks real with logos from your bank, credit union or brokerage house.

The truly scary thing is that the criminals already have access to all your contact info. The Kansas City Star reports that the FBI and Secret Service are aware of this scam. So beware if you get hit with this trifecta of phishing (e-mail), vishing (voice mail) and smishing (text).

What should you do if you think you're on the receiving end? Don't divulge your PIN number or other sensitive information. Go to your real bank's website, look for the contact info and call them that way. Don't respond back to what you see in an e-mail, even if it looks legit.

Yes, Clark wants to make you paranoid.

Think you may have already fallen prey? Contact your bank and tell them to check into it before the suspected crime progresses any further.

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.

Would you take out a loan with a 782% interest rate? Probably not. Yet that's the interest that payday lenders are ripping Ohioans with everyday. Payday loans are illegal in about 25% of the nation's states because they create extreme financial hardship for families. States that are rife with payday lenders include California, Texas, Tennessee and Ohio.

The Buckeye State is currently trying to cap the interest rate at 28% on payday loans. One major lender, Rent-A-Center (RAC), had been giving money to a local food bank that was part of a coalition supporting the loan cap. So what did the RAC do? It threatened to pull all charitable contributions. Such an action may be illegal -- that's for the lawyers to decide. Clark doesn't understand how you can pretend to be good by giving food and then turn around and rip people at 782% interest.

The payday loan industry knows it has a reputation for destroying lives. Its lobby has been giving a lot of money to influential politicians in the hopes of preventing caps or getting them overturned.

How does Clark's disgust with payday lenders square with his free market stance? In some ways it may seem inconsistent. But the lenders never disclose the high rate. Instead they do everything to make sure it's hidden. He'd be fine with 728% interest and full disclosure, but that's not the reality. Meanwhile, there is a reasonable level above which interest rates are usurious. 728% might just be that point. Clark invites any RAC representative to come on the air and explain their actions with the food bank.

Several months ago, Clark told you that Wachovia was allowing illegal drafts from seniors' accounts. The bank has now been fined a pitifully low amount -- $10 million -- for its actions in a similar case involving unethical telemarketers. Wachovia had been taking a cut whenever it allowed fraudulent 3rd party telemarketers to make withdrawals from customer accounts.

First off, Clark says shame on the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for being asleep on the job and allowing Wachovia to do this. Second, where are the jail sentences for the responsible parties?

The New York Times has gotten hold of some internal memos that show the company knew full well what was going on with the telemarketers. A Wachovia executive even wrote "Double yikes!!!!" on a memo that incriminated the bank in the rip-off.

But, wait, it gets worse. Wachovia knows exactly who they stole an estimated $100 million or more from. Yet they got the feds to agree that they don't have to give the money back -- unless those who have been wronged file a claim via a form that doesn't exist yet!

Clark is extremely upset about the puny $10 million fine and lack of prison time. If you stick-up a teller, you'll no doubt go to jail for a long time. So what gives in this case? In the interest of full disclosure, Clark wants you to know that he owns Wachovia stock. He also has a good mind to go to the next annual meeting and confront the company's big wigs face-to-face.

A press statement from the bank claims they're taking the crime seriously and trying to correct the situation. But it seems that if Wachovia wants to do right, they'd give the money back without making people fill out the form. Will the company just keep the ill-gotten gains from those account holders who are too old or sick to fill out a form?

One last note of general warning: You usually only have 60 days to dispute fraudulent transactions at your bank or brokerage house. You snooze, you lose.

RIP-OFF ALERT: In times of economic uncertainty, you're more likely to be taken in investment scams. With CDs, treasuries and stocks all hurting, people are desperately searching for a safe and profitable place to stash their money. Even Schwab is being sued over its YieldPlus Fund…and that's a legitimate company that made an honest mistake.

In a separate instance, The Los Angeles Times recently reported on a duo selling private investments in public equities (PIPEs) with the promise of returns of about 40% a year! The duo stands accused of conning more than $40 million out of everyone from retirees to sophisticated investors. One of alleged cons bought 2 multi-million dollar homes in Nevada, jewelry, clothing, cars and more. People trusted them and they were able to exploit that trust.

Meanwhile, Clark was recently approached by someone at the studio asking him about foreign CDs promising a "guaranteed" return of 18% a year. Anyone promising a number beyond 4% or 5% annually for a "safe" investment is suspect. "Safe returns" and "decent returns" are mutually exclusive. People just have to get used to the idea that right now you can't keep up with inflation. For long-term investors, Clark's advice is to get past your fear of the stock market and diversify your portfolio -- that's the key to creating wealth in the long run.

RIP-OFF ALERT: The Berkeley Center for Law and Technology analyzed corporate America to see which companies have the highest incidence of ID theft. The No. 1 company? Bank of America. BoA is the nation's second largest bank. (If you look at the numbers based on total customer base, BoA then actually comes in second behind HSBC). AT&T occupies the second slot, followed by Sprint (No. 3), JPMorgan Chase (No. 4) and Capital One (No. 5). Think about it: 3 of the first 5 are banks, which is understandable. But why are two phone companies way up there? The reason is because they do a credit check when you apply for phone service, and open yourself up as a potential target when they get your info. In the No. 6 spot, we have Citibank. As the nation's largest bank, Citibank has one-third less incidences of ID theft than the smaller BoA! Verizon, American Express, Washington Mutual and Wells-Fargo all round out the top ten. View the complete list online at the Berkeley site.

Now the inevitable question: Why do these institutions have high rates of ID theft? Clark speculates that it must have to do with the way they internally handle your information. Interestingly, the bank with the lowest incidence of ID theft is ING Direct. You would think they'd be up at the top of the list since they're Internet only. But being a newer bank, they've been dealing with outsmarting ID thieves since they launched. It's much tougher for a legacy financial institution to retroactively patch good protection into systems that were built decades ago. ID theft has not grown significantly -- it still happens to about 10 million people a year -- but it's still a major issue. Finally, from the "no they didn't!" category, the New York City Department of Finance sent tax forms to 1000s that showed people's Social Security numbers through the envelope. C'mon people, this is 2008! Get with the program.

RIP-OFF ALERT: A well-respected bank with a huge national presence has been involved in a criminal enterprise. There were little inklings of this last year, but now The New York Times has released internal Wachovia memos that show the company aided and abetted criminal rings in stealing from people's checking accounts. In the interest of full disclosure, Clark wants you to know that he owns stock in Wachovia. It's one of the few non-index or mutual fund choices he has in his portfolio. As a stockholder, he's embarrassed and outraged by this news. Worse still is the fact that federal banking regulators are sleeping on the job -- they first discovered this scam 3 years ago.

Criminals know how easy it is to present a draft against an account and steal the money. The banking industry has no security against such drafts. So criminal rings were drafting people's accounts and hoping the customers wouldn't notice. There are systems in place where if too many disputes arise, it triggers a probationary hold or the loss of drafting privileges. But Wachovia kept allowing the drafts even after the alarms went off. Internal memos show employees knew they were dealing with criminal activity in 500,000 cases -- but the fee income was too large for them to care.

Wachovia has issued a statement saying they've now resolved the issue. It's great if that's true. But this scam has been going on at 9 banks and Wachovia was the only one named. Consumers Union has already detailed the cozy relationship between bank regulators and banks; regulators see themselves as protecting the banks! So here's what you need to do: Check your bank and credit card statements every month, line by line. If there's a charge you don't recognize, question it.

RIP-OFF ALERT: Clark gets very steamed whenever he hears about children or seniors getting ripped off. Here's a scenario that affects the latter group: Clark has been getting a lot of reverse mortgage questions. Reverse mortgages offer a way for retired folks who are running out of cash to be able to remain in their home and get a check each month by borrowing against the value of the property. This can be a good option if you don't want a family member to inherit the house, but historically the fees on reverse mortgages have been too high. Now Kiplinger's reports that insurance salesmen and women are convincing seniors to do reverse mortgages, cash out the value of their homes and…you guessed it…buy variable annuities. AARP finds that 1 in 10 people doing reverse mortgages were conned into doing so with the promise of such pseudo-investments.

This is unconscionable. Clark doesn't know what goes on in the minds of the banks, brokerage houses and insurance companies who push these modified reverse mortgages. The variable annuity shtick is bad enough, but it's really infuriating that they're pouring salt into a wound by stripping the equity from a home. Clark believes it's not enough to fine people who push this stuff; the only way to stop this is to send them to prison. The fines that can be levied are never enough and just reinforce the idea that crime pays. So you must be the cop on the beat for your elderly relatives. Be nosy and find out what's going in their lives. Hopefully they were there for you as a young person, so try returning the favor by being there for them in a time of need.

RIP-OFF ALERT: File this one in the "News of the Weird" bin. An Internet-based virtual world called Second Life has spawned rip-off artists who scam users out of very real money. Second Life is a virtual community where you create a new you and live out a second identity in a digital world. Scammers got into Second Life and set up a virtual bank. But it's not real, right? Well, here's the rub: They got people to deposit real money with the promise of large returns. The Chicago Tribune reports the scammers made off with $75K.

This whole strange episode is an early warning signal that even in your play area on the 'Net there are people who aren't playing at all. Folks are more likely to let their guard down in Second Life. But this is no different than going on vacation and getting your wallet or camera stolen because you didn't safeguard it. Clark also says to be wary anytime you're promised huge returns; it could be a classic Ponzi scheme. Beware when words like "guaranteed" are thrown around. The only thing that's guaranteed is that your wallet will get burned. Meanwhile, the Better Business Bureau has put out an alert that's particularly timely: As people have financial hiccups because of the slowing economy, they're more likely to be susceptible to a variety of "Get Rich Quick" schemes. For example, Clark recently took 2 calls on currency exchange scams. Be sure to avoid this one.

RIP-OFF ALERT: There's been so much in the news recently about the rebate checks that could be coming from the government. Scammers are already thinking up ways to take the money out of your pocket! The Department of Consumer Affairs reports scammers have been calling people up and pretending to be from the IRS. They're seeking personal banking info and claiming you won't receive the rebate until they confirm your checking account number. The IRS has responded, of course, by saying they will not be calling to verify any account info.

Once the scammers have your info, they don't do anything with it until they monitor your account and figure out when your balance is at its peak every month. Then they'll strike. Electronic draft is the preferred method of withdrawal because it's very difficult for your bank to monitor. Clarks says you should contact your bank immediately if you feel you recently gave your info to a scammer. You'll likely need to close the account, and your bank will probably put a referral stop in place. The referral stop will ensure that your bank won't reroute requests from your old account to your new one. Of course, you could also get around this problem by taking your business to another bank or credit union. But the bottom line is you should never reveal your account number over the phone. Also, never give your account number to bill collectors; they'll clean you out if you do. The only way to pay a bill collector is on your terms by writing a check.

There is an unpatriotic segment of the population that has been thriving by ripping off members of our military with usurious loans. Clark thinks it's disgusting that the soldiers who lay their lives on the line for our freedom are being taken advantage of by scum. This issue directly impacts our national security when military personnel can't deploy because they're burdened by mountains of debt and can't get security clearance. Some of these locust payday lenders have been stationing themselves outside of military posts and making loans with interest rates beginning at 390 percent! Many military recruits have fallen for this because they're young and not sophisticated in the ways of finance. Congress previously outlawed these sickening loan practices, but only now has the Pentagon formalized rules to protect the young men and women in our military. It is now a federal crime for a payday lender to rip off a soldier. The rules also extend to loans offered to the spouses of soldiers. Other provisions of the new rules ensure that soldiers will soon have access on their posts to financial advice 24/7 and extra low-cost loans.

Sometimes people call in to the show and complain about having credit cards with interest rates of 28 or 30 percent. But that pales in comparison to something Clark recently heard about. The Kansas City Star reports that some online lenders make loans in the amount of $500-$2,500 dollars at 650 percent interest! These people are loan sharks and they're spreading like locusts because of the Internet -- even in states that don't permit lending of this type. But these lenders are still making illegal loans across state lines. The people who make these loans are complete and total scum, according to Clark. These lenders say they're taking on big risk by lending to people with bad credit or no credit. They're also arguing in various federal courts that they are not subject to the state laws where they're lending, but rather only in the states where they're set up. That's the same deal with the credit card companies. Many years ago the Supreme Court ruled it is legal for a bank to set up its credit card operation in a state where there are no rules. That's why so many credit cards are based in South Dakota or Delaware. So now these scum Internet lenders are invoking these rights too. Will it fly? This will ultimately be decided as it works its way through higher courts. All you need to know is that when you see an Internet loan offer, you must turn your back on it. Don't take hard times in your life and make them worse.

Last spring just around tax time, Clark started hearing about a lot of people who received an e-mail scam that appeared to be from the IRS. Now the same scam has resurfaced. Here's how it works: You get an e-mail that appears to be from the IRS saying they owe you small refund usually around $139.50. The e-mail is branded with the IRS logo and looks legit. It originates from an address that ends in .us, which most people think is a sign of authenticity. A .us domain name, however, is the same as a .com. The real IRS website is a .gov, since it's a government organization. The bogus e-mail explains that the money will be deposited into your account -- provided that you send your account number and secret access code. If you comply, your account will be cleaned out by cyber criminals. Know that the IRS will never ask you for your banking info in an e-mail. Meanwhile, there's a similar scam circulating that appears to be coming from Coca-Cola. This one isn't legit either, so watch out!

Clark owns a mortgage that he collects payments on much like a bank would. Recently he's noticed that he is getting mail and phone calls from note buyers. These are people who are involved in the latest dare to be rich scheme. They've heard a pitch in a hotel ballroom somewhere about how you can score quick cash by approaching someone who owns a mortgage and offering to buy their note right now. They typically ask the note holder to sell his or her interest for anywhere between 70-90 cents on the dollar. Clark admits there is a very, very small legitimate business opportunity here. But most of these note-buying schemes are rip-offs.

On a related note, the median home price in the United States -- the level at which half of all homes are more expensive and half are less -- has declined this year for the first time since the feds started keeping records in 1950. Home prices are expected to get lower still in 2008 and even lower in 2009. There are some markets like Portland, Seattle and Charlotte, N.C., that are still increasing. But bubble markets such as Phoenix, Las Vegas, lots of California, lots of Florida, the Washington D.C. metro area and Boston are hurting. The only bubble market that hasn't burst yet is the New York metro area. Expect the average price of a home to decline about 1-2 percent per year for the foreseeable future. Just remember that you have nothing to fear if you're in a home and have no intention to move or sell. That being said, two million families will still be put out on the street this year alone. The only silver lining here is that the bulk of the foreclosures are not owner-occupied. They instead belong to speculative owners who may never have seen the properties they're losing. This housing "correction" is actually healthy because it will allow the country to get back to a place where home prices are more affordable to the average person. Finally, Clark denies that the media has caused the housing slump. The market is slumping because it was built on irrational loans that stretched people too far and too many houses going up on spec.

When you use a car dealer to finance your auto loan, the dealer will mark it up as much as they can. But the average black customer buying a new car pays an interest rate that's 40 percent higher than the average white customer -- even after accounting for differences in credit scores. Hispanics, meanwhile, pay almost the same as non-Hispanic whites, just slightly higher. In the used-car market, one in three blacks pay an interest rate that is above 15 percent, while the average rate for a white person is less than 10 percent. Clark thinks it's a shame that this residual racism is still around in 2007.

If you dig deeper into this story, you'll really find that anyone who doesn't get pre-qualified for a car loan will pay more than they should. So Clark advises anybody seeking an auto loan to get pre-qualified at a credit union, which will offer lower rates than a bank. Think about it like this: You may have spent hours researching your car thoroughly, but you've got to do the same on the loan. Dealers are entitled to make money on a loan if you don't do homework and get pre-qualified elsewhere. Historically, that mark-up had been about 10 percent points. After all the legal settlements of the past few years, however, it now is usually three percent. That means if a bank offers you a car loan for 5 percent, the dealer will offer the same loan for 8 percent. So whether you're black or not, it pays to get pre-qualified for an auto loan.

There's a lot of turmoil in the savings world -- once considered the safest part of market -- and much of it involves money market mutual funds. Money market funds are not federally insured, but have historically been designed to be a safe place to put your money and allow you easy access to it when needed. The way they work is that you buy them for a dollar per share and then earn on every dollar with the change in interest rates. They're often sold by mutual fund companies and stockbrokers, and have proven to be a safe haven for three decades. Money market funds obey the "don't break the buck" principle, which is like an unwritten law stating that they'll always be a dollar per share.

Now there are news reports about similar investment opportunities that mimic money market funds but take on additional risks. Sentinel Management Group, for one, is sitting on nearly $1.6 billion in investments of this type and is not allowing people to get to their money. Other major players in the field have experienced a drop in value. For example, Yield Plus is down five-and-a-half percent. Keep in mind that a true money market fund couldn't drop in value because it's always a buck. So how do you know if you have one of these impostors? Clark says to beware if they have the word "plus" in their names. But Wall Street couldn't be happier that a lot of people have these cousins of traditional money market funds. After all, investors are being socked with higher fees for these new investments that are supposedly safe. Clark wants everyone to look at their money market funds statement and know what they own. If you're in one of these fake money market funds, try putting your savings in CDs, a plain vanilla money market fund or a tax-free municipal bond. The latter works well for those in a high tax bracket who make more than $100,000 per year. Meanwhile, for everyone else who lives paycheck to paycheck, retailers like Wal-Mart have hit tough times because their customer base doesn't have much expendable income. Looks like it might be tough holiday season for retailers.

Some bank accounts charge you a fee just to check your account. A call years ago spoke of getting hit with an overdraft fee, even though they knew they had a good balance; was this a clerical error? No, it's a new strategy in banking that tricks people into overdrafting their accounts so that the bank can charge them. Banks used to reject transactions that they knew would cause an overdraft. Not anymore. Many banks now purposely approve transactions that they know will overdraw your account. According to Congressional hearings, banks made $17.5 billion dollars due to this! Even worse, many banks use software programs to see what will cause the most bounced checks, or give you false balance reports at ATMs so that you you'll overdraw! Clark thinks a bank should at the very least inform you that they're going to try to rip you off by approving transactions that will cause overdraft fees. You now need to take additional steps to monitor your account as closely as possible to avoid getting ripped off.

This was a year of embarrassment for colleges who were in cahoots with unethical banks and other lenders. First there was the whole student loan scandal. Now The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that there are some dubious practices taking place on campuses related to student credit cards. Many schools get kickbacks for allowing there to be an "official bank" on campus. Such financial institutions offer outrageous terms and conditions on their credit and debit cards for students. The universities do this to get money under the table money from the banks. These arrangements are technically "partnerships," according to the schools. But the fees on the cards are almost double those available in the general marketplace. Clark believes a full investigation is necessary. As he says, if university officials have been getting bribes, they should go to prison. This is yet another thing for parents to worry about when packing their kids up for college at the end of the summer. Clark says to shop around on campus for a bank or credit union that's available to faculty, staff and students -- instead of just going to the preferred campus lender where the university sells out its students. What is going on in the banking world that offering bribes and kickbacks are becoming so routine??

The stock brokerage industry is divided into two camps: There are the brokers who work on a full commission from the investments they sell you, and those that get paid based on the financial advice they give you. Meanwhile, consumer protection in the field is very weak. The industry has a mentality that brokers are salespeople who shouldn't have to follow any business code of ethics. It's as if the majority of the industry doesn't really care about the financial interests of its clients. In fact, the industry even conned the federal government into passing a law that says brokers aren't liable for bringing you to financial ruin so long as they presented you with "suitable" investment options. If you sign up with a stock broker, you actually waive your right to take them to court if they cheat you. You have to sign a form that forces you to go through company-run arbitration if there's a dispute. That makes it nearly impossible to get back your lost money! A study showed that you have a one in ten chance of winning in arbitration against stock brokers. It's a real kangaroo court scenario, according to Clark. Now, Clark has no problem with arbitration if it's mutually agreed upon by both parties. But this kind is crammed down your throat. Sure there are good brokers out there, but many others are not ethical. Clark's advice is that you never go to a full-commission stock broker. Only use brokers who get paid for their advice, not those who earn a commission from the investments they sell you.

Did you know that Wachovia – the nation’s fourth largest bank – has been party to an ongoing bank scandal? News reports claim that Wachovia has been aiding and abetting a criminal enterprise that has been drafting the accounts of elderly customers without their knowledge. Wachovia gets a fee every time it places an "intermediary draft" on an account, and apparently it’s a very profitable business. The U.S. Attorney of Pennsylvania says Wachovia was so egregious in its involvement that the attorney’s office has filed suit against the bank. People disputed the drafts 60 percent of the time, signaling that the illegal activity was noticeable and clear. You would think that would be a red flag for the bank. At first, Wachovia said it had no involvement. But now the company says it will review its policies and make any necessary changes. Clark would like to talk with Wachovia on the air and invites them to contact the program if they’d like. Your responsibility here is to check your statements. If you see something out of place, dispute it immediately! You only have 60 days to get your money back.

The Government Accountability Office has found out that 401k plans are ripping off workers investing in them by swiping massive fees from you each year. Some of them are taking as much as 5 percent a year off the top. Under law, there is no requirement that you be told what you’re being charged for “maintenance and fees.” So, it’s allowed insurance companies to take advantage of investors. If you own a business, you need to ask point blank exactly what you’re being charged. If you’re an employee and you think your account isn’t increasing as much as it should, you want to ask your human resources department what the fee schedule is. If it turns out that the plan is a rip off, you should consider moving your money into a Roth IRA. The best way for business owner to tell if they are getting taken is if your plan is from either an insurance company or stock brokerage company. You may want to consider setting up with Fidelity and Vanguard, the two biggest 401k administrators in the country. You can’t go wrong with either one, but Vanguard is definitely the least expensive. You should always save for your own retirement. But Clark doesn’t want you to get ripped off. So, ask questions and make sure you see the numbers.

People are earning more than 5 percent in savings accounts and other short-term investments these days. You can find them if you look around. But people who have a lot of money invested are also getting ripped off because of the companies they’ve chosen. Stock brokerages used to offer higher interest rates than banks. But some brokerages have realized that people who have that amount of money often take their eye off the ball when investing. So, these companies have reduced the interest significantly. Merrill Lynch, the world’s largest stockbroker, is paying 1.5 percent interest if you have a quarter million dollars or less in your account. That’s terrible! But it gets worse. Morgan Stanley is paying customers 1.25 percent, and Smith Barney is at 1.5 percent. Wachovia brings up the rear with 1 percent on accounts under $100,000. So, that bank you think is working for you may really be ripping you off. How? They give you that measly interest rate on your money and then loan it back out to other people at 5 or 6 percent. If you have idle cash with one of the full-commissioned stock brokerages, get your money out!

Clark gets very peeved when criminals and scam artists ripoff senior citizens. And annuities are one product these low lifes are trying to push. They’re trying to make a big score off someone who has worked hard his or her whole life, only to have it stripped away in old age. Some banks and insurance companies are guilty of this. When a senior citizen goes into a bank to cash out a CD, the person there tries to get them to put that money into an annuity. Equity-indexed annuities, in particular, earn huge commissions for banks, so they push them hard. And, the biggest targets are widows in their ‘70s and ‘80s. In addition, if they try to get out of the annuity they may pay up to 25 percent in penalty fees. And often, if they’re conned into these trashy products, they don’t see their first penny until they have passed on. There is a fight going on right now between the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Supreme Court. The OCC wants to make it law that banks can push these products and take peoples’ money without any consequences. We’ll see how it all plays out and let you know. But right now, you have a duty and responsibility to protect your parents and other senior citizens you know. Your parents raised you and now they need you. Anytime someone from an insurance company or bank tries to sell your parents an annuity, tell them to leave immediately. That organization is trying to steal their money, and that is all you need to know.

Getting a mortgage these days can be tricky, and it’s easy to get taken at the closing table. But Clark saw a story about predatory lenders recently that infuriated him. It was the lead story in Business Week and it focused on Habitat for Humanity owners who got ripped off by dirty banks. According to Business Week, these banks are tracking down Habitat homeowners and sending salespeople out to their homes to sell them a new mortgage. The salespeople tell the homeowners that their homes have gone up in value and offer them $10,000 to $15,000 in cash in exchange for a new loan with the bank. Habitat homeowners have loans through Habitat at zero percent, so this is a huge mistake. The banks are putting them in loans of 16 to 20 percent, which these homeowners cannot afford. So, the families end up having to foreclose and losing their homes. It’s a disgrace and Clark wants to know why the Mortgage Bankers Association of America doesn’t get involved. This is theft! When doing a loan, look for lenders that don’t charge any closing costs at all or offer “guaranteed” closing costs. The mortgage business is still the wild west, so be careful.

You’ve probably seen charges on your checking account for items you never ordered and certainly don’t want. It’s happening because of a little-known piece of legislation that Congress passed eight years ago. It allows banks to “go into business with” any company and sell your financial information, and it’s made a lot of people rich at your expense. Sometimes these are legitimate organizations, but most of the time these are crooks. Banks are putting charges through every month for these “services,” and people don’t notice. The sad part is that, in the banking world, any money taken from you is gone after 60 days. In other words, if your bank is doing a deal with a sleazy company and your account is charged month after month, you can’t get any of it back after two months. One of these groups has 2,218 unresolved complaints with the Better Business Bureau. Another customer service organization, Ripoff Report, has close to 5,000 complaints against a company known as WLI Reservation Rewards. That’s a lot of complaints. You need to read through your credit card and bank statements every month. When is the last time you did that? You may be losing tons of money each year without your knowledge.

Clark has been pretty unhappy with several banks that have entered into alliances with “marketing companies” that supposedly offer some kind of service. One of these companies is called “Member Works,” which has changed its name to Vertrue. Clark has heard complaints about this company over the years, and now the state of Iowa is going after it for signing people up for services and then deducting the amount from your account. The companies can do this because they are in a relationship with your credit card or bank. One man was having a fee deducted from his account for 16 months without his knowledge. You must check your bank and credit card statements with a fine tooth comb each month. And be wary of trial memberships and free memberships.

Christa, Clark’s executive producer, nearly lost everything in one of her brokerage accounts recently. But thankfully she checks her account online several times a week and she prevented it from happening. While randomly checking her account, she saw that all of the stock in their pretty sizeable account was about to be sold. She immediately called the broker and learned that someone in Gainesville, Florida had hacked into her account and was getting ready to wire the money out. The really scary part is that there is no protection of brokerage accounts, but her company – eTrade – was able to get the money safely back in the account. So, if you don’t normally check your brokerage accounts, start! Often, if you’re not taking money out of these accounts, you don’t check them. But you need to. Brokerage firms are also starting “two-factor ID systems” using USB ports and other security methods to verify you are the account owner. But until then, monitor closely.

A new warning is out about people getting ripped off by mortgage brokers. These brokers have a huge incentive to overcharge people on loans because they get a huge kickback if they do. They make a huge mark-up, known as a “yield spread premium.” So, it’s imperative that you comparison shop when securing a loan. If you go to just one person to get a quote on a mortgage, you are doing yourself a disadvantage. It’s not against the law for them to do so either. But you want to ask if you’re paying a higher rate because of the yield spread premium. Clark thinks lenders should tell people the truth about their rate if they have nothing to hide. But for now it’s up to you to ask. Most people are not aware of the kickbacks going on with mortgage brokers and banks, but Clark wants you in the loop.

Last fall, Clark took several calls about a company called “12Daily Pro.” Clark didn’t name the company on the air at the time, but he tried to warn people just he same. And it turns out his warning was right. From 250,000 to 400,000 people put money into this pyramid scheme and got taken, news reports state. 12Daily Pro claimed people would earn a huge return on their money simply by installing an automatic surfing program on their computer. That didn’t happen. Any time you’re asked to put money into an organization in an effort to recruit others, you need to run the other way. The problem with these schemes is that, by the time these companies are found out and prosecuted, the money is gone. There is no way to make the claims stick. Clark wants to draw a distinction. A multi-level marketing association can be legitimate. If the company is really selling a product and believes in the product, it can be okay for you to work there. But if the emphasis is on recruiting people, and the organizers don’t care about whether you sell anything at all, it’s a pyramid scheme.

Many of America’s soldiers and sailors have been ripped off by investment salespeople who are allowed onto military posts and bases. The soldiers are usually quite young and are brought into sessions with officers and these salespeople. The soldiers are then coerced into investing in mutual funds that have 50 percent commissions. It has become a big story in Washington, but some of our troops still don’t know about it. The GAO (Government Accounting Office) has just written a report about what a ripoff these plans are. Some people in the Senate say they will outlaw these people coming on bases. But in the meantime, we’re letting our servicemen and women get ripped off. These are unholy alliances between officers and the salespeople, and it’s shameful. If you have a relative or friend in the military, be sure to warn that person about these vultures. Military folks have access to a TSP (Thrift Savings Plan), which has very low costs and no commissions. It’s the kind of investment our soldiers need.

There is a trend in direct marketing right now to send very misleading, yet convincing mailings that could wipe out your wallet. The main target is senior citizens and they are old fashioned ways of taking advantage of you. They mailings look like they’re coming from an official government organization or department. A popular one today uses a logo that looks like the one from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Really it’s just a pitch from a mortgage company to try and get you to refinance. Another one featured in the Washington Post looks exactly like an envelope from the U.S. Treasury, but it too is a refinance pitch. Many also look like correspondence from your bank or from some kind of “sweepstakes commission” or bureau that doesn’t exist. The Federal Trade Commission is very concerned about these scams, so warn your parents. These are all scams demanding payments, so be very careful.

Have you ever been to a Simon Mall? The company has built a brand image around its malls. So, Clark is at a loss as to why the company is treating everyone so poorly this holiday season. Simon’s gift card is what is causing all of the problems. Several states have filed lawsuits against the company because of them, in fact. New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire have all filed suit. The company has been accused of acting illegally because of all of the mice type and fees associated with the card. Even worse, this year is supposed to be huge for gift cards. Clark doesn’t understand why people continue to use these inferior forms of money. If you don’t use them in a certain period of time, you start to lose it. Remember that cash is king and everyone loves to get it.

The newest scam these days involves ripoffs on currency exchanges. Clark had only heard about this a few times, so he didn’t think it was that bad. But according to the Dow Jones News Wires, these scams are growing out of control. They are set up as traditional boiler room cons, where scam artists are using telephones to cold call you. They claim that, due to rapid movements in currencies, there are billions to be made. They also say their proprietary software to help you make moves on the spread. But the only thing they can do successfully is help you lose your money. The average person getting conned loses $15,000. And they don’t have to get too many people to agree to it before they’re making big bucks. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been stolen in this scam, but the amount per person is so high that it’s not registering as widespread. It’s a tricky game, nonetheless. If you hear a pitch for currency or livestock or oil, basically any commodities trading, run away! And if you don’t understand a pitch, don’t get involved.

Wells Fargo Bank is asking its customers to pay $13 a month to be able to view their own credit history. Clark thinks this is ridiculous because Wells Fargo is one of the organizations that allowed customer information to become compromised and available to crooks. Wells Fargo should not charge its customers to make up for its own carelessness! Do something about it and walk if you are a customer.

Several mutual fund companies have reached settlements with the SEC for misleading consumers regarding the sale of mutual funds, news reports state. Smith Barney, for example, was fined for not telling clients that its brokers were getting kickbacks for putting customers in certain mutual funds. If you’re a customer of Smith Barney, you may want to talk to your broker and find out what’s going on. American Express was also fined for engaging in practices similar to this, as was J.P. Morgan. Another company, Putnam Investments, paid a $40 million fine without admitting any wrongdoing. It makes it apparent once again that people should always buy mutual funds from no-commissioned companies. You save tons of money and you are no longer a sitting duck for the crooked mutual fund companies out there.

Clark wants to talk again about variable annuities and the damage they can do to seniors’ bank accounts. Road shows where variable annuities are sold are popping up all over the country. The target is “nursing home age” people and the hook is a free meal. Once the salespeople have them hooked, they push annuities with a 7 percent guarantee on investment. Sounds impressive right? Well, what these people aren’t told is that annuities have huge commissions that eat up your money. In addition, the penalty to get out of an annuity is 17.5 percent of the money you invested. And the 7 percent is not a guarantee at all. So, in sum, there is never a time when people – older folks especially - should buy a variable annuity. The groups that are supposed to regulate this industry are doing nothing. So, it’s up to you to protect your money and to tell your relatives about it. If your parents tell you they that they have gotten an invitation to a free breakfast, tell them not to go and treat them to a breakfast yourself.

Over the past four years, Clark has gotten lots of phone calls about phony cashier’s check scams. But over the past four months, those calls have been replaced by questions about a new counterfeit scam that has taken its place. Starting about Thanksgiving of last year, calls started coming into the show about phony money orders. Basically, criminals are using phony money orders to buy items through classified ads, on eBay and from retailers, and the phony forms look perfect. The New York Times published a comparison graphic recently that showed a legitimate USPS money order next to a fake one and they looked exactly the same. The reason cashier’s checks and money orders are so popular with criminals is that they haven’t changed much over recent decades. We need some type of electronic verification with these services before more people get taken.

Have you ever heard of an annuity? They are very expensive and don’t do much for you at retirement, but they’re still selling like mad these days. Why? Salespeople are working overtime pitching them to you and me, and it’s working. Annuity salespeople get a huge commission for selling them. The L.A. Times reports that one insurance company is selling annuities that won’t deliver until long after the buyer’s death. One doesn’t pay benefits until age 115. Yet, hundreds of people have bought the product. Another company is using 60 full-time telemarketers and 200 salespeople to sell these products. The pitch may talk about seminars on living trusts, but when you get there the product is really annuities. Except for teachers, who have to put their retirement in annuities, no one should buy these things. The benefit is overstated and the penalties are massive. Salespeople are targeting older people, some of whom are very trusting. So, get involved in your parents’ financial life, especially if they are elderly. Tell them never to let an insurance salesperson in their home and to never attend one of these seminars. You may be left picking up the pieces years from now. More states need to follow California, which now requires salespeople to give people 24 hours notice before they can appear on your doorstep.

Bank of America has reached a point where it has run out of account numbers for checking accounts. Instead of upgrading their systems with software, the banks have decided to take former customers account numbers and give the numbers to new customers. This creates a duplicate person on your old account number, which can mean big trouble. One guy had an old checkbook and decided to write checks to see if they would go through. They cleared perfectly, but the money was being withdrawn from a new customer’s checking account. When Bank of America found out, they bounced the checks and then the stores put the account number on a black list. So the new customer’s account number is on a black list, only because Bank of America tried to take the easy way out of its number problems. Bank of America says this is standard industry practice, but Clark thinks is just appalling.

Some of the best information on the show comes from callers who are getting railroaded by companies. One of those callers was David, who had gotten a check in the mail for $2.50. He didn't know it at the time, but the check was from a company affiliated with Avis rental car, a company with whom he had done business. If David deposited the check, he would give Avis rental car permission to give his credit card number to the other company. That company would then charge his credit card a $90 membership fee that would be automatically renewed every year. It was the first time Clark had heard of a non-bank or financial institution doing this, so he wanted to find out if it’s legal. Shockingly, it is. Any airline, car rental company or other business can share your personal information with an affiliate that can charge you money. Avis refused to go on the air about the check, but the company sent a letter saying it would not pass on personal information without the customer’s permission. They are able to get permission because customers are cashing the non-descript check with the mice type on the back. It’s underhanded and unscrupulous. If you get one of these checks, PLEASE do not cash it to make a quick buck. It’s not worth it!

Clark wants you to know about affinity fraud because it's back again and you could easily get taken. Affinity fraud has been around for many years, but lately doctors and churchgoers have gotten taken. Affinity fraud can take place among any group that hangs out together, though. So, it usually involves a violation of trust. The latest scam ripped off member of various churches who thought they were going to make millions of dollars on import and export deals. Included were such products as bottled water, scooters and more. And, as people were pulling in money, they would tell their friends about it and more people got involved. It spread like wildfire, especially in the evangelical Christian community. Now, $35 million of money is missing. The group behind the scam, which went by the name IPIC International, spent churchgoers’ money on expensive homes, a yacht and even a helicopter. The trick is to use people who are well-respected in their communities – such as doctors and church members – to spread the news. As people buy in, the crooks buy toys from themselves and then take off. The rule is that if you’re not investing in standard mutual funds or stocks, but are dipping into private deals like this, you have got to be careful. When people see money rolling in, they think it must be real. But if returns seem too high, it’s probably not legitimate. The first investors will make money, but after a while it collapses and so will your finances.

People are feeding into the frenzy of identity theft and are getting duped into buying pointless subscription services that claim to protect your identity. These services cost anywhere from $89 to $129 a year. And what people may not know is that many of them are allied with the credit bureaus that are responsible for so much of the ID theft going on. There are also notification services that send an e-mail anytime something changes on your credit card. Clark got a solicitation just yesterday from a service wanting him to buy “identity theft insurance.” If your identity is swiped, it takes a lot to get it cleaned up. But the industry at fault in so many ways is now trying to profit from its lack of response to this problem. Identity theft comes in all shapes, but most of it is very low tech. The basic guidelines are as follows: do not put your social security number on any form; shred as much paper you can if it has personal or financial information on it; and check your credit reports once a year. Clark also wants more laws on the book allowing free credit reports and outlawing social security numbers on health insurance cards and driver’s licenses. California is one state that is very progressive in preventing identity theft. They make it very hard for anyone to get your number. That is the way it should be.

Clark has talked about ways you can unlock certain cell phones and use them overseas. One of the suggestions he’d heard was to buy the phones on eBay. The listing says “world phones” and they appear to be real bargains. But many of these were scams. When you buy on eBay, you have no idea if what the seller claims is true. It’s the ultimate free marketplace, and it’s wide open to everyone – good and bad. Libertarians would say it’s great. Some people have bad experiences, and that’s just the way it goes. But Clark thinks eBay needs to take some initiative in policing what goes on at its site. He says it’s not like placing a classified ad because eBay is its own merchant and all transactions take place on the site, not separate from the newspaper as happens with classifieds. If eBay is going to do the right thing, the company needs to take another tack on its role in site transactions. Clark thinks eBay should set up a bonded marketplace. All sellers would have to be issued a performance bond for selling things. That way the site could ensure sellers and their products are legitimate. Clark isn’t talking about a “trusted seller” program. That’s a racket. This is a bonded seller program that certifies the transaction. In the meantime, consider using escrow services. For right now, you have to protect yourself.

Junk faxes are showing up in people’s fax machines more often these days. About 90 percent of the faxes Clark gets are junk faxes. They eat up his paper and cost him money. But a new junk fax from Canada could really hurt you in the wallet. These are ads tempting you to shop, drive a car or eat in a restaurant for COLD HARD CASH. All you have to do is call a 1-900 number to find out more. What you don’t know is that the phone call will cost you just about $30. It will cost you $100 if you call about all of the offers. To make matters worse, if you don’t want the faxes anymore, and you check the “opt out” box on the fax, you’ll be charged $8 for that fax. It’s unbelievable! If you don’t have 900 number block on your home or work phone, get it. You never know when someone will try to send you one of these or try to make a phone call from your home. It’s just smart!

Over the past four years, Clark has gotten tons of calls from people who have been duped by one of many third world country dictatorship scams. When people call who have lost money, it’s nearly impossible to get money back. Clark would much rather people call before they decide to help some corrupt government official who supposedly needs your help. At least he can try to stop them from throwing away their bank accounts. But many still go ahead and get involved out of greed. One man has written a book on these scams, which have come to be known as “Nigerian e-mail scams.” The book details his contact with these people over several months, after he received one of these e-mails. Tom Davis was supposed to wire 14,000 pounds of sterling to several different locations in Amsterdam. Then he would fly over and a security officer would take him around to the various locations to retrieve the money, which would be used for “administrative purposes.” For doing so, he would receive a cut of the $65 million purse that a former government official wanted to smuggle out of the country. Instead of just deleting the e-mail, he decided to see how far he could take these crooks. During the conversation he was able to discern that they were somewhere in Europe or Africa. He couldn’t find out much more than that, other than the fact that these outfits exist all over the globe. Once these people get your money, there is no way to get it back. So, don’t believe any of these bogus e-mails. Anyone who promises you free money, is selling you a lump of goal.

An old, evil scam is back in full force and Clark wants you to be aware of it. Phony check scams, according to the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, are ripping off more and more businesses. The FTC reports that approximately 3.3 million businesses have been ripped off in the past year. It works much like the phony checks that come to consumers’ homes in the amount of $2 or $3. The checks appear to come from a rebate fulfillment center, and most people throw them away because they know it’s a scam. But businesses fall victim because no one is monitoring the incoming checks and they get deposited with the others. By depositing the check, that business is signing up for some service that charges an annual fee. If you own your own business, remember that this is a hot scam. You may not even notice that someone is stealing money from you. So, have a system so that you know what checks are coming in and what checks are being deposited. And watch your telephone bills for charges you don't recognize.