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Are you a victim of crime of persuasions, schemes, scams and frauds --- Telemarketing fraud?

What is Telemarketing Fraud? Telemarketing fraud is defined simply by the principle medium of contact used to perpetrate the fraud. Legitimate businesses use the same "tools" to sell their products, so consumers need to know the warning signs associated with telemarketing fraud. They should not be, but are often confused with legitimate telemarketing operations. At present, The Federal Trade Commission estimates that there are more than of 14,000 fraudulent telemarketing businesses operate in North America alone.

Operations may consist of a single individual in a makeshift and portable office facility set up with a bank of phones. There are two kinds of calls namely:

• Outbound calls. When calls have not been preceded with promotional materials but are made from lists of leads or at random.

• Inbound calls. If consumers are encouraged or induced to call a number on their own.

A number of these operations take extraordinary measures to increase the difficulty of successful investigation and prosecution. These measures include

• Using cell phones. It is sometimes in conjunction with prepaid "calling cards", which can be discarded after several weeks of intensive use.

• Using stolen identity cards. These stolen cards are being used to open mail drops for receipt of payments that victims mail to them

• Using multiple mail drops. Shuttle victim-related mail through multiple destinations

• Impersonation of FBI and Customs agents or RCMP officers. To make victims believe that law enforcement is already aware of their losses

• Contracting with other telemarketing "boiler rooms". Are small sales offices that can spring up and close down overnight. The only desk furniture is a telephone

• Laundering. Laundering of fraud proceeds through foreign bank accounts.

Targets tend to be poor, often elderly people and those with a lot of debt and little chance of obtaining credit. Their names may appear on "sucker" lists. These are people with bad credit and heavy debts --- lured by the promise of a new card. Companies buy and sell these names.

Detailed below are how to avoid becoming a victim of telemarketing fraud:

• Ask for written information. Salespeople may not explain the complete details of the product and the cost. Legitimate companies will send you the details upfront and never insist that you act immediately.

• Don’t give your credit card or bank account information. There is no reason why the company would need that information for any other purpose.

• Watch out for imposters. Crooks may pretend to be calling on behalf of well-known company or government agency and request payment for product or services rendered, when they have absolutely no connection with them at all and will simply pocket your money.

• Add your phone number to the National Do Not Call Registry. This will reduce the chance that you will be contacted again as your name is sold to other scam artists.

Unwanted telemarketing calls are often triggered by responding to unwanted paper junk mail. Reduce unwanted junk mail that lead to a number of unwanted telemarketing calls. If you will pay your credit card, do not pay for that item on your credit card bill until you've received, examined and are satisfied with your product or price.

Remember that unsolicited telemarketing sales are not final until you have received written confirmation of the sale and you have three days after you receive your written confirmation to cancel an unsolicited telemarketing sale. The good news is, you may be able to undo the damage. Beware!

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