In the United States, regulators -- who know very well just how effective such scams often are -- do their best to stop them before they get started.
The commission also released a list of the most effective online scams, including pyramid and get-rich-quick schemes, Internet auction fraud and "Web cramming -- the billing of customers for Web sites they do not know they have.
Mr. Hynes called the scheme "a simple but extremely effective real estate scam".
Its users trafficked in databases of stolen card accounts and devices like magnetic strip-encoders and card-embossers; they posted tips on vulnerable banks and stores and effective e-mail scams.
He added that the scam is effective because it plays on immigrants' fears. .
Maintaining a blog is another effective step against these scams.
SCAMs are politically effective because they equate uncertainty with the possibility that a problem may be less serious than anticipated, while ignoring the often greater likelihood that the problem may be more deleterious.
The scams are incredibly effective.
Prevention via education then becomes the most effective tool for combating such a scam.
Phone scammers continue to target grandparents with this scam because it is very effective and because seniors often lack the resources to report types of scams like this.
