Probably one of the worst scams is the dialer, which affect people with dial-up connections (i.e. not broadband.) If you are ever browsing the Internet (maybe downloading stuff, maybe not) and your Internet connection drops out and then redials, it is possible that you are being subjected to a dialer scam. The dialer reconnects using a totally different phone number, which can be set to charge you any amount the scammer wants. I know of one that charges £20 per minute with a 5-minute minimum. The way to check if this has happened to you is this: first close your Internet connection. Then (if you are using Windows XP) go to Start, Control Panel, Network connections. If you see any connections in there that you don't recognize, right click on them and choose Properties. If the phone number displayed starts with 09, you are being charged a premium rate fee every time you use this connection. (This applies to UK people - I don't know about other countries.) Click cancel, then click on the connection and press delete on the keyboard. Or you can contact your phone line provider and ask them to block premium rate numbers, sometimes it can be international numbers too so it might be an idea to block those if you don't make international calls.
