In the past week I have received 5 text messages on my cell phone offering me quick and easy loans online. These text messages are completely unsolicited and I have never heard of the websites being advertised, let alone been to them. Worse still, every text message could potentially cost me money if they cause me to exceed the alloted number of text messages in my plan.

Spam text messages to cell phones are becoming more common, more annoying and more costly for consumers. At least one company responsible for flooding cell phones with unsolicited text messages is being sued for violating the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The state of Illinois has filed a federal lawsuit against C & C Global Enterprises, L.L.C., www.resortsellers.com and two individuals, the operators of www.webuyresorts.com and www.resortsellers.com. The company has also been sued by Cingular Wireless and the state of Georgia for spamming cell phones with messages offering to buy the recipient’s time share, even though many of them didn’t own time shares.

Cell phone users often view their cell phone as their one refuge from unwanted calls and telemarketers, yet 8 in 10 cell phone users have received an unsolicted text messages. The incidence of cell phone spamming is expected to increase.

Mobile network operators are still in the early stages of testing technological answers to the problem of preventing spam attacks on their customers. If you receive spam text messages, report it to your carrier.

We’ve all seen the ads that promise big income for little investment. The jobs that promise us more free time and greater control over our lives. Usually the ads or emails declare something along the line of “Work From Home Stuffing Envelopes!”. Sounds like easy money, and it can be - if you are the scammer who places the ad.

Envelope-stuffing scams are pretty basic. You pay a small fee to get started. What you receive, however, will be instructions on how to send the same envelope-stuffing ad out to others in bulk emailings. The only money you may earn comes from others who fall for the scheme. Congratulations, you’ve become a scammer too.

Let’s face it, unsolicited email offers are not likely to result in legitimate employment. Although there are real jobs you can do from home, envelope-stuffing is one of the oldest scams, dating back well before email when the ads were found in the back of tabloids and magazines. It’s tried and true and still entices enough people to make it worthwhile for the scammer.

Make your work at home the task of deleting these email schemes as soon as they hit your inbox.

The savvy internet user keeps abreast of the news when it comes to email and internet scams and schemes. Being wary and informed is the best way to avoid identity theft, fraud and financial loss. As consumers become aware of the old scams, the thieves concoct new ones. Often the emails purport to be from banks and government agencies.

These two scams reported on the FBI website stretch the imagination:

The first threatens the life of the recipient. The sender claims to be a hit-man who was hired to kill the email recipient but in exchange for several thousand dollars will call off the killing. The sender of the email threatens to carry out the killing immediately if the recipient goes to the police and demands a quick response and a telephone number to be provided. The FBI warns against responding to this email in any way or providing any personal information.

The second is a twist on the first but purports to come from the FBI in London. The email states that an individual was recently arrested for several murders in the US and the UK and that information was found on the suspect identifying the email recipient as the next name on his hit list. It further states that the email recipient should respond to help in their investigation. This email is a scam and does not originate with the FBI.

For more information on these email scams and how to report them, visit the FBI website.

The Federal Trade Commission has filed a complaint against a scheme calling itself “America’s Premier Debt Consolidation Company” for violating the FTC Act and the FTC’s “Telemarketing Sales Rule”.

According to the complaint,the defendants have violated the FTC Act and the TSR by falsely claiming that they are a nonprofit entity; that the only cost for their services is a monthly administrative fee that is less than $49 and/or that there is no application fee; that their services will result in estimated savings of a specified amount, typically several thousand dollars; and that their services will reduce the consumer’s monthly payment or total debt, or will improve their credit rating. In fact, the complaint states, in addition to a monthly administrative fee, the defendants charge a fee equal to the monthly payment, which is collected from the consumer’s first payment; they overstate the estimated savings, if any; their services do not necessarily reduce the consumer’s monthly payment or total debt; and they do not provide any service to improve, or prevent deterioration of, a customer’s credit record, history, or rating.

The defendants used recorded messages delivered to answering machines stating “We are a nonprofit agency that can consolidate your credit cards, lower your monthly payments dramatically, and reduce your interest rates down to as low as 1.5 percent.”

The defendants also use mail and Web sites (www.expressconsolidation.org and www.expressconsolidation.com) to get consumers to contact them, the complaint alleges.

The defendants are attorney Randall L. Leshin, P.A., d/b/a Express Consolidation, Express Consolidation Inc., and Consumer Credit Consolidation Inc. and its president, Maureen A. Gaviola. The Commission vote to authorize staff to file the complaint was 5-0. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.