Although it’s only been 2011 for a few months, there is already a lot of new money scam news. Before we get to the bad, it’s worth discussing one piece of good news. Google recently won a lawsuit for 1 1/2 million dollars against a company that had been scamming consumers by promising to help them earn more money through a secret system that involved Google. Not only did Google take a bite out of their money, but the courts also prohibited the company from launching any similar programs in the future.

While Google was able to knock out that money scammer, there are already new money scams popping up in 2011. The first is a scam that is being conducted throughout Arizona. This scam involves perpetrators telling victims that they have won a big sweepstakes. The way the scammers get money is by also telling these people that they need to pay taxes on their winnings. Because there isn’t actually any sweepstakes winnings, the so-called taxes go directly into the scammers pockets.

The next scam that’s making news in 2011 involves the recent disaster in Japan. Sickeningly enough, some scammers are using this horrible event to their advantage. Scammers are calling people and asking for donations to help the people of Japan. Because people want to help, scammers are able to lure some of the people they call into transferring money to them.

The other scam you need to be aware of is people imitating family or friends in an attempt to get targets to send money. While this probably sounds like a scam that couldn’t happen to you, just keep in mind that this has already been labeled as one of the top 10 scams of 2011.