One day you get a message (e-mail or fake Facebook/ MySpace accounts) or a phone call from somebody claiming she wants to help you. She will introduce herself respectfully and say the reason she called you is that your partner (yes, she will give your partner’s full real name) is cheating on you.

What do you do? You’ve been together for quite some time now and everything seemed to work fine. The caller might even give proof that she knows exactly who your partner is (describing the looks perfectly).

You are both upset and eager to know more, aren’t you? She is willing to give you the whole story if you…pay her. Depending on how serious your relationship has been, that’s where you might be willing to “invest” a few hundred dollars in your future. That’s how several victims fall for this scam, as nothing happens after wiring the money. The crooks found their targets on websites like Facebook or Twitter, where victims post their relationship status and phone numbers (or e-mail addresses) without using the privacy settings.

How to avoid: if you are in a really sound relationship, you will know straight away there is no truth in this. If you have any doubts, offer to meet in person, so you can put a face to the cash extortion police complaint.