A Suze Orman exclusive

First, find yourself a mirror. Take a good look. That is the only person you can truly trust 100 percent with your money. You are never going to find anyone who cares about your money and your future as much as you do. So stop blindly trusting people you don't even know with your financial security! Or letting someone sell you on an investment without your really understanding what the heck it is!

Next, let's all agree on a very simple concept that can provide complete protection from any form of financial fraud: If something is too good to believe, IT IS! An email promising you a 100 percent return on a stock in six weeks is a joke - shame on you for even opening it. A telemarketer telling you it's a snap to make $100,000 from home working four hours a week is a fraudster. You'll be required to spend hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars on supplies and start-up costs, and your chances of financial success are about as good as mine to win a 100-yard dash against Justin Gatlin. The only reason folks like that can make any money is because you are letting your greed (okay, maybe it's a little bit of naiveté too) get the best of you. Yeah, scammers are scum. But they have been around for centuries. And the only reason they are still here is because people still fall for their come-ons. The easier it sounds, the harder you are going to fall.

Don't Call (or Email) Me, I'll Call You.
Identity theft is a huge problem in the U.S. In fact, it tops the list of consumer complaints to the Federal Trade Commission. Identity theft is when someone gets a piece of your financial info, like a social security or financial account number, and then either raids your account - running up illegal charges on your credit card is a favorite - or, even worse, uses your info to open a fraudulent account.

One of the most popular ways ID thieves snooker folks into coughing up info is to send an official-looking email or make an official-sounding phone call, saying they need to "verify" some of your account information.

Stop right there. Do not pass go. You are never - and I mean never ever - to give any information to someone who has contacted you out of the blue. If you think they're legit, call the company's 800 customer service line (or contact customer service through their website) for verification. If it was a legitimate request, the customer service person can help you right then and there. The point, my friends, is that you have to make sure a person is who they say they are before you share any important information.