Law enforcement officials have identified the top dot cons consumers face when they're surfing the Internet. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) works continually to put con artists out of business, and wants us to know how not to get caught in their web.

Help us all and report Internet fraud. To report a fraud online, go here: https://rn.ftc.gov/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01.

According to the FTC, here's what online consumers are complaining about the most, and what to do about it:

1. Internet Auctions

The Scam: Consumers who bid on items send their money in and receive a different item, an item of less value, or, worse, nothing at all.

How to Protect Yourself: If you're bidding on an item, particularly something valuable, check out the seller and insist on paying with a credit card of using an escrow service. Don't ever send a check.

2. Credit Card Fraud

The Scam: Particularly on adult sites, they'll ask you for a credit card number to "prove you're over 18" and then charge things on the card.

Scam-proofing Yourself: Give credit card information only to companies you trust. Check your credit card statements carefully, and dispute unauthorized charges by complaining to the bank that issued the card. (Federal law limits your liability to $50 in charges if your card is misused.)

3. International Modem Dialing

The Scam: Consumers are offered free access to adult material and pornography by downloading a "viewer" or "dialer" computer program. Then exorbitant LD charges appear on their phone bill. Through the program, their modem is disconnected, then reconnected to the Internet through an international LD number.

Scam-proofing Yourself: Don't download any program to access a so-called "free" service without reading all the disclosures carefully. Also read your phone bill carefully and challenge any charges you didn't authorize or don't understand.

4. Web Cramming

The Scam: You'll be offered a free custom-designed website for a 30-day trial period, with no obligation to continue. Later you'll find you've been charged on your telephone bill or you'll receive a separate invoice even if you neither accepted the offer nor agreed to continue the service after the trial period.

Scam-proofing Yourself: Review your telephone bills carefully and challenge any charges you don't recognize.

5. Multilevel Marketing Plans/ Pyramids

The Scam: Once you buy into the plan or program you find out your customers are all other distributors, not the general public. Some multi-level marketing programs are actually illegal pyramid scheme. Selling only to distrubtors, there's no way to make money.

Scam-proofing Yourself: Don't get involved in plans that require you to recruit distributors, buy expensive inventory or commit to a minimum sales volume.

6. Travel and Vacation

The Scam: You're offered a luxury trip with lots of "extras" at a bargain price. Instead the companies deliver lower-quality accommodations and services or no trip at all. Others have been hit with hidden charges or additional requirements after they've paid.

Scam-proofing Yourself: Get references on any travel company you're planning to use. Then get the details of the trip in writing, including the cancellation policy, before you sign on.

7. Business Opportunities

The Scam: Once you invest in what amounts to a get-rich-quick scheme - be your own boss, work out of your home - it's a flop. There's no evidence to back up the earnings claims

Scam-proofing Yourself: Talk to other people who started businesses through the same company, get all the promises in writing, and study the proposed contract carefully before signing. Get an attorney or an accountant to take a look at it too.

8. Investments in Day Trading

The Scam: Make an initial investment in a day trading system or service that claims to predict the market with 100% accuracy. And of course they don't.

Scam-proofing Yourself: Check out the promoter with state and federal securities and commodities regulators, and talk to other people who invested through the program to find out what level of risk you're assuming.

9. Health Care Products/Services

The Scam: You're offered "miracle" products and treatments not sold through traditional suppliers that have been "proven" to cure serious and even fatal health problems, such as anthrax, and AIDS.

Scam-proofing Yourself: Consult a health care professional you trust before buying any "cure-all" that claims to treat a wide range of ailments or offers quick cures and easy solutions to serious illnesses. Remember that things that seem "too good to be true," usually are.

Identity fraud is also increasing alarmingly. If you get only one thing from this article, be aware you should be checking your credit card statements and phone bills very carefully, and being careful about to whom you give your credit card number. P.S. These are the things most complained about. They are not the things that cause the largest loss of money; investment schemes still take the prize for that.