A telemarketing fraud scheme often begins when you receive a postcard or letter in the mail describing an appealing offer. To take advantage of the offer, you're told to call a toll-free number. When you call, the telemarketer has a convincing sales pitch. The following could be some of the characteristics of false telemarketing scheme.

• The offer sounds too good to be true. An unbelievable-sounding deal probably is not true.

• High-pressure sales tactics. A swindler often refuses to take no for an answer; he has a sensible-sounding answer for your every hesitation, inquiry, or objection.

• Insistence on an immediate decision. Swindlers often say you must make a decision "right now," and they usually give a reason, like, "The offer will expire soon."

• You are one of just a few people eligible for the offer. Don't believe it. Swindlers often send out hundreds of thousands--and sometimes millions--of solicitations to consumers across the nation.

• Your credit card number is requested for verification. Do not provide your credit card number (or even just its expiration date) if you are not making a purchase, even if you are asked for it for "identification" or "verification" purposes, or to prove "eligibility" for the offer. If you give your card number, the swindler may make unauthorized charges to your account, even if you decide not to buy anything. Once that is done, it may be very hard to get your money back.

• You are urged to provide money quickly. A crook may try to impress upon you the urgency of making an immediate decision by offering to send a delivery service to your home or office to pick up your check. This may be to get your money before you have a chance to think carefully about the offer and change your mind, or to avoid the possibility of mail fraud charges in the future.

• There is no risk. All investments have some risk, except for U.S. Government obligations. And if you are dealing with a swindler, any "money-back guarantee" he makes will simply not be honored.