If someone is pitching you a financial product (such as a stock, a bond or an investment fund)...

• Use the NASD's BrokerCheck service (nasd.com or 800-289-9999) to verify that the person is licensed to sell securities; to check for any customer complaints, regulatory fines or criminal convictions; and to find out whether the product being pitched is registered.

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• Contact your state securities regulator (find it via nasaa.org) to see if an investment firm or adviser is licensed locally.

If someone is offering you a service or business opportunity (such as a work-at-home job or a loan)...

• See if your local Better Business Bureau (lookup.bbb.org) has any complaints on the company. The BBB also has reliability report cards (search.bbb.org) on nearly 2.5 million businesses.
• Contact the Federal Trade Commission (ftc.gov or 877-382-4357) to find out if the FTC has taken an enforcement action against the company that is pitching you.

If it's anything else that sounds too good to be true (such as a notice that you have won a prize)...

• Google it. Plug the name of a company and its owners into a search engine; you might also add the word "fraud" or "scam" to narrow the search. If there's any negative feedback out there, you'll likely turn it up.
• Visit the Scam Alerts section of FirstGov for Consumers (consumer.gov/yourmoney.htm) to check on the latest list of cons and tips on how to avoid them.

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Scam Speak: Hear these lines, and your fraud alarm should start buzzing.

4 scams: How to avoid them