The newly designed ploys include email scams that contain links or attachments that may redirect users to malicious websites, and fake antivirus attacks that come in the form of pop-ups that flash security warnings and ask the user for credit card information. Phishing emails and websites requesting personal information commonly appear after this type of news, US CERT said in a release.

To protect themselves, US-CERT encourages users to avoid clicking on unsolicited web links or attachments in emails and to have up-to-date antivirus software.

The criminals call the victims, identify themselves as FDA special agents or other law enforcement officials. The scammers  inform the victims that purchasing drugs over the Internet or the phone is illegal, and that law enforcement action will be taken unless a fine or fee ranging from $100 to $250,000 is paid. Victims often also have fraudulent transactions placed on their credit cards.

Victims are always asked to send money by wire transfer to a designated location, usually in the Dominican Republic. Those who refuse to part with their money are often threatened with a search of their property, arrest, deportation, physical harm and/or incarceration.

“Impersonating an FDA official is a violation of federal law,” said Dara Corrigan, the FDA’s associate commissioner for regulatory affairs. “FDA special agents and other law enforcement officials are not authorized to impose or collect criminal fines. Only a court can take such action.”

Victims of extortion-related calls have also received phone solicitations for additional pharmaceutical purchases from other possibly related, illegal entities outside of the United States. The extortionists use customer lists provided through previous purchase transactions, which include names, addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, credit card account numbers.

Usually, these criminals use phone numbers that change constantly and make it seem as though their calls originate in the United States.

The Better Business Bureau recently released its top 10 scams and rip-offs, and following, in no particular order, is the tally of schemes that swept the United States in 2010:

Job Hunter Scams – Scams targeting job seekers come in different forms and include attempts to extract personal information such as bank account or Social Security numbers and requirements to pay a fee to even be considered for the employment.

Debt Relief and Settlement Services – These companies often require upfront fees and potentially leave the consumer in even more debt. Complaints to BBB about debt relief and settlement services increased by approximately 30 percent in 2010, according to tentative year-end estimates.

Work-from-Home Schemes – Some work-from-home schemes promise to a quick buck for minimal effort, others claim you can make money assembling items at home or get paid to be a mystery shopper. But instead of getting paid, victims can end up losing hundreds—even thousands—of dollars

Timeshare Resellers –Timeshare owners who desperately want to get rid of their expensive vacation property are being targeted by companies that claim they have an interested buyer. The company tells the seller they just have to pay up to several thousand dollars to cover fees. After paying the fees, the seller never hears from the company again.

Not So “Free” Trial Offers – Misleading free-trial offers online for diet supplements and money-making schemes result in thousands of complaints ever year. The free-trial offers seem no-risk, but complainants said they were repeatedly billed every month and found it extremely difficult to cancel.

Itinerant Home Repair/Roofers – BBBs across the country received complaints from consumers who had hired the services of a door-to-door salesman or itinerant worker who failed to deliver on promises to fix their roof or conduct other work. Complaints to BBB about roofing companies increased by roughly 40 percent in 2010, according to tentative estimates.

Lottery and Sweepstakes Scams – The victim—often a senior citizen–receives a letter or phone call from a person posing as a representative from Reader’s Digest, Publisher’s Clearing House or a phony foreign lottery. The scammer claims the victim has won millions, but must first wire money back to the scammers to cover taxes or some other bogus fee. The victim wires the money, but never sees the prize.

Identity Theft – There are any number of ways a person can become a victim of identity theft. Through low-tech theft, phishing emails, vishing phone calls, smishing text messages, millions fall victim to identity theft every year, according to BBB.

Advance-Fee Loan Scams – Advance-fee loan scams exploit consumers and business owners who are struggling financially. Victims are told they qualify for large loans, but must pay upfront fees. The victim wires money to the scammers, but never receives the loan.

Overpayment Scams - Overpayment scams typically target small-business owners, landlords or individuals with rooms to rent, and sellers on classifieds. The scammers overpay the amount for the services or products and then ask the victim to wire the extra amount back to them. Ultimately, however, the check is forged and the victim loses the money wired back to the scammers.

Pretending to be the victim, the hacker uses victims’ account to send a message to their contacts. The notice claims the victim is in immediate need of money due to being robbed and left stranded in London or some other location.

Some claim they only have a few days to pay their hotel bill and promise to reimburse after returning home. A sense of urgency to help their friend/contact may cause the recipient to fail to validate the claim, increasing the likelihood of their falling for this scam.

IC3 mentions one easy step to take to avoid becoming victim of these scams: If you receive a similar notice and are not sure it is a scam, verify the information before forking out a smaller fortune.

The Doritos scam–of unknown origin–grew bigger in the past few weeks as more and more people spread the coupon via email. Although a bag of chips may not sound like a big problem, Frito-Lay spokeswoman Aurora Gonzalez told AolNews the losses could end up in the multimillions: The dollar value of fake coupons submitted in recent weeks equaled 5 percent of Frito-Lay’s real coupon offerings for all of 2009.

According to FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, the Doritos scam is part of a growing trend of online schemes: Last year, web-based scams took in $559.7 million, which is more than double from the previous year.

“The opportunity for people to scam each other on the Internet keeps increasing,” Jenny Shearer, an FBI spokeswoman, told AolNews.

A number of websites have already been established about the disaster. While no malicious websites have been detected, security researchers at the SANS Institute believe that cyber criminals will use the disaster to set up false sites to conduct phishing attacks, according to an article on SCMagazineUS.com.

Cyber criminals can exploit the disaster in a variety of ways to propogate malicious software and for phishing attacks. Creating false donation websites would allow cyber criminals to harvest personal and financial information from un-suspecting users. Additionally, false video or photo links could also prompt the download of malicious software onto a victim’s machine.

In order to protect against these threats, potential donors should only use charities that they know and trust. Additionally, users should not download videos that require a user to download an additional plug-in to view the material, as the plug-in may contain malware.