The Top 10 Scams for Submariners to Watch For Nowadays

M.E. has credentialled fraud investigation training and many years of experience. One might expect he would be the last person to fall prey to a scam --- my expectation exactly.
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Recently, however, guess who was almost a victim? Statements are read immediately and any mysterious charge followed up without delay. Someone had my charge card information, but how? The charge was less than $5, and many people may never have noticed it. In that case, one could expect to be hit either with recurring minor charges monthly, or one COUP DE GRÂCE in the not too distant future.
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There were only two possibilities: a legitimate online hardware supply house (with a larcenous employee, no doubt), and a gas station used for decades. Guess my hardware is going to be more difficult to come by next time.
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What do you need to know? Many will need to know what Smishing (#5), Social media scams (#6) and SPLOGS (#7) are. They rank in the Vancouver Island Better Business Bureau's TOP TEN LIST for 2010. They are also particularly applicable to submariners homeported in the West Puget Sound-Bremerton-Bangor-Kitsap area. Why? Because many fraudsters living on the West coast have been trying to do these things to you and yours.
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Oh, and we must still be alert to the old-style frauds that we had been alert to for many years, such as Door-to-door sales (#1), Auto rental scams (#2), and Overcharges (#3), of course.
Please be careful.
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Submarines are always silent and strange.