Have you ever gotten an email from a friend claiming to be stuck in a foreign country and in need of funds?

Well, if you fell for that one, I’ve got a deal with a Nigerian prince you might be interested in.

Here’s how you can educate yourself on the different travel scams out there…

One of the primary agencies tracking financial scams is the Federal Trade Commission. They’ve been campaigning against travel fraud since 1997.

The latest program is called Travel Unravel, and has uncovered scams involving failure to disclose the actual cost of travel packages, free trip scams that involve charging fees, and failing to disclose that a timeshare presentation is part of a package.

Another great resource out there is the Web site, Consumerist.com, now owned by the non-profit Consumers Union, of Consumer Reports fame. They spotlight many of the latest scams and ripoffs, so this site has a wealth of information on possible scenarios.

The Better Business Bureau even has an entire page of prevention tips involving situations like ATM skimming and sporting event scams.

Even our own State Department has its own fraud warning page along with resources on who to contact if you think you’ve been scammed. â?¨

And last, but not least, if you think you’ve been ripped off by a travel company, I want to hear about it!

To get the news you can use to protect yourself, visit our Travel Safety & Security section.

And check out the rest of our Daily Travel Tips here.