Thinking about a debt consolidation loan? If so, be careful of the "advanced fee" loan scam. This is a scam where a lender takes an advance fee, but never delivers anything.

Younger people are disproportionately victimized by advance fee loan scams. While 22 percent of the people who reported Internet fraud to NCL last year were under the age of 30, that age group represented 32 percent of the advance fee loan complaints. In telemarketing fraud, 14 percent of all complainants in 2000 were under 30, but 33 percent of the advance fee loan victims were in that age group. Many young people don't understand how credit works and haven't have established credit records yet, making them vulnerable prey to loan cons.

The best advice is to compare different loan programs to find the one that's best for you. Keep an eye on the fees. Take notes, and compare, compare and compare again. Then you'll make a smart decision.