Welcome to the first ever Carnival of Fraud. This blog carnival is intended to be a weekly feature, as long as there is enough interest. We’re devoting this carnival to all things fraud. Any blog posts involving fraud, scams, or other dishonesty are welcome. Without further ado….

Each day, it seems I learn something about fraud that I didn’t know before. (And I think I know quite a lot about fraud!) Today I learned that blog readers can be vulnerable to malicious code. I also hadn’t considered the idea that bad credit can be deleted, but it can!

We’re inundated daily with stories of fraud, but sometimes ordinary stories can mischaracterize information. This can especially be a problem with stories involving governments and politics. So is civil disobedience fraud, or is it just a result of people standing up to the fraud committed by governments? All I know is that our government officials ought to be acting with the utmost of integrity, and if they don’t, they should suffer the consequences.

On the more practical side of things, business owners need to be aware of whether their company’s reputation is costing them sales. Blogging may be a good way to get publicity, but companies need to consider how different types of blogs can work for different businesses.

Business owners and executives should be familiar with the five steps they should take after they discover a fraud. This is important because fraud is so rampant in all industries and markets. Don’t ever think that investigating a potential fraud is an overreaction. Sometimes no fraud is found, but isn’t it good to know?

Note that next week’s carnival will be published on Tuesday instead of Monday, as on Monday I am participating in a tribute to the 2,996 victims of 9/11. Submit your article for the next edition here.