Cruisin' for losin': Calls trip alarms

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• THE SCAM: Free trip to nowhere

• HOW IT WORKS: With all this wet weather, a trip on a cruise ship to a sunny destination sounds pretty good -- even better if it's free. All you have to do, according to the caller, is participate in a brief survey. Once you've done that, you use your ZIP code at a special site to get more information on your free trip. At the site, you're inundated with ads for various companies and, finally, the promise that a "cruise coordinator" will call with all your travel plans.

• WHAT'S AT STAKE: Any advance fees you pay or personal information you give out.

• HOW TO BEAT IT: Probably the survey question asking whether you have a septic tank at your home should be a big red flag. A little research will also reveal that the cruise line and ship you're supposed to travel on longer exist: One's out of the business and the other sold for scrap. While free is hard to resist, it's important to remember that you often get exactly what you pay for -- nothing. So if cruising to someplace warm and sunny sounds too good to be true, it could be. Then again, it might be worth it to pay a real cruise line or trusted local travel agent to book you just such a trip. Sun, sea and salt air -- priceless.

For a look at past scams, go to www.modbee.com/business/scam.