Lesson: Get-rich-quick ideas are crocks. This classic offers laughs galore as a group of average Joes, blinded by greed, wreak havoc on the state of California and each other in an attempt to uncover a pile of lost loot. They find out that get-rich-quick schemes are not only foolhardy but often harmful.

According to a report by the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, confidence fraud such as Ponzi schemes, computer fraud and check fraud represent nearly 20% of all referred complaints. Nigerian letter fraud and identity theft represented almost 10% of all complaints. (See "Your 5-minute guide to protecting your identity.") Get-rich-quick work-at-home scams were also a big problem.

Although it's unlikely that trying to get rich quick will land you in a hospital, as happens to the movie's greedy characters, it can bust up your bank account pretty good. In the U.S. last year, the total dollar loss from all cases of fraud was $264.6 million. Now that hurts.

Continued: "It's a Wonderful Life"