How You Can Spot Email Scams

We\'ve all received spam trying to sell us things such as prescription medications, cheap mortgages and internet gambling. Most people just hit delete and move on, but there are some scams that are a little more serious.

One of the most common is the Nigerian bank scam. Someone sends you an email pretending to have some kind of relationship to a government official who has recently died, most often in Nigeria. They claim to know about money that was deposited in a secret account that is not accessible to them. In exchange for paying the \"transfer fees\" and accepting the money in your account, you get to keep a large portion of it. Of course, there is no money and they just want to get your bank account information and the transfer fees you send them.

Some Internet scams offer investment opportunities with huge paybacks. They usually claim to be risk-free, but once they have your money, you\'re very unlikely to see any return. Another common scam involves offering credit cards for those with bad credit ratings - just send a security deposit and processing fees. In return you get - that\'s right - nothing. And by the time you start to investigate, the scam artist has disappeared.

Remember these offers are worse than even ordinary spam. Legitimate businesses do not promote their products by spamming. They e-mail selected groups, generally those who have purchased from them before or voluntarily offered an e-mail address. Other offers should usually be ignored. Simply hit your delete button. However, even highlighting the e-mail in order to delete it can signal a spammer that you received one.

How To Avoid Getting Scammed

First, never reply to spam. This just tells the spammer that your email is in fact valid and the amount of spam you\'ll receive will quickly multiply. Some spam will even include a link at the bottom for removing yourself from their list. If it\'s a true spam email, don\'t use this - it just confirms your email address as well. If you did sign up to receive the email however, this is a legitimate way of removing yourself from future mailings.

Above all, never give your credit card number, bank account details or private data to anyone unknown over the Internet. PayPal, for example, and other legitimate online businesses will never ask for your password in an email. One common scam is to fake return addresses and tailor subject lines and content so the message appears to be from them or another financial institution \'confirming\' your information. Don\'t fall for them.

How do you know whether it\'s spam? Since, one man\'s spam is sometimes another\'s welcomed advertisement, there\'s no perfect answer. But there is one good rule of thumb: if you don\'t recognize the sender, it\'s probably not someone you want to hear from. After all, how many former dictators in Nigeria are you likely to know?