How You Can Spot Email Scams

Along with spam advertisements hawking prescription medicines, 'cheap' mortgage rates and online gambling sites, there are a number of common scams whose sole goal is to separate you from your money.

One well-known example, circulating for years now, is the Nigerian bank scam. The sender, allegedly the wife or relative of a former dictator or government official (usually in Nigeria, hence the name) tells the sad story of how millions were deposited in a bank account which is no longer accessible. In exchange for your help, they're willing to share this wealth - for a few mere thousands from your bank account for 'expenses'. As ludicrous as it seems, people fall for this every year. In one well-publicized case an elderly Czech man who had lost his life savings to this scam shot the Nigerian consul in Prague.

Another fairly common scam is investments with extraordinary returns. They'll claim to be risk-free but this is obviously not the case. Once you send them your initial investment, it's highly unlikely you'll ever hear from them again, unless it's to ask for more money.

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

Firstly, never ever reply to spam, either by hitting reply or by clicking a link in the email. These things will only serve to confirm your email address is active and you will shortly start to receive much more spam than you do already.

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.

Spam isn't an easy things to stop, but if you don't recognize the person sending you the message, and it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Besides, how many dead Nigerian dictators with huge bank accounts can there really be?