SherWeb

Everyone with a pulse and an email account has been subject to at least a dozen or two email scams. Almost all of them can be grouped into just a handful of categories, however. One of the most common email scam themes is one in which some purportedly credible, wealthy person somehow needs the help of a complete stranger (i.e., the scam’s victim) in order to regain access to his funds. This person promises a portion of these gains to you if you only temporarily part with a small amount of money in order to gain access to his fortune.

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Despite all of the press coverage devoted to this scam, it is hard to believe how effective it continues to be at relieving people of their hard-earned money. Preventing yourself from falling victim is extremely easy though–simply ignore unsolicited email. Just as you would do with traditional postal mail or people on the street, just refuse to give money to strangers. Besides, it can safely be said that 99% of most average Americans need not do business with anyone in Ghana, Togo, or Nigeria anyway.

Email lottery scams are very similar in nature to the previous scam but instead rely on fooling the recipient into thinking they have won a large sum of money rather than asking for help. In this case, the scammer, posing as the lottery’s “claims agent”, gets his money by requiring a “processing fee” before he or she can release the winnings to the victim. Again, protecting yourself from this scam is simple. If you didn’t buy a lottery ticket, you are in no position to win one. Lotteries tickets are not generated from thin air. Furthermore, legitimate lotteries cannot require winners to pay a fee in order to claim their prizes. Any real fees, charges, and/or taxes that could legally be imposed must be subtracted from the winnings rather than assessed beforehand. Lastly, lottery email scams almost always originate from “freebie” email accounts offered from sites like Yahoo! or Hotmail. They almost never originate from “custom” addresses using their own unique domain names.

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Another all-too-common email scam revolves around the scammer posing to be an authoritative figure at an institution with whom you do business (i.e. a bank or merchant). Their email requests you to verify your records with them by logging into your online account. Clicking on the so-called login verification link embedded within the email leads you to an impostor site designed with the sole purpose of conning you into revealing your username and password. This one is particularly dangerous, as the fraudster can user your login information to delete your account, commit identity theft, or even bleed your bank account dry.

Chain letter scams are another form of all-too-common email trickery commonly seen these days. Although cloaked in many colors, a popular chain letter scam involves fake offshore companies enticing the victim into participating in an investment scheme by sharing their bank details and convincing their friends and relatives to follow suit by forwarding on the email. Chain letter scams are not new, however, as one of the most famous ones was seen as early as 1997. At that time, millions of email users began receiving email claiming to be an offer from Microsoft which paid out thousands of dollars if individuals forwarded on the email. Dozens and dozens of variants have been created ever since, ranging from phony investment schemes to sob stories preying on one’s emotional side.

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If you receive an email even faintly resembling one of the above, the best advice would be to delete these emails right away. More often than not, these emails fall in the “too good to be true” category and nothing other than centuries-old scam tactics modernized for the Internet-age. For those who just can’t seem to resist, at least verify the email’s credibility through an independent “hoax-checker” website like Snopes or HoaxBusters. These sites can not only put your curiosity to rest but also serve as credible sources to back up any emails you forward on to your friends and family in efforts to stop them from furthering these nuisances on to other innocent bystanders. At the very least you should warn the person who sent you that the email is bogus and should no longer be forwarded.