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by: PaulWilcox
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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.

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.

These fake offers are particularly bad for legitimate businesses who use email for doing business. Because so much email is spam, the internet service providers and email hosting companies work hard to filter it out. But these filters can sometimes stop legitimate email from businesses you want to hear from.

How To Avoid Getting Stung

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.

Never send any private information like credit card numbers or username & passwords by email. Legitimate companies like Paypal or your bank will never ask for these things directly through email.

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?

About the Author

Are you wonder how to safely avoid spam and other internet security threats? Find out how to stop spam and other threats on the Online Security Toolkit website. Visit http://www.onlinesecuritytoolkit.com for more information.

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