Email Scams - Do You Know What's in Your eMailbox?
Popular email scams today cover a few major categories. In a nutshell, the emails try to lure recipients into clicking on the links inside the emails and entering private information into the website like access info for banking and other accounts. Then the thieves run with the info, heading into private accounts, accessing the funds and / or using them to charge items for themselves, stealing your credit and funds when possible. Paypal is the most or one of the most widely use of all internet email scams. They are targeted by thieves because it is one of the most popular form of payment that people use to purchase just about anything online.
Here's a classic paypal email scam - beware.
You've added an additional email address to your PayPal account.
If you don.t agree with this email email@address.remove and if you need assistance with your account,
please click here to login to your account.
Lottery Wins and Death Beneficiary
A couple of major categories of email scams fall under the heading of lottery winning scams and death beneficiary scams. In both cases, people are falsely emailed and told they have won lotteries and huge sums of money as a result of a death benefit from someone they may not know who lived far, far away. Wrong on both counts! Never trust any emails that say you have been awarded money in either case.
Fake lottery emails originally began arriving from Nigeria, and people of all ages, especially elderly recipients, believed the messages and paid large sums of money to fly there and collect their false winnings. Barrister messages flooded email in-boxes next, claiming that people died and had discovered (fake) connections far way and if you were one of the so-called lucky ones, you could simply launder money for them basically, or lend them cash, never getting anything back - ever.
Credit Cards and Business Opportunities
A couple of other major categories of email scams are credit card and business opportunity offers. With credit card email scams, emails arrive that look like they are really form legitimate credit card companies and issuing banks and other financial institutions. Once you click on the link to apply for your free account plus other freebies or special offers that come packaged with the deal, the thief gets your personal information like social security number, account number and access info at other institutions, etc. And B.I.N.G.O. - identity theft has occurred once again; the thief has all your confidential info to use for himself or herself.
Business opportunities are similar. An email arrives with a business opportunity offer you can't refuse, so you click on the link inside and apply for the position or opportunity package, giving your credit card info and other confidential data to pay for the delivery of the package. And again, B.I.N.G.O. - identity theft has occurred.
So stay sharp! And stay smart!
Related Tags: identity theft, identity fraud, email scams, internet scam, lifelock
Author and internet entrepreneur Bernard Pragides offers expert advice and tips regarding identity theft. Learn more about identity theft and fraud by visiting his blog at http://www.identity4life-blog.com and his website http://www.IdentityProtek.com for more helpful information.
Your Article Search Directory : Find in ArticlesRecent articles in this category:
- Never Undervalue Secure Backups
The Internet can be a very intimidating place. It is full of information, and every day new busi - Lack of Internet Privacy - One Step Away from Identity Theft
Four Reasons to Use Privacy Software Unless you are a spammer, hacker, terrorist, or other such - Site Security Issues Abound
It has happened web wide and it has happened to the best of the best - NASA, DOD, Google, Micros - Online Security: How Secure are You When You Get on the Internet?
Internet technology specialists widely agree that security is becoming the primary concern of th - Software Engineering Standards Providing Industry Integrity
Software engineering is a relatively new career field in technology today in comparison to other - Protect Your E-mail by Obfuscatoin
E-mail harvesting is the process of obtaining lists of e-mail addresses from the internet. This is u - Antispyware Host File - Protect Your Computer Now With This Simple Fix
An antispyware host file is a simple defence mechanism against rogue sites that are out to get you a - What Key Features Make The Best Spyware Removal Programs?
Range Of FeaturesThe best spyware removal programs should combine multiple features so that you get - Online Job Scams and Identity Theft-What Every Job Hunter Needs to Know
There are three main types of common online job scams:1. Phony Job Offers-With this type of scam, In - Spybot Sickness - Spyware Flue
When we talk about spyware symptoms, we talk about both how you get spyware and what the symptoms of
Most viewed articles in this category:
- Parental Control Software - How Will It Help My Family?
Parental Control Software such as Safe Eyes, is a set of tools that allows parents to control what o - Designing IE Exclusive Sites Is Counterproductive And Puts Your Visitors At Risk
Excuse me for being so forthright, but designing a web site exclusively for a specific browser is do - Mind the letters and words in your password.
Radhika Venkata (c).1. Don't choose predictable passwords like asending or desending numbers or lett - Safe Password Tips for Better Computer Security
With so many online accounts to manage, most people tend to use the same password for everything. M - Minimising Credit Card Fraud - For Online Retailers
Well organized criminal organizations steal credit card numbers in many different ways (virus progra - Fraud Prevention Tips
Current areas where mail order, telephone order, and Internet fraud are most prevalent include:* Wes - Money Scams: How to Avoid Getting Ripped Off
Scams take many forms: overseas lotteries, get-rich-quick schemes, work-from-home jobs and hundreds - Protecting Your Websites From Search Engines
There are a great number of scenarios in which you should be protecting your websites from the searc - The Best Internet Privacy Software
Detect, Protect, Dis-infect, Reject, Delete, then - RepeatThe best internet privacy software isn't a - The Most Effective Spyware Removers
There are a number of things you need to look for when you are seeking the most effective spyware re
