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How to Prevent Scams from E-mail Hoaxes
WHAT IS AN EMAIL HOAX?
A hoax is any email with false
information in it which is sent with the intention to trick or deceive a person.
A hoax is usually being distributed or is One of the most disturbing
and annoying things that has ever been experienced by internet users could very
well be referred as Spam. spread world wide .. distribute
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF E-MAIL HOAXES?
There is an extensive amount of e-mail hoax floating around worldwide. These are
some of the most common ones:
Virus Hoax
An email falsely indicating that it contains a virus. They give
exaggerated bogus technical information of what, supposedly, it could do to the
harm computer. Sometimes they give instructions to on how to remove the
virus. indicate in the message or that a virus is spreading around all the
computers and in order to prevent the user from getting it, they request
to take some drastic measures, which could damage the pc. Many people believe it
and will follow instructions. While most of these emails are not true and are
meant to provoke worries and discomfort to home users and organizations, some of
these e-mails have proven to be true. Just in case, don't click anywhere
in the message if you get this type of email.
International E-mail lottery scam
The way these lottery scams work is they send you an email, indicating you were
randomly selected as a winner of a major prize on an international lottery.
They also state that in order for you to receive the money, you will have to
send them some personal data about you, such as your bank information, copies of
identification, etc. Sometimes they request some amount of cash to be
wired to them, to cover administration and delivery fees.
Chain Letters
A very common and old email prank. Chain letters are emails intended to
induce the recipient into believing that if he/she follows certain directions,
something will either happen, or not happen. These letters usually contain
false or bogus information which tend to lead to nowhere. Usually the main
purpose of a chain letter is to scare the recipient and that if he or she
doesn't do what's in the email, something bad or tragic will happen. Most
of the time, chain letters advise the victims in the body of the email to send
one or several copies to another person or different people so that something
drastic will happen. For example, a chain letter may indicate that if
recipient doesn't forward the email to 10 people, he or she will get bad luck
for 10 days.
Money Inheritance Hoax
This hoax is about a scammer claiming that you have inherited
some type of fortune. A lot of different versions of this type of email
scam have been floating around. For example, there is one money
inheritance hoax email that says the scammer is a lawyer and that his client
died in an accident and he/she was not able to locate any of the deceased family
members. This so called ‘lawyer’ researched around and found you, who
supposedly have the same last name as his/her deceased client. The crook
then writes that he/she will need to represent you as one of the family members
of the deceased person. The scammer adds that if you do this, he will be
sharing a percentage of the fortune with you.
Like most of these scam emails, they will usually ask you to provide them
with some personal information about you, such as your bank account, your
identity, phone, home address, etc. And of course, they will also request
that you wire them some money as an advanced fee, to cover some type of process
fees and to guarantee that you will get your inherited money. The only
guarantee here is that any amount of money that you send these crooks, you will
never see again.
Domain Name Appraisal Scam
If you own a domain name, or if you're into domain name investing (the buying
and selling of domain names), this is one type of hoax you have to be careful
with.
The scammers will send an email saying that they are interested in buying your
domain name. Then, they request that you order an appraisal, from a
company they recommend, in order to proof how much money the domain name is
worth. These crooks are not interested in purchasing the name, instead,
they want to get money from you when you order the appraisal.
HOW TO KNOW IF YOUR MAIL IS A FRAUD
Sometimes it is difficult to figure out if a message you receive in your inbox
is real or hoax, but if you follow the following steps, it will help you find
out easier.
1. They tell you that you have won money or some type of prize
2. It says to forward the email in order to fix a certain problem
3. If you have to wonder if is a scam or not, chances are it is.
4. Any email that sounds too good to be true, or too unrealistic is most
probably a hoax.
5. If it looks suspicious is because it probably is.
HOW TO PREVENT BEING SCAMMED
If you follow these basic rules, it might help you in not getting scammed by a
fraudster
1. Never reply to an email unless you're sure you recognize who the sender is
2. Don't believe when you see an email saying you have won money, unless you
know for sure you have indeed won. You must resist the money temptation,
or it could ruin you.
3. Never provide any personal information about you to anybody, unless you know
for sure who is asking for it.
4. Never click on a link from a suspicious email
5.Make sure you have a virus scanner that scans all these emails. However,
even after the anti virus not finding any infections, you should still have
doubts.
Getting a Spam blocker utility will help you in locating these email hoaxes much
easier and what's better, it will do it for you automatically, giving you a
piece of mind. A highly recommended spam blocker is SpamWeed. This program uses
advanced technology, which gets smarter every time in locating and eliminating
any types of unsolicited spam emails. It works for Outlook, Outlook
Express, Eudora, Thunderbird, Incredimail, and any other types of email clients.
Click
here to get a free 14 day trial of SpamWeed now
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