The Nigerian scam originally started via regular snail mail. With the advent of email, this scam has become easier and faster to pull off.

The specifics vary, but the general scenario is that the sender is in control of a large sum of money and they are looking for a way to move it overseas. They are contacting you to receive the funds for which you’ll get a very generous cut. Of course, the scammer wants you to not discuss the arrangement with anyone.

Soon after you agree to help something will delay the transaction. There will be an unexpected transfer fee or an official that needs to be bribed that will require a small amount of money to overcome. Given the huge amount of money that you will be receiving, it seems dumb not to pay. Unfortunately, these ‘problems’ will continue until you finally give up and stop paying the scammer. When you do stop paying, the scammer will blame you for causing the deal to fall through.

There are other variations such as a widow who has six months to live and wants you to spend her life savings on a good cause or a lottery notification with details of the wonderful riches that you have won. Whatever the story, the scam is the same – you will need to provide money or bank account details in order to get the money that’s being promised.

However, there’s a new trend to these scam emails: requesting “proof of identity” in addition to your bank account details. Giving your ID and bank account information opens you up to a greater risk – identity theft. Identity theft is the fastest growing crime on the Internet.

As with any scam, the best defense is caution. If you suspect a scam, do some research. Copy some of the text from the email and paste it in your search engine. Usually these scams are sent out to millions of people, so chances are someone else is talking about it.

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Do you know how to forward e-mails? Do you wonder why you get viruses or junk mail? Every time you forward an e-mail there is information left over from the people who got the message before you, namely their e-mail addresses & names. As the messages get forwarded along, the list of addresses builds and builds. All it takes is for someone to get a virus, and their computer can send that virus to every E-mail address that has come across his computer.

Or, someone can take all of those addresses and sell them or send junk mail to them in the hopes that you will go to the site and they will make five cents for each hit. How do you stop it? Well, there are some steps to take.

When you forward an e-mail, DELETE all of the other addresses that appear in the body of the message (at the top). That’s right, DELETE them. Highlight them and delete them, backspace them, cut them, whatever it is you know how to do. It only takes a second. You must click the “Forward” button first and then you will have full editing capabilities against the body and headers of the message. If you don’t click on “Forward” first, you won’t be able to edit the message at all.

Whenever you send an e-mail to more than one person, do not use the To: or Cc: columns for adding e-mail address. Always use the BCC: (blind carbon copy) column for listing the e-mail addresses. In this way, people you send to only see their own e-mail address. If you don’t see your BCC: option click on where it says To: and your address list will appear. Highlight the address and choose BCC: and that’s it, it’s that easy. Remove any “FW:” in the subject line or re-name the subject line.

Always select the Forward button from the actual e-mail you are reading. Ever get those e-mails that you have to open 10 pages to read the one page with the information on it? By Forwarding from the actual page you wish someone to view, you stop them from having to open many e-mails just to see what you sent.

Have you ever gotten an email that is a petition? It states a position and asks you to add your name and address and to forward it to 10 or 15 people or your entire address book. The email can be forwarded on and on and can collect thousands of names and email addresses. The completed petition is actually worth a couple of bucks to a professional spammer because of the wealth of valid names and email addresses contained therein. If you want to support the petition, send it as your own personal letter to the intended recipient. Your position may carry more weight as a personal letter than a laundry list of names and email address on a petition.

So please, in the future, let’s stop the bad email etiquette and help prevent the spread of viruses.

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