Use Common Sense To Avoid Online Scams

Amazingly, some online frauds that have been around for years continue to be advertised day and day out via e-mail and Web sites worldwide.

Even though many of these scams are well-known, the fact they continue to generate millions of spam e-mails means only one thing – that some Internet users still fall prey.

Here are some of the most common scams and frauds out there, which should be studiously avoided at all costs.

Offers To Transfer Large Sums Of Money From A Foreign Source – The usual offer here is that the family of some dignitary, often from Africa, is in need of a conduit to receive a large amount of cash in the U.S.

If only you will provide a small amount of deposit “capital” to assist in moving these funds, potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars will soon be winging its way to you in return.

Winner of Internet or Foreign Sweepstakes – You receive an e-mail one day that indicates that you have been chosen as a lucky winner in an Internet or foreign sweepstakes, often from Ireland, In return for s small deposit to cover expenses of the money transfer, you'll be awarded a huge cash prize.

Russian Women Who Want To Come To The U.S. And Marry American Men - Another scam that has been around for years, this one plays on the idea that there are millions of Russian women that are desperate to come to the United States.

While that may or may not ultimately be true, the scam here is that these women are ready to jump on a plane at a moment's notice to fly to the U.S. and meet men in return for travel finds and expenses.

These “women” often send lengthy letters full of details and pictures from their current lives to men found on online dating sites. There are a few legitimate agencies that handle these American/Russian meetings, but all of them advise men to travel to Russia to meet women in person, rather than vice-versa.

Phony E-Mail & Web Sites Looking For Financial Information – One of the most common schemes, called “phishing” . If you receive an e-mail from your bank or credit card company asking you to provide financial or personal information, be immediately suspect.

These businesses do not use e-mail to request credit information from users. In most cases the scam involves a computer breakdown or security breech which calls for you to verify your credit information, often linked to a dummy Web site that looks much like the real thing for a bank, eBay or PayPal.

Password Stealing – Another online scam is to gain the passwords of e-mail or other accounts to that can be used to send out spam mail or announcements of various types.

One of the newer tricks here is to post what appears to be a YouTube video in e-mail or on MySpace, which when clicked requires the user to re-enter a user name and password. If you've already entered a user name and password on MySpace to enter your personal Web page, you should not need to re-enter it to view a video.

The old adage is “If something seems too good to be true, it most likely is” is even more applicable in the world of the Web.

The best way to deal with these schemes is to err on the side of caution. If you even think you may have inadvertently supplied financial information or passwords, immediately log in and change passwords on those accounts, and if need be, contact your financial supplier by phone to have transactions frozen.

Tom Meek is a computer and media consultant working with businesses and individuals on high-tech needs. Another Day In Cyberville is published weekly in print and online via The Gainesville Voice, a weekly publication of The New York Times Regional Newspaper Group. You can reach Tom Meek at adayincyberville@gmail.com.