Neha looked extremely happy. She had just received an email notifying that she had won one million pounds through an online UK lottery. All she had to do was to send a draft to the company with 1/10th the amount of the prize money as processing fees, or she could go to the UK directly to collect his prize. She was also required to reveal her bank account number and other important details as well. Padma, her friend looked skeptical and asked to see the email. 

A quick search on the internet for online lottery scams revealed the name of the same lottery company on a scam list! The email had been a clever scam, designed to take gullible people for a ride, while also relieving them of their hard-earned money. 

‘If you have never entered for a lottery, then how on earth will you win one?’ Padma asked Neha who looked sheepish.

‘Email scams have become very popular and are an easy way to reach a number of people. The idea probably is that of the thousands of people the email is sent to, at least some might respond. And why not? Today, internet has made email access very easy for everyone. At the same time, not everyone is aware of the dangers of the internet.’ Padma explained. 

‘Here are some of the popular email scams that have landed even in my inbox. The next time you receive such an email don’t hesitate to hit delete. Don’t be tempted to respond thinking that maybe this isn’t a scam after all. You don’t want to take a chance with your money or worse, your life!’

Popular email scams:

Lottery Scams: These are plenty on the internet and there are many variations of them, each one, asking you to either submit your name, address, country etc, or even asking you to pay up some amount so that you can receive the full amount. Beware of these emails, as they are almost always scams. What’s more, the best way to gauge if an email is real or a scam, in the case of lottery scams, is to remember whether or not you have entered in any lottery. If you haven’t, then surely, no one is going to hand out a million pounds to you, straight out of the blue!

Getting cash for forwarding emails: These scams claim that you can receive cash and other gifts from reputed and well-known companies by just forwarding an email message to your friends. The company usually listed is Microsoft and the email appears to have come from Bill Gates himself! Sometimes the email is from Nike shoes, asking you to test an email tracing program that has been created by Microsoft. They claim to give you free Nike shoes or clothes when you have sent the mail to the requisite number of people. Or the email could come from Disney, tempting you with an offer of $5000 or an expense paid trip to Disneyland!

Get free i-pods: This one is really crazy! It assures you that you will get a free i-pod only if you tell everyone on your mailing list about it. The moment you foolishly enter your email and the password, immediately emails are sent to everyone on your mailing list, telling them to spread the word, so they too can get an i-pod!

American Cancer Society: This one has manifested itself in various forms, but the basic premise is that you receive a sob story in an email, telling you to forward the email and either the cancer patient (usually a dying child) in the story gets 3 cents per email sent, or the American Cancer Society donates 3 cents towards cancer research. The American Cancer Society is not affiliated to any such program! This is not your ‘good deed of the day’, so don’t hit the forward button and inundate other’s inboxes with this scam/hoax! 

 ‘All these emails are hoaxes?’ Neha asked surprised.

‘ Yes. But there are some emails which are not false and can actually be helpful. I received an email about how thieves were using plastic loops to trap ATM cards from unsuspecting people in isolated ATMs. It turned out to be true. 

One of the best ways to verify whether an email is a hoax or not is by going to this website www.snopes.com and enter some of the keywords of the email. You will be given information on whether the email is true or not.’
The next time you receive an email that you’re not sure of, don’t forward it to others. Either hit delete or check it out at www.snopes.com!