Different types of spam

    Unsolicited messages could vary from annoying but harmless junk mail to harmful frauds and viruses.

    A few of the categories of general spam are:

  • Chain letters;
  • Pyramid schemes;
  • Other “Get Rich Quick” or “Make Money Fast” or work at home schemes;
  • Ads for pornographic web sites;
  • Offers of software for collecting email addresses and sending spam;
  • Offers of bulk emailing services for sending spam;
  • Stock offerings for unknown start-up corporations;
  • Quack health products and remedies;
  • Illegally pirated software.

    • Email frauds

    Email frauds are scam messages that offer huge sums of money and request bank account details, or phishing scams that spoof popular services and con the recipient into giving their credit-card/account details.

    One of the popular money-laundering scams is called the Nigerian scam. In this scam, the recipient receives an email from someone claiming to be a government official, a family member of a deceased official, or an attorney representing a deceased wealthy client. The email asks for the bank details or requests the recipient to make an advance payment as good faith gesture, with the promise of returning the money in the future. If the recipient provides the details, then money is robbed from the account. Different versions of the scam exist, implicating different countries. For more details, please visit the 419 Coalition Website at http://home.rica.net/alphae/419coal/

    To learn more about email fraud, click here

    Phishing scams

    Phishing scams are email messages falsely claiming to be an established legitimate enterprise, in an attempt to scam the user into giving personal information, which will be used for identity theft. The email directs the user to visit a Web site where they are asked to update personal information, such as passwords and credit card, social security, and bank account numbers, that the legitimate organization already has. The Web site, however, is phony and set up only to steal the user’s information. The danger of phishing scams is that the website to which the victim is directed often looks legitimate, as it is a spoofed website intended to replicate that of the legitimate enterprise, for example www.netzero.net.

    Phishing, also referred to as brand spoofing or carding, is a variation on “fishing,” the idea being that bait is thrown out with the hopes that while most will ignore the bait, some will be tempted into biting.

    Please remember that NetZero will never send you an unsolicited email asking you for your password, social security number, mother’s maiden name, or your driver’s license number. If you see such an email message, please report the incident to NetZero, by forwarding the mail along with its full headers to abuse@support.netzero.com.

    To learn more about phishing scams, click here

    Virus

    A virus is a program that, like a biological virus, can replicate and sometimes damage the infected computer.

    An Email virus is a program or document attached to an email message that, when opened, spreads by forwarding itself to any number of recipients and groups in the email address book.These attachments are not a threat to your computer if you do not open/execute them. Do not open any attachments if they are not sent from a trusted source.

    For more information on Virus, click here.