Here are 10 of the most popular Internet Scams.

I list them purely for your edification in the hopes that you don’t get caught out by them

- or that you can use this as either a quick reference

- or as a pointer for friends that may need some advice.

So, without further ado and in no particular order:

1. Nigerian scam – aka 419.

This almost always appears as an email from someone that is the “relative of the late [insert grand title]“ – in short they utilise emotion to try and get you to part with smaller sums of money in return for a decent %age of a much larger sum. One of the best sites out there for advice and fighting back is 419 Eater.

2. Lottery scams.

Similar to the 419 scam this one typically asks for an up-front payment to release the funds you’ve won. See FraudAid for some great advice.

3. Advance Loan Fees.

These, like the previous two, will ask for an up-front fee typically referred to as an admin or processing fee. They will normally ‘guarantee’ the loan – but ask yourself this: Why, when a conventional bank or credit card company will add the charge to any loan, do I need to pay an up-front fee? Short and to the point advice from Fraud.org.

4. Holiday scams.

These almost always take the approach that you’ve won a greatly reduced cost cruise or holiday but you never get to hear the ‘catch’ until you’ve signed up and paid what you believe is the total cost. Then the hidden clauses come out. ExpertLaw.com appears to have the best coverage of these types of ‘deal’.

5. Phishing scams.

I’ve talked about these before – see my full advice here.

6. Disaster relief scams.

I trust I don’t need to spell this one out? Instead I will simply say – go direct to the homepage of your favourite disaster relief charity and donate there. And if you don’t know any then check out CharityNavigator.

7. Chain eMails.

This is the modern equivalent of a chain letter and you are asked  to forward a small (typically) amount of money to a name & address and add your own to the bottom. More advice and fun at some of the emails out there from BreakTheChain.org.

8. Overpayment scam.

Best way to describe this is with an example. You want to sell item A for £100. Scammer B offers £500 in the form of a cheque (or similar) for goods they’ve sold in your country and for you to forward on the remainder. In this example £400. Then the cheque bounces and not only are you without item A but you’ve also sent B £400. Much more info on this type of scam at Scambusters.org.

9. Computer money making machine scam.

In return for some money, yes up-front, you are asked to install a program on your computer that opens lots of popups / adverts. Each of these effectively generate a click for that advert and ths income for the scammer. You are highly unlikely to see any return on this other then seriously impaired computer response. Avoid.

10. Employment scam.

The only reason this scam exists is to gather information – yours. Oh, and possibly your money too. The end result is likely to be fraud of some kind, either your ID is stolen or money from your bank (knowingly or not) and far from earning you money will always cost. Job-hunt.org has some great advice on this type of scam.

• Have I missed any obvious scams?
• Have you any great links to share that provide advice on avoiding scams?