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Top 10 Spam Attacks

Unsolicited commercial email has plagued users for so long that it is viewed as part of the online or email experience—as inevitable as rain, and just as irritating. This time-consuming annoyance has very few fans, especially considering the fact that, more often than not, it contains scams, bogus offers, and other fraudulent propositions. In any case, here are the top ten worst spam attacks that most anyone with an email account are familiar with:

1. Nigerian Scam Spam: These Nigeria-based con artists claim to be surviving spouses, businesspeople, government officials, or what-have-you requesting your help to assist them in paying "taxes" in order to access their money. In return, you'll be given a share of the "pot". Needless to say, this is all just a front to steal your money, personal credentials, and so forth.

2. Phishing Spam: Phishers have victimized millions of people by posing as legitimate institutions asking you to validate or confirm your bank account though a spam link. They typically send a URL to a rogue site that looks quite a lot like its genuine counterpart but is merely used for crafty identity and account theft.

3. Home-Based Jobs Spam: This is spam that promises home-based jobs that deliver instant pay for minimal work (e.g., craft assembly, envelope-stuffing, claims processing, and so on). However, these ads don't usually talk about the hidden costs and expenses on your part as well as the lack of tenure on these so-called professions.

4. Weight Loss Spam: These are unsolicited promotions for ineffective creams, patches, or pills that will purportedly help you lose weight without the need for exercise or diet; most if not all of these drugs are universally worthless.

5. Foreign Lottery Spam: This is an email that showcases phony foreign lotteries with enticing odds or a message that alleges that you've already won a contest you have no memory of joining in the first place. All you need to do to claim your prize is pay some special "fees" or send your contact details to the "contest officials".

6. Panacea Spam: Snake oil was once claimed a panacea, otherwise known as a cure-all. There's no such thing as a cure-all or miracle cure, so getting spam promoting such a product is dubious at best.

7. Check Overpayment Spam: This is an email response to your online auction posting or ad. The swindler, for whatever reason, writes a check for more than the amount of what you're selling, and requests you to give back the difference once you deposit the check. These checks are counterfeit, and by the time they bounce, you'll be the one accountable for the whole amount.

8. Pay-in-Advance Credit Offer Spam: You've been allegedly pre-qualified for a credit card or low-interest loan and you're required to pay a processing fee of hundreds of dollars to claim the offer. To be clear, any advanced payment fee for such a proposal is a rip off.

9. Debt Relief Spam: This spam promises you a way to consolidate your bills into one monthly payment scheme without the need to borrow money. However, these scams typically involve bankruptcy proceedings, which can negatively impact your creditworthiness in the long run.

10. Investment Spam: These emails promise investments with little or no risk and high rates of return profits. In reality, this is the type of con wherein the promoters get more out of the investment than the participants (e.g., a Ponzi scheme).

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