There are a great many quite legitimate dating service websites that allow members to establish online relationships. Often, these online friendships blossom into genuine long-term relationships. An increasing number of people have found life-partners via relationships started online.
Sadly however, scammers have managed to effectively exploit this trend to further their own nefarious ends. Many people […]

Summary:
Has someone filed an “experience request” about you on “Share Your Experiences.com”?
Status:
Probably not!
Example:(Submitted, June 2004) ######This is not commercial email.######
A user is attempting to share experiences and opinions about you via our website.
The purpose of this email is to inform you that a posting has been made about you at our website. This […]

People selling high-ticket items such as cars, motorcycles or computer gear via the Internet should be aware of a cheque scam that is bilking victims out of thousands of dollars. Although the scam has been around for quite some time, recent trends indicate that it is netting an increasing amount of victims, especially among car […]

Summary:
Email claims that someone is filing anonymous reports about you
Status:
False
Example:(Submitted via email, 2003)
Subject: SOMEONE JUST PERFORMED A SEARCH FOR REPORTS ABOUT [your email address] AT WORD-OF-MOUTH.ORG
Word-of-Mouth.Org Search Awareness System
TO ADD THIS EMAIL ADDRESS TO OUR DO NOT EMAIL LIST CLICK HERE -
Word-of-Mouth.Org is obligated to inform you via email (if possible) that someone has […]

News reports indicate that scam emails related to the London terrorist bombings have already began to circulate, especially in Australia. The emails include logos and images stolen from the British Red Cross website and ask for donations to help bombing victims.
The British Red Cross has not sent any emails asking for donations and is very […]

Summary:
Unsolicited email claiming to be from Red Cross International, the Netherlands, asks recipients to donate money to tsunami victims by arranging a money transfer
Status:
False
Example:(Received form scammers, January 2005) Subject: PLEASE HELP TSUNAMI VICTIMS, HELP TSUNAMI VICTIMS
HELP TSUNAMI VICTIMS, HELP TSUNAMI VICTIMS.
THE RED CROSS INTERNATIONAL AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS ZONE (B) HEREBY APPEALLING TO […]

July 2006:
Reports indicate that instances of a new kind of phishing scam are increasing in frequency. Dubbed “vishing” for “voice phishing”, the scam attempts to trick users into supplying sensitive personal information via a bogus telephone call rather than on a fake website.
While an increasing number of Internet users are now wise to the methods […]

A sinister variation of the International Lottery Scam is one in which the victim actually does receive a cheque from the criminals. Ostensibly, the cheque is a small portion of the large sum of money that the victim has supposedly won in the “lottery”. The scammers claim that this pre-payment is to be used to […]

Summary:
Victims are required to buy a copy of a poetry anthology in order to view their own “winning” entry
A typical example of the sort of notification email used in these sort of scams:
[abridged]
It is my pleasure to inform you that after reading and discussing your poem, our Selection Committee has certified your poem as […]

Hopefully, an increasing number of web users are now aware of how phishing scams work. A typical phishing scam operates as an evil duo comprising a fraudulent email closely coupled to an equally fraudulent website. The scam email, supposedly from a well-known company or financial institution, is intended to trick recipients into following a […]