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Put simply, the fact that Spam continues to be an increasing problem is because it works. Of course some Spam is so far fetched that most people think; "who would believe that!". But it is important to remember that each user on the Internet is is at a different level of expertise and experience.

A user might be somewhat inexperienced with email and somewhat naive. He or she might fall for the foreign man's plea that the bank he works for has these funds that someone has left unclaimed because of a death in the family. The amount is usually in the thousands. They tell you that the bank is required, by foreign law, to do something with the money so they are asking you to help. Simply send them your checking or savings account number so that they can deposit the money in your account. Right! You realize you've been taken when, a few days later, your account has been emptied.

There is also Spam email that claims, in a very realistic way, that you need to update some account information. I have received some very believable looking email messages claiming that I need to update my E-bay or Citibank account. Just click here on the Hyperlink. Even the disclaimer at the bottom of the email looks authentic. A 'good' Spammer is very detail minded. However, experience will tell you that these Hyperlinks can be faked. If you hold your mouse over the link you will see in the status bar, at the bottom of the page, where that link will take you. You will see the real address. (In order to see this you may need to enable the status bar in your browser.) You will see that the link in the printed email is NOT where 'clicking it' would take you!

Then we have the offers. You can make thousands working at home, in your spare time, while you are asleep! That's an exaggeration, of course. But if you have read enough of them it may not seem like it. If you are looking for a work at home job, go look for it. But don't respond if it looks for you.

And lastly, if you really want an enlarged body part...You know what I am talking about...don't look for it in an email message. Or if you are looking for 'body part enlarging drugs', for goodness sake, go to a doctor! There may be unhealthy side effects.

One very good rule of thumb that I, and most of my associates, use is this. If you don't know the person who sent you the message, If you did not sign up for that newsletter, or if you don't already do business with that company, And bear in mind that, for most businesses, it is not an accepted practice to ask a user for information in an email.

Use common sense. You were not asking for the offer that has been presented to you. Be skeptical. Be careful. The motives for these email messages are all over the board. Some want to give you a computer virus, or to execute some data destroying program on your PC. Others want to hijack your PC and use it to send even more Spam! Some would like to have some personal information, perhaps to steal your identity and charge some purchases on your credit card. And there are always those legitimate sales ads. But if you err on the side of caution....don't click on the link....you will never be taken advantage of.

You know what your needs are. Don't let an email dictate that to you.

Learn more about this author, David A. Goodwin.
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