By: Gary Gresham
These con artists and hackers are just waiting to commit online fraud and steal your identity. Look carefully at these top five online scams and be aware of what is going on so you won't become a victim.
Scam # 1 Online Auction Scam
You buy something on an online auction, send them the money and get nothing in return. Or the product you get is a fake or a cheap knockoff instead of the genuine brand name item. This is a risk you take when buying from an online auction.
Scam # 2 Phishing Scam
The phishing definition is when a fraudster spams the Internet with email claiming to be from a reputable bank. The email outfitted with authentic bank logos asks you to log in and verify your account information. The thief captures your account information from the web address they take you to and drains your account. These can also become identity theft scams too because they can sell your information to other criminals.
Scam # 3 Nigerian Letter Scam
These email scams usually start out with all capital letters and begins with: DEAR SIR/MADAM. The email goes on to say they are the some minister of something for an African country. He wants you to help him get millions of dollars out of the country. You just need to pay for legal fees and some other advanced fees before the transaction can be finalized. You would think people would be too smart to fall for this. But you would be wrong.
Scam # 4 Reshipping Scam
You are emailed by an offshore corporation that needs a U.S. address and bank account which you supply. You receive goods and reship them to another country. You receive wire transfers into your bank account and you transfer money into their offshore account. In return you get to keep a percentage of everything. But with this scam you are taking a big risk because you could get arrested for participating in moving stolen property and transferring stolen funds.
Scam # 5 Congratulations You've Won Scam
This email tells you have won a nice prize like a plasma TV, a new computer or even the lottery. All you have to do to claim your prize is go to this web address and pay for the shipping and handling with your credit card. In the case of winning the lottery they need advanced fees to cover legal costs. Not only do you never get the prize but you start getting mysterious charges on your credit card.
So what's the best thing to do when you or someone you know has fallen for one of these scams? Some people are embarrassed and don't want to tell anyone. But that's how these thieves get away with these things for so long without getting caught. The best way to stop these con artists from operating is to report email scams to the authorities.
The best place to report email scams is The Internet Fraud Complaint Center or (IFCC). They are a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C). Their web address is: http://www1.ifccfbi.gov
IFCC's mission is to address fraud committed over the Internet. For victims of Internet fraud Business Management Articles, IFCC provides a convenient and easy-to-use reporting mechanism that alerts authorities of a suspected criminal or civil violation.
By becoming aware of these top five online scams and reporting email scams to the IFCC you can make the Internet safer for everyone.
Courtesy: Spyware Information.com
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
6 Mistakes to Avoid on Email Subject Lines
By Daniel Scocco
If you are a blogger, website owner or online worker, you probably need to contact people via email all the time. On some occasions you will also be the one starting the conversation and looking for a reply. For example, you might want to offer a guest article for a particular blog, or you might want to propose a business partnership to someone. Unless you craft your email messages smartly, though, there are good chances that the other person won’t even read them. Spam filters are the first obstacle, but even if your message goes though the other person might just delete it.
The subject line is probably the most important part of your message, and in this post I wanted to cover six mistakes that I see people making:
1. Creating one word subject lines
Have you ever received an email with the subject line “Hi”? If you have, you know how annoying it is. One word subject lines are terrible because they fail to communicate what the email is about, where it is coming from and the like (more on that later). Additionally, they might also reveal laziness or carelessness from the sender’s part, which might lead the receiver to ignore the email.
2. Making requests
People want to receive, not to give. If your subject line makes a request right away, the receiver will be less likely to open it. Examples include link exchange requests, voting requests and so on. A better approach to get the conversation going is to start by offering something.
3. Using spammy keywords
Using spammy keywords in your subject line is a no-no. Even if you get lucky and the spam filter does not block your message, there are good chances that the receiver will tag your message as spam as soon as he reads the subject line. Here is a short list of words to give you an idea of what should be avoided:
* free
* money
* win
* degree
* gift
* deal
* sign-up
* survey
4. Begging for attention
Using “Please Read This” as your subject line will not help convincing the receiver to open your email. Quite the opposite. The same is true for using words like “urgent,” “important” and similar.
5. Making it sound too good to be true
Real business or joint venture opportunities usually come from people you already have a relationship with. If you are going to email someone for the first time, therefore, avoiding using these terms, else you might be seen as a scammer.
6. Making it look like an automated message
If your subject like looks like an automated message from a website or online service, well, people will assume it indeed is. Just take a look at the automated messages you receive and avoid crafting your subject lines in the same fashion. One example is the “Invitation to…” subject line. Usually those come from social networks, and people tend to ignore them.
By now you might be asking yourself: “OK I understand the mistakes I need to avoid, but how should I craft a good subject line then?” In my opinion a good email subject line should have two elements: a relevancy hook (i.e., a keyword that will assure the receiver that the email message is indeed for him, like his name or the name of his website) and a brief description of the content of the email (because even if the receiver knows your message is a legitimate one, he might not read it immediately or at all unless he knows what it is about).
Courtesy DailyBlogTips
If you are a blogger, website owner or online worker, you probably need to contact people via email all the time. On some occasions you will also be the one starting the conversation and looking for a reply. For example, you might want to offer a guest article for a particular blog, or you might want to propose a business partnership to someone. Unless you craft your email messages smartly, though, there are good chances that the other person won’t even read them. Spam filters are the first obstacle, but even if your message goes though the other person might just delete it.
The subject line is probably the most important part of your message, and in this post I wanted to cover six mistakes that I see people making:
1. Creating one word subject lines
Have you ever received an email with the subject line “Hi”? If you have, you know how annoying it is. One word subject lines are terrible because they fail to communicate what the email is about, where it is coming from and the like (more on that later). Additionally, they might also reveal laziness or carelessness from the sender’s part, which might lead the receiver to ignore the email.
2. Making requests
People want to receive, not to give. If your subject line makes a request right away, the receiver will be less likely to open it. Examples include link exchange requests, voting requests and so on. A better approach to get the conversation going is to start by offering something.
3. Using spammy keywords
Using spammy keywords in your subject line is a no-no. Even if you get lucky and the spam filter does not block your message, there are good chances that the receiver will tag your message as spam as soon as he reads the subject line. Here is a short list of words to give you an idea of what should be avoided:
* free
* money
* win
* degree
* gift
* deal
* sign-up
* survey
4. Begging for attention
Using “Please Read This” as your subject line will not help convincing the receiver to open your email. Quite the opposite. The same is true for using words like “urgent,” “important” and similar.
5. Making it sound too good to be true
Real business or joint venture opportunities usually come from people you already have a relationship with. If you are going to email someone for the first time, therefore, avoiding using these terms, else you might be seen as a scammer.
6. Making it look like an automated message
If your subject like looks like an automated message from a website or online service, well, people will assume it indeed is. Just take a look at the automated messages you receive and avoid crafting your subject lines in the same fashion. One example is the “Invitation to…” subject line. Usually those come from social networks, and people tend to ignore them.
By now you might be asking yourself: “OK I understand the mistakes I need to avoid, but how should I craft a good subject line then?” In my opinion a good email subject line should have two elements: a relevancy hook (i.e., a keyword that will assure the receiver that the email message is indeed for him, like his name or the name of his website) and a brief description of the content of the email (because even if the receiver knows your message is a legitimate one, he might not read it immediately or at all unless he knows what it is about).
Courtesy DailyBlogTips
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