Gmail has the best spam filter out there in my opinion. I’ve had my Gmail account since 2005 and rarely ever – if ever – have I received spam mail in my inbox. That said, there are many other email providers out there and once in a while we will come across spam. Do not fall victim to a scammer’s attempt in obtaining money from you. Do not be greedy and do not be too generous!
It’s a fact that many people who get scammed are money-hungry. For example, you receive an email telling you that if you send a processing fee of $500 you will receive your million dollar payment. On the other hand, many people out there are too generous. You receive an email from a stranger in another country, telling you that they need help because a family member is dying, etc.
Since the beginning of the month, I’ve tried to submit a “Spam of the Day” emails from my junk mail folder that I believe some people might have received in their inbox. Please pay no attention to these scam-like emails or you might be a victim of a ploy.
The people who compose these emails do not care about you, they do not care where you get the money and whether it is hard-earned or not. They have the mentality of robbers and criminals who feel no remorse and believe that because you send them money out of greed then you deserve to be deceived.
In the past, one or two of my friends have made me aware of them having received such emails or SMS and despite being warned, they sent money to these scammers and have never earned a single cent. Even my own mother almost fell for one when she received a phone call (international call) telling her that she won something and they would only require her bank information to transfer her winnings.
A few months ago, one of my mother’s friends received an SMS notifying him that he had won a mobile lottery. The message told him to send personal details of himself including a photograph to their email. He didn’t have internet connection so he asked us if he could use ours. My mum warned him. She told him not to pay any attention to that SMS. His reply was “yes I know, they are trying to scam me, well I’ll give them a piece of my mind!”
What really happened though, was that he was cooperating with their demands, hoping to earn the millions they claimed he had won. Thankfully, the email and website was blocked and emails he sent to these scammers kept bouncing. So he didn’t lose anything and he eventually believed that it was a scam.
Many people who are desperate for money have heard about these types of scams but there always seem to be a small part of them that believe in these fake stories. They believe that there is a slight chance that they really did win the lottery or that someone in another country wants to transfer money in their bank account and will offer them a percentage of that.
Please be more careful online. Nobody can guarantee 100% safety, but most of the time all the signs are there that the email is scam-ish. Stay safe.
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WYSIWYG! I'm a simple person trying to live the simplest life possible - it seems to be the most difficult thing to achieve! I'm an internet enthusiast and I've been a webmaster since early 2007. I like: blogging, developing sites using open source software, social media, computer games, '80s music, comedy & horror, animals, crunching on M&Ms peanut and Smarties!
