The Scam Files: Email central

Every week silicon.com receives email scams into our inbox. Some are from scammers trying to dupe us, and some are from readers forwarding the latest scam and urging us to warn other readers.

As a result we have compiled this list of existing email scams, but we want to hear more. Email editorial@silicon.com with any scams you receive, not listed below, as this section of the silicon.com site will become a comprehensive listing for all email scams for your quick and easy reference.

We're trying to credit your account...
Most scams basically work on the same premise. They tempt you with an offer that appears too good to pass up, but in truth it's too good to be true.

This is a bit like the old monopoly card: 'Bank error in your favour collect £100'. You will receive an email purporting to be from somebody such as SwiftPay, PayPal or similar, saying that you have been overcharged for something, and they need to credit your account with the correct amount - often around $250 - an offer good enough to be tempting, but not too good to make you suspicious would seem to be the thinking here. In part it's a question of conscience - would you take advantage of a banking error even if you knew the offer to be seemingly erroneous - and a test of gullibility.

All you need to do to collect the payment is submit the details of the account you want the money paid into a few other personal details. Again the outcome is identity theft and a lightening of your bank account.

Your AOL account is set to expire...
If you don't send them your bank account details in the next 24 hours then they will have to close down your account. This is because there has been a problem billing you for your latest monthly charge and they now need to process payment manually.

Again, this is just another way of tricking you into parting with your bank details and other personal info.

The Nigerian 419 scam:
This is the classic wire fraud. It started as a letter, became a fax and then made the transition across to email and has become by far the most common of the email frauds. You will receive an email from a businessman - normally a banker or a lawyer - who claims to be looking after the fortune of a deceased millionaire. Often there is also a story, involving quite commonly a military coup or an air disaster, thrown in to explain the death. And this is where you come in is. The businessman (though latterly bereaved family members in exile have become popular too) wants to get the money out of the country and needs you to put in a claim for it, purporting to be the next of kin.

In return for letting this person launder the money through your bank account you will receive a large percentage of the fund. Of course, those who fall victim to these scams, and hand over their bank account details, and various forms of ID get cleaned out by the fraudsters.

This scam has given rise to thousands of variations. Although its roots are in Nigeria, which is where it gets its name - section 419 is the article of Nigerian law which covers this kind of fraud - it has since spread to most of West Africa and even parts of Europe - but the basic premise is always the same.

Winning an obscure lottery:
You don't remember entering any lotteries - not least of the Dutch National Lottery, but it turns out you've won. Not top prize, but a considerable sum somewhere in the region of £50,000 to £1m.

All you need to do is contact your prize-winner representative and they will tell you how to claim your money.

The scam can work in one of two ways from here. They will either need your bank details - in order to pay you your money - as well as several forms of ID to prove you are the rightful winner. Upon handing these over you then run the risk of being cleaned out.

Alternatively they may ask for a one-off processing fee of around £500 to £1,000 in order to claim your fortune. If you pay this, it will be the last you hear on the matter.

Your domain name is about to expire:
Anybody who has registered their own domain name - whether for work or as a personal site - may be surprised to receive an email warning them that it is about to expire and will be handed over to another interested party unless an emergency re-registration fee - costing anything from £20 to £200 - is paid immediately. Setting their sights low may have been the secret of this ones success as people just shelled out the relatively small fees - in keeping with the costs of registering a domain - without checking the genuine expiration date.

Protect your inbox from spam:
Not the most common, or the most annoying, but certainly the most ironic email scam. This spam email arrives promising to reduce the amount of spam you receive for just one small payment. But ask yourself, how did these people get your email address? They are the spammers, paying them for what they do is not going to discourage them, but it will cost you time and money.

'My client wishes to buy your car...'
People selling cars online have been noticing a growing trend of late. Emails arrive - often from the Middle East or Africa - from somebody claiming to represent a wealthy client. He wants to buy your car and is keen to deposit the money as soon as possible into your account. All he needs are your bank account details to complete this transaction - though he seems to show little interest in divulging how they intend to collect the car. And that's because they are not interested in getting the car. Once they get the bank account details they will clean you out and move on to the next victim.

PayPal details:
An email form arrives asking you to update your PayPal details. Just fill in your bank account details and credit card details, as well as name and address in the fields provided and hit reply. Simple as that - and it's amazing how many people fall for this. Of course it's a scam. It couldn't be more obvious - you would have thought. But by simply pasting a PayPal logo onto the top of the form people are sucked in - especially those who do use PayPal with services such as eBay.

Note:This scam has evolved to include a great many other virtual payment services, but the basic request - to complete a data field - remains the same. Beware of divulging any personal information online, in email or over the phone.

Got a scam we've not yet covered? Then email editorial@silicon.com