Send That E-Mail to Jail

By Lev Grossman

Who says there are no good jobs out there? If you're at all like me, you get half a dozen job offers in your e-mail In box every day. WORK FROM HOME! START RIGHT AWAY! CHANGE YOUR LIFE!

Everybody knows that most junk e-mail--or spam, as it's called--is phony. What you may not know is that much of it is sent by con artists--real-life bad guys who are after your money. According to the National Consumers League (NCL), Internet scams cost Americans more than $6 million last year--up from $3 million in 2000. Crooked Web auctions account for much of that, but 15% of online scams come directly via e-mail. How do they work? Susan Grant, director of the NCL's Internet Fraud Watch, has seen them all and was happy to walk me through the dot-cons that landed in my In box last week.

Here's a classic: a fellow calling himself Crystal Jimmy promised he could get everyone on his mailing list a credit card even if the person's credit was shot. "These are often targeted to people who are having money troubles," says Grant. She explains that if you reply, Jimmy is likely to ask you for money--"an application fee or a processing fee, or whatever. It's usually hundreds of dollars." Needless to say, once Jimmy has your cash, his motivation to follow through will disappear.

Here's another chestnut: one Doug Woodward wants to know if you are interested in an "honest family oriented home-based business." Who wouldn't be? "These things are described as turnkey operations," says Grant. "All you need to do is watch the profits roll in." In some cases, a come-on like this might be followed by a sophisticated scam. For instance, you're told you will be doing medical billing for doctors. "You're enticed to pay for equipment and training," Grant explains, "all on the premise that there are doctors who want you to do this--which is not true."

The most common con, accounting for 9% of all e-mail fraud, is the infamous Nigerian Letter. I got one from a Mr. ABBA ABACHA (his caps-lock key appears to be stuck) who claims to be a Nigerian official with $25 million that he needs to smuggle out of the country. If you try to help, he will hit you for processing fees and "advance loans," and you will never see a dime. In the past few months, this well-worn scam has been evolving, so watch out for new variants involving Afghan war booty or a secret trove of cash lost in the attack on the World Trade Center.

You can learn more about how to avoid e-mail fraud--and what to do if you get taken--at the NCL's website, www.fraud.org The best way to deal with spam is to delete it before you see it. Most e-mail programs have a feature called Rules (in Outlook, it's under the Tools menu) designed to filter incoming junk mail straight into your Deleted folder. Try filtering out all e-mail with three exclamation points (!!!) in the subject line. Other red flags include dollar signs and hot-button terms like XXX and nude. Trust me, it works. START RIGHT AWAY! It will definitely CHANGE YOUR LIFE!

Send questions--no solicitors, please--to [email protected]