I have been in the information technology industry for about eleven years. But even with that said, I had to take a second look today when I received a brand-new scam email from overseas. The scam follows a pattern that would be familiar to any grifter (I know this because I used to be addicted to crime documentaries), but the length and complexity of the email is truly a wonder.

I have now received this scam twice from different people, and one of the insidious aspects of it is that neither was an exact duplicate of the other, but they followed an identical pattern. It goes something like this:

• - An overseas manager/bookkeeper contacts you that they have found a bank account containing millions of dollars.
• - The owner of the money died and there is no heir.
• - For whatever reason, the money cannot be touched unless it is deposited into a North American bank.
• - The scammer wants you to set up a bank account so they can transfer money into it, after which you get to keep a percentage.
• - You are urged to call an overseas number to coordinate the “exchange.” (this is the purpose of the scam, and will end up being a “gotcha” on your telephone bill).

(Read the full text of both here at my site: http://thinkitservices.com/articles/newscam.htm )

Now you’ve been educated on the latest scam, but what about the next one? Well, let me educate you further…

There are two rules that will serve you very well when it comes to email and internet scams, and they are:

1. 1)  Every email you get from anyone you don’t know will most likely bring you nothing but misery, so delete it immediately!
2. 2)  Half of the emails you get from people you know will bring you nothing but misery, so open them with extreme caution.

Now some might say this is paranoia. To that I say, so what? You cannot be too paranoid when it comes to email and the internet. Almost nothing is safe, but moreover, 95% of all gambling, porn, “free” game sites, and even anti-spyware sites exist to infect your computer with something. Very little is safe, and even commercial software can bring you misery.

So what is your best course of action? Be paranoid, back up your computer often, and put a competent computer geek’s name on speed dial!