It seems that any "scam" that can be perpetrated in real life finds it way to the Internet. I've gotten a number of spam emails about parents who discover their teenager's closet full of money. Imagine their shock and concern! But they are so relieved when they discover he got the money "legitimately" through an email chain letter. These spam emails convince you that as long as you promise to follow their instructions, it is legal (it isn't).

Another common scam is the Nigerian Advance Fee Scheme. I've gotten a number of these emails telling me that the senders in Nigeria will split millions of dollars with me if I give them my personal bank information and some up-front money to help them get the money out of Nigeria. Once you bite, they keep asking for more money.

Online scams usually have offline origins. I recently read about a local man who had fallen for an advance fee scam perpetrated over the telephone. The victim was told he had won $125,000 in a contest, but he needed to wire-transfer $2,100 to Canada to cover shipping costs. He wired the money and never received his "winnings."

To learn more, visit "Cons, Counterfeits, Fakes, Forgeries, Frauds, Hoaxes, Misinformation, Scams, Schemes & Swindles" from the Southwest Missouri State University Library: http://www.smsu.edu/contrib/library/resource/hoaxes.html