"You have mail!" is often the message you’ll see if you’re a regular e-mail user. You may have also noticed the number of commercial messages that are showing up in your electronic in-box including messages from people you’ve never heard of, many whom are asking for your money!
Commonly known as "junk e-mail," bulk e-mail," or "spam," unsolicited commercial messages are flooding the Internet every day, ending up on desktop computers everywhere. Although some of these are from legitimate marketers, many are fraudulent solicitations from scam artists who make promises they have no intention of keeping.
The Internet has become a cheap and easy way for marketers to reach millions of consumers. Usually the e-mail marketer purchases a list of e-mail addresses from a list broker, who complies it by gathering addresses from the Internet. If your e-mail address appears in a news group posting, a Web site, in a chat room, or in an online service’s membership directory, it may find its way onto these lists.
Be on the lookout for e-mail solicitations that tell you to send a small amount of money to each of several names on a list. This is a classic chain letter, which is illegal, and the majority of people who participate in them lose their money. Also, stay away from messages that claim they can show you how to legally remove accurate negative information from your credit report. This cannot be done. Be wary of guaranteed weight loss products or programs and major credit card offers, regardless of your credit history. These are a few of the types of fraudulent messages that can show up in electronic in-boxes.
If you’re interested in responding to commercial e-mail, the Better Business Bureau, along with the Federal Trade Commission, suggest you:
- Treat commercial e-mail solicitations the same way you would treat an unsolicited telemarketing sales calls.
- Greet money-making opportunities that arrive in your in-box with skepticism. Most of the time, these are old-fashioned scams delivered via the newest technology.
- Don’t believe e-mails that say you can make money by sending money to people on a list. Also, don’t pay money into a pyramid scheme. These schemes are big money losers.
- Ignore offers to erase accurate negative information from your credit record. There’s no legal way to do that. Also, remember that legitimate banks don’t issue credit cards without first checking your credit.
If you’ve been the target of junk e-mail scams, contact your Internet service provider, the Better Business Bureauthe Federal Trade Commission, or your local consumer protection agency. For more information about pyramid schemes, chain letters, or credit repair offers, visit the Better Business Bureau’s Web site at www.bbb.org or contact your BBB for publications.
