We all get a lot of E-Mail messages, Some much more than others. Some of it is legitimate, but a lot is unwanted. Some is Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail ("UCE"), some of it is scams, and there is lots more that I won't document specifically here. We slam it all together and colloquially refer to it all as "Spam."

      Some messages are far more insidious. They are messages made to look like they came from a genuine and reputable source, but under you find that they are a wolf in sheep's clothing. For example- a message that looks like it is from CitiBank can actually be a scam from a Russian computer looking to empty your back account. These are called Phishing, but what I would like to address here is how to tell the difference. I received a scam message that i will share in part here:

      I received an E-Mail with inforamtion that would lead me to a legitimate website. The link looked like this:

      My question to you is, "Does this link take you to BestBuy or not?" That link is created with a text-based code called hypertext markup language- "HTML." it is the code that builds most of the Internet. here is the HTML code that makes that link appear on this page:

      The appearance of this link on your computer monitor would be: BEST BUY REPORTS . Also Notice that the link itself (the part between the quotations) appears to lead to the actual BestBuy website (http://www.bestbuy.com/reports.html). Be aware that spelling counts here! Now, take a look at this link:

      Is that a real link? Oes it actually take you to the BestBuy website? No! Here is the HTML code that created it:

      On the screen they look exactly the same, and that is the entire idea behind the scam! When you get to the website, it too looks like the real BestBuy website, but it is designed to setal your personal information. Notice that the scam URL itself: (/system.counter.ime/129_63/form.htl) has nothing to do with BestBuy. [NOTE: I changed the link so that it will not actually operate properly- I am not trying to operate a scam here!. -ED]

      If you see something like the above, it is definitely time to get suspicious! The hypertext link on your computer would look exactly like the real one above (BEST BUY REPORTS). But

      So what should you do when you get similar E-Mail messages (and you WILL get them)? Here are some hionts and tips that will help keep you safe:

      NEVER click on a link in an E-Mail message. Never means NEVER! If there is a full URL shown, (such as: http://home.surewest.net/frcn) copy it from the E-Mail and paste it into your browser.

      If you do suspect a fraudulent E-mail, go to the actual website by manually typing the address into your browser and report it. Nearly every online company which has serious financial dealings (banking firms, eBay, PayPal, etc.) has a fraud division (sometimes in a "personal security" area) and they will usually be very interested in hearing from you. Sure, you might be wrong, but if you are right (and you probably are) then you might save yourself and other people a lot of problems and the institution a lot of money.

     Be wary. Fraudulent attempts to gain personal information from you are getting better all the time, and falling for even one of them can be very costly. Think of each E-Mail message you receive as a phone call from a boiler-room solicitor, because to a great extent they are that, and worse. If you wouldn't give the information to a phone solicitor, don't enter it in response to an E-Mail.

     These scam messages usually come in the form of HTML format. This makes it look genuine as it contains the actual websites logo and colors, but it also hides the actual destination of the links. To check the message's intent try these two tips:

1) Hover the cursor over the link. On many mail readers there is an info bar at the bottom of the interface that will show the HTML code for the link. See if it matches the text. You still shouldn't click on the link, but it will let you know if the message might be genuine or not. You should also be aware that some of these fraudulent E-Mail messages often include a few genuine links to make the message appear more trustworthy.

2) RIGHT-click on it in your E-Mail application and choose, "View Source" (see your E-Mail application's help file for details on viewing the source of a message). The source is the code used to assemble the page. There you can look for the URL to which the links will actually direct you. This is more difficult as the HTML code can be long and complicated to figure out. This option is for the more advanced user.

      The best solution is to set your E-Mail application to only receive text messages (turn off HTML messages). See your E-Mail programs help file for details on how to do that.