1) The Nigerian scam, also known as 419.

The email sender posts as a member of a wealthy Nigerian family promising the recipient a large cut of their business or family fortune in exchange of a small unskilled tasks.

The scammer would ask the recipient to cover the legal and other fees that must be paid to the people that can release the scammer's money but there isn't any.

This scheme has been used by deceivers back in 1920s when it was known as 'The Spanish Prisoner' con.

2) Advanced fees paid for a guaranteed loan or credit card.

The sender offers a "pre-approved" loan or a credit card that the recipient must pay prior to the release of the loan or card. The loan amount usually ranges from a half-a-million dollar homes and up. 

Remember: Reputable credit card companies charge annual fee but it is applied to the balance of the card, never at the sign-up. 

3) Lottery scams.

This is an email saying that the recipient won millions amount of money and congratulates the recipient repeatedly to make him forget to ask if he actually joined a certain lottery. 

The catch: to be able to collect the prize, the recipient must pay a huge amount of processing fee first. 

4) Phishing emails and phony web pages.

According to wikipedia.com, "phishing" is the act of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details (and sometimes, indirectly, money) by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.

The email message requires the recipient to click on a certain link. But instead of routing to the real

login https: site, it will redirect to a fake website. The fake website is often convincing as it looks like the legitimate credit authorities like Citibank, eBay, or Paypal.

When the victim visits a phony web page, he is asked to enter his ID and password. This information is intercepted by the scammers to access the victim's account and fleece him for several amount of money.

Tip: the beginning of the link address should have https://. Phishing fakes will just have http:// (no"s" . 

5) Items for sale overpayment scam.

This deceptive email is usually sent to people who advertised an item for sale such as a car, truck or some other expensive item. The scammer would offer to pay much more than the price of the advertised item. The reason for overpayment is supposedly related to the international fees to ship the car overseas. In return, the victim would send the car and the cash for the difference.

The victim would receive a money order that looks real. In most documented versions of this money order scam, the money order was indeed an authentic document, but it was never authorized by the bank it was stolen from.

6) Employment scams.

The recipient receives wonderful employment offer from an overseas company. The “employer” needs someone to handle payments from US customers from 5 to 15 percent commission per transaction. The swindling comes in when the victim provides his personal data and his bank account information so he can get paid but in reality, scammers would stole the money from the victims account and occurrence of identity theft.

Another version of this scam is an unsolicited e-mail message from a "multinational company" congratulating the recipient for being selected for a specific job with a very enticing compensation package. The e-mail contains details about the "hiring company" and the positions needed. Then the victim will be asked to send money through Western Union as processing fee or reservation fee to secure the employment slot.

7) Disaster relief scams.

The scammer uses tragic events that occur where numerous people die, lose their loved ones, or everything they have. Scammers set up fake charity websites and steal the money supposedly donated to the victims of disasters.

To avoid this, contact recognized charitable organizations directly by phone or their website.

8) Travel scams

These scams are most active during the summer months offering to get low fares to exotic destination enticing the recipient to book it today or the offer expires that evening. In reality, the travel is free but the hotel rates are highly overpriced.

To avoid being victimized, book trip through a reputable travel agency or proven legitimate online service.

9) "Make Money Fast" chain emails.

This is a classic pyramid scheme: an email being sent with a list of names asking the victim to send 5 dollars (or so) by mail to the person whose name is at the top of the list, directing the recipient to add his name to the bottom and forward the updated list to a number of other people.

The author of this scam letter explains that if more and more people join the chain, when it's the recipient's turn to receive the money, he might even become a millionaire!

10) "Turn Your Computer Into a Money-Making Machine!" Scam.

There is an advertisement encouraging the reader to turn his computer into a money-making machine by storing printed reports on disk. When the reader clicked the button to sign-up, he will get a unique ID and and is required to give them his PayPal account information for the payment deposits he'll soon receive. The program that are supposed to run, opens multiple ad windows, repeatedly, thus generating per-click revenue for spammers.