Email boxes are filling up with more offers for business opportunities than any other kind of unsolicited commercial email. That's a problem, according to the Federal Trade Commission, because many of these offers are scams.

In response to requests from consumers, the FTC asked email users to forward their unsolicited commercial email to the agency for an inside look at the bulk email business. FTC staff found that more often than not, bulk email offers appeared to be fraudulent, and if pursued, could have ripped-off unsuspecting consumers to the tune of billions of dollars.

The FTC has identified a number of scams that are most likely to arrive in consumers email boxes. Please review the "Internet Scams" below for more information on some of the most frequent scams.

Some of the more common internet scams are:

        -    Nigerian 419 Scams
        -    Business Chances
        -    Bulk Email
        -    Chain Letters
        -    Work at Home
        -    Health and Diet
        -    Effortless Income
        -    Free Goods
        -    Investment Scams
        -    Cable Descrambler
        -    Loans and Credit Offers
        -    Credit Repair Offers
        -    Vacation Packages


Internet fraud should be reported to the Internet Crime Compliant Center.