2) In your experience, what can someone look for so that they can shoot down even the most sincere and convincing emails scams? Are there keywords or key phrases one can look for?

"Some key words and key phrases are the words "free," "amazing," "100% risk free," and any other words or phrases that strongly try to get the recipient of the email to hand over their money by promising something that just simply is too good to be true, or is questionable. Most email offers are scams and I urge people to avoid them unless they are from a company that the recipient does business with. Any email that asks for money up front in any form should be avoided."

3) Are these scams only performed via email or can they be initiated through chat rooms and sites like MySpace? Is the approach different depending on the medium used to scam?

"These scams are initiated in all types of communication media such as chat rooms, social networking sites, IM messaging, and the telephone. The approach is basically the same after the scammer goes through the small chit-chat. Sometimes he will give a hard luck story to his intended victim to try to be more convincing. In telephone calls, the scammer usually pretends to be from the intended victim's bank and asks for personal information."

4) Why do you think so many people fall for a email scams like the ones we are discussing?

"There are many reasons so many people fall for email scams. Greed is one reason. If a person is convinced that they can get millions of dollars and the only things they have to do is help transfer it into their bank account, in their eyes, they are getting something for nothing.

"Hardship is another reason. Take the scenario of Beth, a widowed mother with three small children. Beth works two part-time jobs to make ends meet because there isn't any full-time work where she lives. One of her employers decides to retire and move to another state and closes his business. This leaves Beth with part-time income with full-time financial responsibilities. The rent and utilities are due, and the kids need new clothes. The youngest needs medical care and Beth doesn't have medical insurance. On top of all of this, the household food supply is low, and the car needs new tires to replace the bald tires that are currently on it.

"One night after putting the kids to bed, Beth opens her email to find this unbelievable offer of $20 million dollars if she will provide a bank account to transfer the funds of a poor, dying cancer patient in another country into her account. She reads the email, and it sounds very convincing. Beth considers her current situation, and has no idea how she is going to provide for her kids, and keep the household going. "Why not," she thinks to herself as she clicks the reply button. "I'll be helping all of us."