Scammers can use the Internet to promote fraud through unsolicited or junk emails, known as spam and advertisings. Even if they only get a handful of replies from the millions of emails they send out, it is still worth their while. Be wary of replying, even just to "unsubscribe", because that will give a scammer confirmation that they have reached a real email address. Any email you receive that comes from a sender you do not know, is not specifically addressed to you, and promises you some benefit is likely to be spam.

Malicious software - also referred to as malware, spyware, key loggers, trojan horses or trojans - poses online security threats. Scammers try to install this software on your computer so that they can gain access to files stored on your computer and other personal details and passwords.

Phishing scams are all about tricking you into handing over your personal and banking details to scammers. The emails you receive might look and sound legitimate but in reality genuine organizations like a bank or a government authority will never expect you to send your personal information by an email or online.

Scammers use a wide range of tricks to get their software onto your computer. They may trick you into clicking on a link or pop-up message in a spam email, or by getting you to visit a fake website set up solely to infect people’s computers.

Scammers can easily copy the logo or even the entire website of a genuine organization. So don’t just assume an email you receive is legitimate. If the email is asking you to visit a website to "update", "validate" or "confirm" your account information, be sceptical.

Delete phishing emails. They can carry viruses that can infect your computer. Do not open any attachments or follow any links in phishing emails.

Online auctions and Internet shopping can be a lot of fun and can also help you find good deals. Unfortunately, they also attract scammers.

Scammers will often try to get you to deal outside of online auction sites. They may claim the winner of an auction that you were bidding on has pulled out and offer the item to you. Once you have paid, you will never hear from them again and the auction site will not be able to help you.

Listed below are tips to protect yourself and your family from various forms of Internet fraud:

• If you choose to shop online or participate in online auctions, make sure you know about refund policies and dispute-handling processes, and be careful that you are not overcharged. Also, you may want to use an escrow service, such as PayPal. This service will hold your payment and only release it to the seller once you have confirmed that you received what you paid for. There is usually a small fee for this service. A legitimate bank or financial institution will never ask you to click on a link in an email or send your account details through an email or website.
  
  
• Never buy from bidders with poor ratings on auction sites, and do your best to ensure that you are only making purchases from genuine shopping sites. Never provide your personal, credit card or account information unless you are certain the site is genuine.
  
  
• Don’t reply to spam emails, even to unsubscribe, and do not click on any links or call any telephone number listed in a spam email. Make sure you have current protective software or get advice from a computer specialist.
  
  
• If an email or pop-up offers you a product or service that genuinely interests you and it seems reasonable, be sure that you understand all the terms and conditions and costs involved before making a purchase or providing your details.
  
  
• Ask yourself: By opening this suspect email, will I risk the security of my computer? Are the contact details provided in the email correct? Telephone your bank or financial institution to ask whether the email you received is genuine.

With a normal expense of more than $5,000, funerals are likewise costly - and arranging one is a prime time to get covered in extortion.

Here are three approaches to maintain a strategic distance from the most well-known ploys.

1. Demand the "rundowns"
   At introductory contact, government law obliges that memorial service homes give you three evaluating records: one for all merchandise and administrations offered, another for coffins and a third for grave liners or "external internment holders."
   
   This supposed Funeral Rule additionally restricts burial service homes from obliging administrations that must be discretionary by law, (for example, preserving), or demanding that coffins and different things be straightforwardly acquired from them as a state of giving commemoration administrations. Nor would you be able to be charged additional for administrations on the off chance that you decide to purchase the coffin somewhere else, a typical approach to spare cash.
   
   
2. Prepaying? Utilization alert
   Long-range making arrangements for a burial service is constantly shrewd. Before there's a prompt need, your family - or even you - can examination shop with evaluating records close by and guarantee that courses of action are made precisely as sought. Yet, you can confront genuine hazard in prepaying for a memorial service, which you may do to lessen the monetary weight on your survivors or, as permitted in numerous states, to decrease your benefits so you can meet all requirements.
   
   Consider a late FBI bust of a prepaid memorial service conspire in which in the range of 97,000 individuals in 16 states lost more than $450 million in burial service products and administrations that were paid for ahead of time however never gave. Furthermore, there are unquestionably different situations where new proprietors purchase a burial service home and afterward keep running off with the cash.
   
   
3. Be careful with fake welcomes
   In numerous plans, burial service homes cheat you. Yet, another sort includes criminals taking your personality.
   
   As of late, outside based cybercrooks have been messaging fake burial service notices. Bearing the stolen name and logo of a true blue burial service home, it has all the earmarks of being a welcome to a memorial service or recognition administration for an anonymous companion or associate.
   
   By tapping on a connection or opening a connection, you can as far as anyone knows get subtle elements. Be that as it may, when you do, malware is unleashed on your PC to take records, passwords and other delicate data. Headlines are regularly "burial service notice" or "going of your companion." Don't take the goad! Authentic burial service warnings incorporate the name of the deceased.

Tips for Avoiding Funeral and Cemetery Fraud:

• Be an informed consumer. Take time to call and shop around before making a purchase. Take a friend with you who may offer some perspective to help make difficult decisions. Funeral homes are required to provide detailed general price lists over the telephone or in writing.
  
  
• Educate yourself fully about caskets before you buy one, and understand that caskets are not required for direct cremations.
  
  
• Understand the difference between funeral home basic fees for professional services and any fees for additional services.
  
  
• Know that embalming rules are governed by state law and that embalming is not legally required for direct cremations.
  
  
• Carefully read all contracts and purchasing agreements before signing and make certain that all of your requirements have been put in writing.
  
  
• Make sure you understand all contract cancellation and refund terms, as well as your portability options for transferring your contract to other funeral homes.
  
  
• Before you consider prepaying, make sure you are well informed. When you do make a plan for yourself, share your specific wishes with those close to you.
  
  
• As a general rule governing all of your interactions as a consumer, do not allow yourself to be pressured into making purchases, signing contracts, or committing funds. These decisions are yours and yours alone.