I am often amazed at the number of spam e-mails that I see in my inbox everyday. Though most of it is harmless a lot of it can be dangerous if you don't know what you're looking for. The other day my husband told me a friend of his was a victim of computer crime. He was looking for a quick loan of $5,000 and he ended up with an empty bank account. This happens to a lot of people, and it's not because they're stupid, it's mostly because they need money and it seems that someone is offering it to them for little or nothing.

Though some computer crime comes in the form of embezzlement most of it comes in your e-mail box. You may get an offer for a payday loan or you may have been informed that she won the lottery. My husband's friend found an e-mail in his inbox telling him he could get a $5,000 loan within a matter of days. Because he needed money badly he clicked on the link and apply for the loan. What he didn't know was that he was about to be the victim of computer crime.

This type of computer crime is very common. When the company contacted him they told him that he had to give them close to $900 in order to secure the loan. When he didn't hear back from them, he called their phone number and spoke to a woman who said he needed to send even more money. This is very common with computer crime. If they think you are not wise to their scheme they will try to get even more money out of you. When the money still didn't come through my husband's friend called again. This time the phone was disconnected and the company, along with his money, was long gone.

There are also other types of computer crime you have to be aware of what you are surfing the net. If you get an e-mail that says you have won a lottery delete it immediately. If you get an e-mail that says you must enter your password for Paypal, or one that asks you to enter your information at your banking web site, you must also delete the e-mail. These are both common computer crime frauds that try to get your information so they may clean out your bank account or use your identity to get credit. Remember, if an offer sounds too good to be true it probably is.