If you have an email account, you probably get unwanted mail promising you all sorts of wonderful things.

The senders of these emails take you to a fantasy world where whatever you want is yours - with no effort, education, or work of any kind. They say they know the secret to boundless wealth, with money dripping from your mailbox and they are willing to share it with you - for only $9.95, $29.95, $369.95 or whatever.

If I had taken up all the personalised, exclusive offers that have flooded into my mail box over the past week I would be enjoying all of the following:

• Millions of dollars being regularly deposited into my bank account by helping unfortunate Nigerians transfer their vast wealth out of their country.
• A full head of luxuriant hair, no acne, and a quality house for only $5,000
• No Septic tank problems
• Free DVD's and cable television
• Thousands of dollars of income a week from my own gambling sites
• Unlimited hits and high commissions from visitors to my website
• The ability to eat whatever I wanted, while losing weight
• The ability to promote my website to 2000 million eager prospects without spamming them.
• Protection from Terrorist attacks by installing a pirated copy of Norton software
• A whole range of new female friends that like farm animals
• Enough free Viagra to share with all of them
• A pre approved loan of $118,937.45
• Legitimate Bachelors and Masters degrees in whatever field I wanted without the hassle of doing any study. My extensive life experiences would be sufficient to qualify. (Makes me feel stupid for spending 7 years studying part time for a business degree)
• Winnings of $100,000 in a lottery sponsored by Bill Gates and the Sultan of Brunei
• Methods of keeping my family safe in the event of a terrorist attack
• Free bottle of VP-RX which will add 3 1/4 inches to the length of an important part of my body. (Not sure how this will go with the potion that adds 8 inches to my non existent bust line)
• An offer to submit my website to over 300,000 vital search engines and directories
• A mysterious offer to invest $369.75 in a new, secret opportunity that will make a fortune really soon. Unfortunately it's too secret for them to provide any details at this stage, so I'm asked to trust them. No problem! sure I'll do that.

Many people get sucked in, send off money, and are surprised when they find they have become victims of the same old cons that have been around for years.

Remember the old saying - If an offer seems too good to be true - it probably is. You CAN make money on the internet, but it takes hard work, knowledge, and it doesn't happen overnight. Just like a non-internet business.

Before you are tempted to spend money on an unbelievable offer, check it out. Some places that provide information are:

http://www.friendsinbusiness.com/ - Set up by Leslie Fountain, who was conned on the internet many, many times. She tells her story on the site, and provides a forum where you can ask questions about any program or company that you may be thinking of getting involved with.

http://www.scamwatch.com/ Contains some good information about the types of scams common on the internet, with real life stories organised in categories of scam.
(However, I'm amused at their claimed affiliation with the "International Web Police" founded in 1986 - long before there was a web)