Anyone who has an e-mail account has dealt with SPAM in their inbox from time to time. According to Federal regulations individuals who send such e-mails have to give the receiver the option to unsubscribe from their mailing list and it has to be honored within a few days time. However this hasn't stopped scammers from finding new ways to try to obtain personal information through e-mails.

One of the most common methods used is called phishing. This is the concept of sending an e-mail that looks very similar to ones sent out by official businesses. They often come from very popular sites such as e-Bay and MySpace. The e-mails tell you something along the lines of your account being compromised so you need to provide the information they ask for to verify the account. Many people do so because the e-mail also states that if they don't respond immediately their account will be suspended.

It is important for all consumers to understand that these sites and others you do business with will never ask you for person information in an e-mail. Never respond at all to such phishing tactics. Delete them immediately because if you do reply they will know they have reached a legitimate address. Many sites ask you to forward a copy of the e-mail to them so they can take care of security issues regarding it.

If you are wondering if the e-mail really came from the site you are familiar with open a new browser and log into your account. Many of them have a place where you can read recent messages. You can also contact support to assist you with any questions you have about it.

You can attach a SPAM filter to your e-mail account and it should catch the majority of phishing attempts. However you will be amazed at how smart scammers can be. It seems that as technology advances to prevent such schemes they come up with another loophole to gain access again. Consumers have to be smart and stay one step ahead of them.