Regular users of the internet will occasionally be targeted by on-line criminals, scammers, call them what you will.

Your email address is a magnet for them. 10 of the most common scams are listed below, but in general the cybercriminal is after one of two things. Your identity and your money. And very often they’ll take both, thank you very much.

1. Phishing

A phishing technique was described in detail in 1987, and the first recorded use of the term “phishing” was made in 1996.

This is one of the most common forms of fraud. You’ll receive an email from what appears to be a trusted source, your bank, an auction site or popular social network asking for account details. There is often a link to a fake website that looks like the real thing. Your bank will never ask you for this information by email and you should never respond to this kind of request from anyone.

2. The Nigerian or 419 scam

You receive an email from what appears to be businessmen or officials from Nigeria or other African country offering to transfer a large sum of money into your bank account to get it out of the country. You’ll be allowed to keep a significant amount of this money, providing you pay a fee to cover transaction and legal costs.

A new slant on an old scam. In the days before email this was done by air mail. Never respond. If you hand over any money you’ll never see it again. Hand over your bank details and the account will magically empty.

I’ve seen these in recent years pretending to be from Iraq, Afghanistan and India, so don’t always expect them to be from Nigeria.

3. Lotteries

This one is simple. If you don’t buy a lottery ticket you can’t possibly win. And there is no such thing as a lottery of email addresses. So your unique email address also can’t possibly win any money.

4. Fake websites and fake goods

A little more difficult to spot. Fake goods sold by what appears to be a UK based company because the domain name ends with .co.uk. Anyone in any country can buy a .co.uk domain name. You could well be dealing with a chinese company selling fake and counterfeit goods. If it’s too good to be true it probably is. Buyer beware. It’s sometimes possible to spot these by the mangled English used on the website or in any correspondence emails but unfortunately in this day and age that’s no guarantee the writer isn’t English. You can do a domain whois lookup to see who owns the domain name, but even that information could be fake.

5. Selling online

If you’re planning to sell items on websites such as Amazon Marketplace or eBay – be careful. Never ship anything until you have the money. Never ship anything to Nigeria, or any other African country. Never give out any account information if requested by email, even if the email appears to have come from eBay or Amazon. Neither of those companies will ask you for this information by email in the course of a transaction. Never deviate from your chosen payment method. A typical scam involves asking you to accept payment via Western Union. Don’t.

Similarly be careful when buying goods on auction sites.

There is plenty of information on both websites about security. Read it.

6. Trojan emails

Trojans are a type of computer virus that can be installed without you realising. You might receive an email in the form of a promotional offer, for example, aimed at getting you to click on a link or open an attachment. These links/attachments will be infected with Trojans that record keyboard strokes and aim to capture passwords and other sensitive information.

Difficult to avoid but again if it’s too good to be true, it probably is and is best avoided. Keep your Anti Virus software up to date.

7. Economy related scams

If you’ve been struggling with debt recently, there’s a good chance you may have received an email from a company claiming to be able to help you. Possibly by buying your debts so you can then pay them a smaller monthly repayment over a longer period. Not possible. No-one can buy someone else’s debt. If you fall for this you will still owe the original lender the full amount and probably be out of pocket by whatever administration fees the scammer asked for. You won’t see them again.

8. Friends in need

The scammer has hacked into an email account and sent out an email to everyone in the address book saying your friend has had his or her wallet stolen and is stranded in a foreign country or hundreds of miles from home. There then comes the plea for a cash hand out to help them get home. You can’t phone them because the mobile was also stolen, or they are stranded in a place where the phones don’t work. But there is a Western Union office nearby. Phone your friend anyway, chances are they’ll be at home. Ignore.

9. Online dating

Almost as old as the Nigerian 419. Scammers create an attractive online profile on a dating website and wait for the punters to make contact. They might pretend to be from the UK and working overseas or say they live overseas. After a few email exchanges they will then either spin some sob story about being injured, or say they really want to meet you somewhere. But surprise, they don’t have enough money and could you please send some over.

Don’t send any money. You won’t see it again and the attractive sounding individual will disappear.

10. Charity or disaster relief

Usually following a natural disaster somewhere in the world. The scammers send out millions of emails purporting to be from a charity organisation. They may ask you to send money somewhere, or ask for your bank details so a transfer can take place. Charities do not tend to ask you for your bank details via email. Check with the Charities Commission first.