The author of the e-mail claimed to be Isa Ahmed Mustapha "...the first son of major Hamza al Mustapha, the former chief security officer to the late head of state General Sanni Abacha" in Nigeria. The writer said that two trunks containing $35 million were sent by his father from Nigeria to South Africa and that he is contacting you because he is looking for "...a foreigner who will assist in retrieving the boxes and depositing of the fund into an account." And lest the recipient think that his good deed will go unrewarded, the writer added that: "I and my mother have agreed to give you 20% of the fund for your assistance and 5% for any expenses you might incur in the course of this transaction."

However, before the lucky "foreigner" starts planning how to spend his $8.75 million, he should know that there are more than 150 variations on this same wealth-sharing theme originating in Nigeria.

But Nigeria is far from alone. E-mail fraud has become an equal opportunity deceiver that is reaching epidemic proportions throughout the world.

In fact, Internet Fraud Watch claims that the Nigerian scams are just the tip of the iceberg. The organization reports that last year's top 10 Internet frauds were:

• Online Auctions—78%
• General Merchandise Sales—10%
• Internet Access Services—3%
• Work-At-Home—3%
• Advance Fee Loans—2%
• Computer Equipment/Software—1%
• Nigerian Money Offers—1%
• Adult Services—1%
• Credit Card Offers—.5%
• Travel/Vacations—.5%

Despite the growth of online scams, ScamWatch says avoiding the swindles usually requires nothing more than the same common-sense you use in your job every day. Among its tips for avoiding online scams, frauds and rip-offs are:

• Avoid any business opportunity whose backbone is your recruitment of new investors.
• Never send money, even a few dollars, in response to an unsolicited e-mail or a posting you spotted on the Web.
• Just because e-mail includes references, doesn't make it legitimate. Those "satisfied customers" could well be part of the scheme!
• Don't assume that e-mail offering you the chance to purchase product inventory is legitimate. Often the product doesn't exist or is worth far less than you'll pay for it.
• Be alert for any responses to e-mail that you don't believe you have sent.
• Look carefully at message headers for discrepancies between sender and provider.
• Check out the offering company at your local Better Business Bureau and Attorney General's office.
• Save all printed matter and print out the Web site screen and save that too.
• Avoid sending payments to P.O. Boxes.

Every company has a street address. If they refuse to give it to you, it may be best to seek the product somewhere else.

You can obtain additional information about online fraud and how to avoid it at the following Web sites: FTC Dirty Dozen: www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/doznalrt.htm; The National Fraud Information Center: www.fraud.org; and ScamSpam: www.junkemail.org/scamspam.

But you're welcome to send scam-spam with suggestions and/or comments to

harper.d@att.net.