Tip 2 in an occasional series. Keep visiting regularly for more Online Shopping Safety Tips.

We’ve all had the spam emails – known as 419 scams on account of the Nigerian law that covers the fraud – from rich princes, lawyers, doctors or prime ministers requesting assistance in moving huge sums of money. It seems to good to be true, and it is. Thankfully most people are becoming aware of the fraud that these emails are attempting to commit, but sometimes it is not as easy.

With auction sites such as eBay becoming more and more popular, smaller-scale frauds are occurring more regularly, with sellers (or buyers) attempting to circumvent the consumer protection put in place by the marketplace. The Internet National Fraud Information Center Watch reports that unsolicited offers by sellers represented 22% of scams in 2004.

Simply asking yourself if emails or messages appear legitimate before responding will help prevent most of these opportunistic crimes. Remember: if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.