The online world presents many opportunities for scam artists and fraudsters. Many scams, however, are simple old-fashioned confidence tricks rather than technological wizardry.

The vast majority of ads and ad respondents on this site – and other sites – are genuine, but there will always be people trying to take advantage of your assumptions. The things that raise suspicion in traditional print and broadcast media should be viewed with the same scepticism when encountered online – most particularly, beware of anything that involves transferring money in advance, or accepting an amount of money which is far larger than the sum you are selling your item for (under the arrangement that you then forward the 'change' to another, or the original, party). Many scams, at the time of writing, seem to originate from Nigeria. Curly brackets around the name of the item you are trying to sell are another warning sign. Those looking for work should be aware of Pyramid Selling Scams which offer home-based 'work' consisting of recruiting others to the scheme and demand an upfront payment.

A scam that turned up in early 2008 involves the landlord asking for a deposit before even allowing the prospective tenant to view the property. The property turns out to be non-existent, and the "landlord" vanishes. However desperate you may be for a space in Oxford's cut-throat housing market, transferring money before you've seen the property is never a good idea: if the landlord insists on it, there's something wrong, even if it's not a scam.

Another recent arrival is a scam in which people looking for a new flat are asked to send money to themselves by Western Union Money Transfer and then give the receipt to a prospective landlord, in order to prove they have enough money for rent and deposit on a new property. We're not sure how this benefits the scammer, though it may help them gather personal details, but it is not standard practice in house-letting and we advise people not to do this!

Here are a couple of typical scam emails (note that these can often be identified by their incorrect/unusual use of English - however, the level does seem to be improving!):

Hello Seller, I'm so delighted to keep you aware that i have found your (car roof spoiler crome £20) very interesting to purchase. Please update me if it still very much available for sale.More importantly i will like to know if there is any body damage on it.. I will required of your last price, your contact phone #and also your mailling address. It's will also be nice of you if you can provide me with the picture.So that i can be fully satisfied with it, and my mode of payment shall be paid by (cashier cheque). Once you got it deduct your price and help me forward the balance to the shipper who will be handling the shipping of all my consignments via western union. If everything is ok with you, Email me back.....jsworcott@gmail.com James.

I NEED A ROOM URGENTLY Hello, Am jessicabrown from u.s.a,26years of age i school in holland likewise a modeling, coming to model in u.k and i will like to be your roommate. i like you to please give me the detail of your room,and the amount per three month my terms of payment will be by cashier bankers cheque,or u.k bank draft Your quick response will be highly appreciated you contcat me on this email address jessicabrown2008@yahoo.com Hope to hear from you soon, Best Regards, jessicabrown.

And here are some sites that describe typical scamming techniques:

• Safe From Scams – A detailed and continually updated list of scams to watch out for.
• Scambusters – ‘Help protect yourself from clever scams, online and offline’
• Online Scams – ‘fast facts’ for classified and disguised advertising
• Scambuster419 – a rare insight into the desperate persistence of scammers...
• The African Car Buyer Scam - a comprehensive description of a common scam, by no means restricted to cars, but targeted at people selling all kinds of goods.
• The Office of Fair Trading website - a good resource of common scams.

Once you know scammers exist, it is usually a simple matter to distinguish them from genuine respondents to your advert.

If someone tries to buy your item or pay a rent deposit in advance, try to make sure that you speak to them first, in person or by phone. A scammer will try to avoid actual contact. And never, ever cash a cheque that is for more money than you've asked for - your bank will not necessarily protect you.

Masking your email address (follow the instructions when you submit your ad) should cut down on the automated scam programs, even if there's not a lot that can be done to avoid the human scammers. Good luck!

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