There are countless scams every day that start out by delivering an email with the sole purpose of having the target click a link that takes them to a website that injects malware. Following are examples of the many varieties of email scams. See
phishing.
Read the From Address!
The first thing to do if an email seems strange is to look for a suspicious "from address" in the message. If an email comes from Amazon and the address is amazon@jtzbill.com, ignore it. An address can fool people such as xyz.com/amazon, because the xyz site is the actual domain name. See
Internet domain name.
delivery scam
An email claims to be a delivery from Amazon, Fed Ex or UPS and it is being held up for some reason. Another approach is to mention an invoice. Considering millions of orders are placed daily, many people will at least read the message.
jury scam
An email claims that the recipient has missed a deadline for appearing as a juror and must immediately click the link.
government scam
An email claims to be from the government and mentions some infraction will cause an IRS audit or cancellation of social security if this is not handled immediately.
charity scam
An email claims that people are starving in some country and that immediate assistance is required. This type of scam is asking for a donation.
prize scam
An email claims the recipient has won a prize and to phone a number for details. If the number is dialed, the human agent at the other end says a deposit is necessary to receive the prize. The agent claims the awarders of the prize never incur delivery expenses. This may sound ridiculous but the agents are very persuasive.
romance email
A series of emails attempt to gain the confidence of the target over a lengthy period of time. Eventually, romance scammers ask for money because they lost their wallet or pocket book and cannot return home or they have some other made-up story. See
catfishing.