There are several kinds of e-mail con games that sucker people into thinking they're going to get something when they end up losing a great deal. Tech industry insider Marty Winston tells us about one twist on the spam lottery scam.

You just won a zillion dollars – give me your checking account info so I can cover the wire transfer cost and I'll send it to you. That's one of the oldest scams in spam, but people still fall for it. The bad guys do take the money out of your account – all of it if they can – but all you get in return is poverty.

If an e-mail message seems to good to be true, it's almost certainly false, or a trick intended to put your money into somebody else's pockets. The safest practice is to never respond to spam.