it wants to give you money.

The MAIN way is to research it and the company on the web. Here, I think ( ;-) ) is a good place to start: http://www.orangefrogproductions.com/ofp2s_scams_home.shtml

Poor spelling, an odd subject line, a weird sender address (such as johnnewman@club13.coolstudimagery234.com) And, like others have said, offers of money.

It depends on the type of e-mail. If it's a "easy at-home" business or someone claiming they want to transfer money to you, I wouldn't trust it. For e-mails about missing children, viruses, or warnings of strange attacks, I check snopes. They usually have them on there. http://snopes.com/

If it "feels" like a hoax to you, then it probably is. If you want to try to trust it, just don't go far enough to get into a situation that you can lose something. For instance, don't EVER type your social security number or any banking information into anything on the internet or even an email! Don't send any money to anyone for any reason, so you don't have to worry about losing anything you haven't given anyone. Don't believe that anyone would send you any money, then trust you to send them the difference that you owe them. Nobody would do that. Those are counterfeit money orders. I know because I usually try to get them to send me something so that I can report them. Whenever I get an email in which someone has told me that I've inherited a huge sum of money, and all they need from me is my name, age, mailing address, and email address, I always send them the information with a great big thank you, and tell them I look forward to receiving the check in the mail and may God bless them for their kindness. Then I add, that if this is a scam intended to take advantage of poor unsuspecting poeople, then I hope they rot in hell! I usually don't hear from them again.

Here are some guidelines: If you don't recognize the sender...be wary. If the email address contains a bunch of nonsense characters or poor spelling...be wary. If the subject line contains stuff deliberately mis-spelled or uses a bunch of unusual characters...be wary. If the subject line comes across like a sales pitch...be wary. If the email address doesn't appear to match the subject line...be wary. If the email asks for money, passwords, account verification, or threatens you with some bad thing if you DON'T do what is requested or suggested...be wary. If it looks like a chain mail, odds are it IS a chain mail...be wary. In general, if any email matches the above stuff...just delete them without opening them. As for email you THINK is legitmate: NEVER attempt to visit any financial institutions by clicking on any link provided in an unsolicited email. There are ways to disguise the link to make it look authentic...and the website it takes you to may also appear to be authentic as well. ALWAYS visit financial institutions by going directly to their site through your browser...i.e-enter the correct web address in your browser yourself without going through links in an email. NEVER OPEN EMAIL ATTACHMENTS FROM AN UNKNOWN SOURCE! And get into the habit of downloading attachments first, then scanning them for virus' BEFORE you open them.