text: are there really internet scams? why can't the websites control these scams? are there ways to know or tips to determine if something that you have browsed is a scam or not? yes there are, even mobile phone scams (if you call or text a certain number, you're supposed to get free load or a prize of some sort) and it's impossible to control these scams because it would be quite difficult to track all of them (like expecting companies like yahoo to track vulgar messages or spamming).   the best way to avoid getting fooled by these scam artists is first, keeping your wits about you and to not forward financial information about yourself; if possible, just ignore these emails. second, directly correspond with the big businesses that are supposedly involved in the scam (e.g., yahoo, microsoft, aol).  in our country, because text (sms) messaging is a big thing, people try to scam you into giving away your load. what our telecomm. companies have done is to post information on their websites and their branches about these scams.  oh, and another thing, it would be good to do a search on the scam (through your preferred search engine) because some websites have been posting "popular scams".