Advance fee frauds offer large amounts of money to the recipients of the scam emails, but 'fees' have to be paid before the money is released... which, of course, it never is.

They generally follow one of the following patterns:

Lottery Scam - you've won a very large sum of money, but you have to pay in advance for the cheque to be delivered by courier, and/or there's some sort of 'transfer fee' to transfer the money from the Claims Agent to your bank... or insurance to paid. The reasons for requesting up-front fees are many and varied. If you do pay the initial fees, then a further request for a larger amount of money will usually follow - for 'taxes' on the win or for some other fanciful reason. The scammers hope that as the victim has already paid a smaller sum, they are likely to pay a further, larger sum, rather than lose what they have already paid - in the vain hope that they really have won a very large sum of money. Unfortunately, they haven't...

Someone in another country has millions, but for some reason cannot access it. This could be because their late father has left them a fortune that they need your help to access, or they're the only surviving heir to pots of money that belonged to a distant relative and only you can help unite the cash with its rightful owner.. As a reward for 'helping', you will be paid a percentage of the money - but of course, only after you have paid the various up-front 'fees' that have to be paid to sort out Powers of Attorney, legal arrangements, etc...

Some victims strongly suspect that the email they have received is a scam, but are tempted to respond because they are in desperate need of money. However, a scam is still a scam no matter how short of cash you are - and if you lose money you cannot afford, then you'll be even more desperate. If you're asked to pay fees in advance of receiving any money, think again!