With most nastiness sent through email, there is a simple trick that will almost always reveal the truth about the scam.   Simply point your browser to Google, type the subject line from your questionable email into the search box and see what comes up. The Internet as a community is one of the best at self-policing that civilization has ever seen. In the case of most of the attacks mentioned in this article, you will find numerous sites identifying the hoax/spam/scam/Phish/virus you have received.