Email has replaced Faxing in most workplaces for day to day correspondence between people and though kids and teens are using Facebook and Myspace for most of their communication between friends they also have online email accounts like Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, myway, and the list goes on and on.

Most of these online email providers do not charge for their service nor do they monitor or check the age of users before they grant them an email account. There terms of service does specify a minimum age but all a kid has to do is lie when they are asked there age. These email addresses are then used to signup at Facebook, Myspace, Porn sites, etc... The only way for you to know whether they have one of these account is to monitor their online activity so if they visit an online mail account you can address it. 

Visit the Software Based Parental Controls part of this site to find those tools that will allow you to monitor or spy if you will on your child's activities. These mail accounts can be perfectly harmless but on the other hand very dangerous.

Also check out the Email Scams article to learn about the 10 most common email scams:

1. The "Nigerian" Email Scam
2. Phishing
3. Work-at-Home Scams
4. Weight Loss Claims
5. Foreign Lotteries
6. Cure-All Products
7. Check Overpayment Scams
8. Pay-in-Advance Credit Offers
9. Debt Relief
10. Investment Schemes