Photo courtesy: amazon.com

There’s a new e-mail scam plaguing many inboxes across the country.

Many have filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau claiming that they have received a e-mail saying that their “Fat Loss Monitor” is in the mail. One problem: The person never ordered that item.

This e-mail unfortunately contains links to check the status of the order, but those links make the recipient susceptible to an array of viruses.

View a sample version of this e-mail.

The BBB offers these tips when confronting this e-mail, and similar shipping fraud e-mails:

• Do NOT click on any hyperlinks. You should, however, hover over the link to see where the link will take you once clicked. Amazon links should always start with http://www.amazon.com. If the destination is anything other than the company sending you the e-mail, do not click.
• If you do click on these links too late, do a full virus scan on your computer.
• Good rule of thumb: If you aren’t expecting an e-mail, use caution before clicking on links or replying. Report to the BBB anything that looks suspicious.
• If you find that you have given a potentially fraudulent company your credit card information, take steps to protect your finances. Contact your credit card company and take their advice on any steps you should take.
• Beware of e-mails full of typographical and grammatical mistakes.

The Better Business Bureau provides a long list of scams on its website: http://www.bbb.org/us/scams