Junk E-mails!

Today I won over five hundred thousand pounds sterling in a British lottery and was informed that I could earn a portion of an abandoned - wait for it - 15 million dollars of cash money from somewhere in West Africa.

So what do I do now? Give up my day job? Go on a spending spree? Buy a yacht and a corvette? If only it were true!
I, like countless others, receive between two and four of these pesky e-mails on a daily basis. What would that make me? I'd be a billionaire easily by now!
Or I could be in dire straits right? Who on earth would be fooled by these scams?
I have to admit, I read them, or most of them, and that's maybe why I keep seeing them popping up in my inbox. But who could possibly take them seriously?

First of all the bad English is hilarious! I was sent one today (August 1st, 2007) which begins 'compliments of the season' - say what? Then it gets better, and I quote, verbatim: "Forgive my indignation if this message comes to you as a surprise and may offend your personality for contacting you without your prior consent and writing through this channel"

My personality is permanently offended thank you very much - sorry what was your name again? Bala Thompson?
But reading on I was very happy to learn that there was divine intervention at work here:
"After series of prayers/fasting. i was divinely directed to contact you among other names found in the data base Yahoo tourist search.I believe that God has a way of helping who is in need."
Hey thanks God - I feel very special!

And then there's Suzzan (correct spelling) Smith, 30 years old, from London England who is, very proud to say, 'the only daughter of her parents' and is currently working as a tailor! Her parents died tragically in a car accident on their way to a party, and, had willed part of their estate, the paltry sum of 10,000,000.00 (ten million pounds sterling) to her. Apparently all I have to do is marry her and claim the money!
"I am contacting you to stand as my husband to claim this money on my behalf as a next of kin to my late father with the Bank," says Suzzan, unaware, I suppose of the fact that I'm actually a female! I don't know, maybe she could have done some better research, since there's millions in the balance here!
The other day I was invited to an international youth conference, all expenses paid, except for a few hundred dollars for something or other. It's a good job I Googled it and found out it was a scam before singing a check!

I'm not an internet expert and would like to know, first of all how I can block these messages once and for all (they seem to keep getting through somehow!) and also if there is something being done to prevent this kind of scam occurring in the first place.
Has anyone done any research regarding the number of people (if any) who have fallen victims to these awful predators? And is there any way of tracking them down and confronting them?
Let me know of ways to contend with this scourge - I get enough physical junk mail that takes time to sort through and discard, and could do without the cyber trash!