> what does a genuine email fromm the bank look like?

Simple. My bank N E V E R sends an email that requires a logon. Most banks are the same.

This is exactly the case with an aunt of mine. I stepped through setting up her net banking, and told her, explicitly explained and MADE SURE she got it that her bank will NEVER send an email asking for password details, personal info, logins, etc. I showed her the page on her bank's own site that explained that, and went through why it was important.

And then six months later she's phished, and loses a little over $1200. Her excuse? "Yeah I knew they wouldn't send those emails out, but it looked real".

There's no helping some people, they just want to lose their cash I'm sure.

Patent fees. Getting a patent is not a free service, in fact its quite expensive. Its gotten to the point that an individual can't even begin to patent anything unless he is wealthy or has a large corporate backer. Without spending much on research the USPTO become quite profitable for the government.