How to Spot a Scam Email
There are several key red flags that will help indicate if an email you received is a complete scam or a real email from a company / website that you deal with.
The main flags are:
- Strange spelling mistakes, or some symbols in place of letters: This is to fool spam filters that may be looking for key phrases
- Strange From Email: Either from something generic, or something with a lot of numbers in it. They should come from the company you are dealing with
- You're not expecting anything: If someone is trying to 'send you money', or an invoice you need to pay, but you're not expecting anything, or you don't actually do business with the supposed company, give the email a good once over before clicking on anything.
- Your name is not mentioned: It will say something like Dear Friend, or Dear {email address}
- A sense of urgency: It will want you to pay a bill immediately, or it will claim that it just charged you several hundred dollars for a service or product you don't remember buying.
- Broken Images: Images will be taken off real websites to insert into the email, in an attempt to make them look legit, but some images may not display properly.
- Strange Links: when you hover over a link in your email program, somewhere at the bottom of the window, or in a little popup box, it will show the link you are going to go to. If it's a strange website address, DO NOT CLICK
What to do if you are sure it's a scam email:
- Never click on anything, or reply to it, or call any numbers
- If you are uncertain, check your credit card statements, or call your bank to ask about recent charges
- Delete the email, or block it, and move on!
