We have all seen the emails that claim we are due a reward or gift voucher or there is a problem with some account we have. Most encourage you to click a link and enter some details and while a lot of us are aware of these types of scams a lot more are not.
First a few examples of the types of emails we are talking about:
"Your PayPal account has been suspended"
"You have won a $100 voucher to Walmart"
"You are approved for xxx visa card"
"Winning lottery notification"
"DHL failed to deliver"
"You won a cruise"
Disaster relief scam emails
Email verification emails from sites you have not signed up to
These are just some examples and we all will have one of these emails in our inbox right now or within the next 24 hours. These types of emails are generally designed to do one of 3 things.
1. Get your personal information for identity theft, resale
2. Gain access to accounts you may have
3. Install malicious software
4. Con you to fleece you of your hard earned money
Now when you are looking at scam emails your best defence is common sense but here are a few tips to help you not become one of the thousands scammed by such emails.
1. Common sense wins every time
As we mentioned common sense is your number one defence against these emails. Your bank, PayPal and other financial services will NEVER ask you for things like passwords, card details and other very personal details via email. Any emails or forms that you are redirected to asking for passwords should set alarm bells ringing. There are some that even bold enough to ask for your pin number!
2. Looking for spelling and grammar errors
Although these scam emails are getting better and better they do tend to lack in the spelling and grammar areas. I have seen emails that look very legitimate with logos and such and it is not until you read the email that it becomes very obvious that this email is not from your bank or some other such site.
3. Check the link
This is probably the biggest giveaway and the one people do not know about. For example I saw a scam email the other day that appeared to be from Walmart claiming someone had won $1000 in a raffle and that they needed to click the link and enter details to claim.
The link was something like "http://www.Walmart.com.xyz.biz". To most people this looks fine it looks like it is going to Walmart's website but the problem is that it is not. The Walmart part is a sub domain of the site xyz.com and has nothing to do with Walmart.
Upon clicking the link you are taken to a well done copy of Walmart's website where you enter your details and send these scammers your information to be used for whatever reason but again the website is not it is part of xyz.biz and is just designed to trick you into thinking the site is legitimate.
This happens on many email scams I have received and it is always worth just hovering over the link they want you to click just to see where it takes you (but don't click) If you are still unsure go directly to the company's website rather than via the link and login to your account that way. NEVER login to an account via a suspicious email.
4. The opening line or subject
Things like "You have won" or verify your bank account" are usually giveaways and are 99.9% of the time scams. Messages that start with things like dear friend or hello friend are usually good indicators that a lot of rubbish is about to follow.
5. Attachments
If you receive and email from someone you don't know that contains an attachment your finger should be hovering over the delete message button. These types of messages usually contain attachments that are either viruses or forms used to phish your personal information.
Craig is a Computer Repair Technician and blogger who offers advice and tutorials on all things tech related at his blog computerlearnhow. To learn how to protect your online identity check Stay Safe Online
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