It may seem like viruses and malware come from the dark abyss and that they can only make their way onto your computer through sneaky, backhanded channels. But sometimes they walk in right through the front door — via your email.
Email phishing scams are a dime a dozen now, and they seem to get more sophisticated as the years go by. It’s become more important than ever to stay aware of some of the most common phishing scams so that you can keep yourself protect against viruses, malware, and hackers. Here’s how you can spot an email scam and what to do about it.
Common Email Scams
The only positive thing about email scams is that once they’re out there, word travels fast about their nature and it soon becomes easy to spot one. By then, the tactic may have changed, but for now, these are among the most common email scams experts report.
** Urgent Calls to Action — these spam emails always make it sound like there’s a fire and your actions are the only thing that can put them out. They’ll tell you that you must make a call or take action immediately and provide vague threats about what will happen if you don’t comply.
** Unfamiliar sender — The sender will likely be one that is not already in your history or address book. Email scammers, even if from the same organization, usually change their send information frequently.
** Terrible grammar — there will be misspellings and grammatical mistakes, often because the messages have been rapidly translated from another language.
** Email Domains Don’t Check Out — A sender that claims they are from a specific company, like your bank, will have an email domain that isn’t from that business — such as a generic Gmail email domain.
** Weird Links and Attachments — Never click on any links or attachments that are included in these types of emails. They could easily open you up to malware and spyware.
What To Do If You Get a Scam Email
Now that you’re certain the email you have received is a scam, it’s a wise idea to report it. The first thing you can do is delete the email and report it as phishing, an option that many email companies now allow you to do. If the email sender is claiming they are from a certain company or government agency, you can also go to that organization’s website and report it.
If you’ve been successfully phished (because it happens to the best of us sometimes), immediately take action by changing the passwords for every website that you frequent. Pay special attention to banking and shopping sites — any site that has access to your bank accounts. Use Multi-Factor Authentication as an added protection. And, finally, if it has gotten to the point where you’ve been scammed out of money, make sure you file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
