It happens all the time, but it would never happen to you, right? Wrong. Scam e-mails are common, in fact according to EarthWeb, around 3.4 billion phishing emails are sent every day. Phishing is a generic term for attempted scams by bad actors. Scam e-mails can sometimes be challenging to spot, but we’ve put together a quick list of things to be on the lookout for.
Spotting Scam E-mails:
- Urgency – scam e-mails are often urgent in nature. Bad actors want victims to think as little as possible and react, respond, click a link, download a file, or perform an action with the least amount thought or caution.
- Links/Attachments – links and attachments are both useful and potentially damaging. Take caution when clicking links or downloading attachments. Be sure the sender is trusted, use an anti-virus or endpoint security software to scan the attachment and send the link through a trusted link checker.
- E-mail Address – e-mail addresses are harder to spoof (impersonate), but display names and signatures can be changed by even the least technically savvy person. Don’t trust a display name and don’t trust the name or phone number in a signature. Use an existing known good number to validate any odd e-mail content and check the email address as opposed to the display name or signature.
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