A couple of days ago, I received something alarming on my inbox. On the subject line it read: Your account has been limited until we hear from you. That seemed like an important warning but apparently it wasn’t. It was yet another fraudulent email scam that annoyed the wits out of me.
Good thing I did not give in to the automated email and did not reply. When I opened the email, I immediately knew it was spam because of the message composition.
If you’re still having a hard time determining spam or you’ve already been victimized before, you may remember these points on how to detect spam email:
Read the subject. More often than not, the subject would be very catchy. It will get your attention that you’d want to open the email right away. It will either make you excited or shed fear. In this email, the subject header made me worry that some account is limited. I was made to believe that I had to make immediate action.
Check the email address of the sender. This email was supposed to be from PayPal but look at the domain name used. Instead of PayPal.com, it’s pay1.com.
Check the message. Read the message carefully. Does this look like a professional mail from a legitimate company? A popular brand won’t send a poorly written mail or marketing material. Take note of the absence of logos, text, and incorrect grammar and spelling.
Check the links. Take note of the URLs and links given. You don’t need to be a genius to know that the domain name used above is fake. The link doesn’t look legitimate.
The following are some signs of spoofing or Phising email:
- Hover over friend form
- Message body is an image
- IP reputation
- Suspicious attachments
- Request for personal information
- Urgent
- Message is too good to be true
Fraudulent email, spoofing, and Phising will only continue to be a problem of brands and companies all over the world. Even popular individuals or celebrities can be victimized. Such compromised accounts pose threat to a business or security of the company.
On the side of the consumers, being duped into giving important and personal information can be dangerous. Don’t just give your account details or password to anyone. Always make sure that the email you received or the website you are accessing is safe, secure, and trusted.
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