The most common communication tools for personal and professional purposes is Email. Unfortunately, this is also one of the most common forms of fraud and malware attacks.
Pay attention to the messages you open and don’t take them for granted. Although the message may appear legitimate, it may contain malicious content.
Scam Emails are sent from criminals to collect your identity for misuse it, collect your financial information, and a bunch of other nasty business. These criminals try to trick you by pretending to be reliable sources like Web HosTech. Scam emails usually encourage you to take action on your hosting account, such as updating your address or credit card information. Follow our scam protection tips below to keep your information safe!
Here are some practical tips that everyone can use to protect themselves from this scam.
- Scammers don’t really know a Person’s name
Most of the time, scammers don’t really know a person’s name just based on their email. Address lists are often sold without similar identification.
If the message is truly legitimate, it will usually include your name. While this is not an absolute criterion for telling the difference between real and fake.
Organizations always use your name or ID in messages. It will never say anything like “Dear Customer”. In fact, it uses your full name in legitimate emails about your account.
Scammers don’t include this information for two reasons:
i) They don’t know your name
ii) They often sent messages in bulk, and it’s inappropriate to change your name in every message.
Using your name doesn’t certainly mean the email is legitimate. Data can sometimes be obtained and sold on the black market.
For this reason, you should also consider the following points when detecting a fake email.
- Fake Email Address
Many legitimate-looking emails come from fake addresses that appear to be real. For example, many scams around PayPal often show the address as “paypall.com” or “epaypal.com”.
At first glance, you may not realize that the address is completely wrong.
Unfortunately, submitted email addresses are easily spoofed to look genuine. In that case, you should look at email features.
If you use Outlook, this is relatively easy. If you right-click the message, then left-click Properties, you’ll see a window with a label that will say “Details” or something similar.
In this ambiguity you can see the source server. If it does not write the email address, it is probably fake. For example, a fake email from eBay might come from a server like “@easybey.com” or something completely different from “@eBay.com”.
- Don’t Click on the Links
If possible, avoid clicking on links directly in spam emails. This is one of the most obvious way that malware and data theft occurs in these messages.
Although the link may seem innocent, it may lead you to the wrong page.
Some software allows you to see the link before clicking on it. For example, Outlook displays links in the lower-left corner of the screen when you hover your mouse over the screen.
If you get a message from Facebook and it shows a link that says something like “http://vegmarket.com/facebook.com”, it’s definitely fake.
If you get message from a professional institution such as a banking institution then please enter the address manually in your web browser.
A message may inform you that there is a problem with your account and you need to log in to verify the information. If this is true, then you should visit the site directly through your browser and not through the provided link.
- Professional Look
Today, online organizations rarely use plain text for messages. However, this does not mean that they are legitimate emails. A common email scam uses a real picture of an organization to make the email look more authentic.
PayPal users may receive messages with logos and links that may make the email look exactly like the real thing. However, most of these messages address you as “Dear Customer”, which, as I mentioned earlier, PayPal never does.
Poor grammar is another sign of fraud. While not everyone has an English degree, a college graduate doesn’t have to see bad grammar used in an email from a professional organization.
If you get a message from Facebook and it shows a link that says something like “http://vegmarket.com/facebook.com”, it’s definitely fake.
If you get message from a professional institution such as a banking institution then please enter the address manually in your web browser.
A message may inform you that there is a problem with your account and you need to log in to verify the information. If this is true, then you should visit the site directly through your browser and not through the provided link.
- Don’t Share your Personal Information
Many scams look like they know who you are, but they want your information anyway. Without any doubt it is a red flag.
For example, a lottery scammer says you’ve won the lottery, but needs your personal information to send you a check. If they knew you were a winner, they would know.
You may receive an email from a source that looks legitimate and asks you to “verify” the information in the message. Currently, no organization requires you to provide this information via email.
These are usually fake unless you simply subscribe to a list or service and need to click a link to verify your address.
Be sure that no service, whether corporate or government, asks you to email your personal credentials. These organizations already have your information and do not need it for “verification values”.
Note: Web Hostech will never ask you for your password, credit card number, or any other personal information directly via email.
