Email scams are some of the most common cons out there. From bad grammar to links containing viruses, we thought we would cover this as it is the most seen scam we’ve encountered. God, we must get about a half-dozen each week.
Identifying email scams is easy. If you see something that has a foreign name and talks about a “long-lost relative”, delete it. Don’t even think about it. Another significant identifier is if emails from services like streaming giants come through and address you as “Dear customer”.
If you have access to services used in email scams, but it says, “dear customer,” it might be harder to spot. Legitimate emails will say your name. But be sure to look out for grammar and spelling issues, which is a good indication that it’s not a legit email.
Email scams associated with services like Amazon are significant, which ties in with what we mentioned above. Be on the lookout for emails that claim you haven’t “paid an invoice.”
Furthermore, there are also a ton of email scams going around about “SEO services.” Actual services like this don’t contact you.
More Advanced Email Scams
Now, this next one is a bit of a scary one. Sometimes, you may get an email “from yourself” claiming that your email account has been hacked. If it contains your name and you know you didn’t send it, don’t panic. The first thing you do is to check your sent folder. If that’s clear, click the “from” section on the email header. Depending on your email app or service, it might look different. If you click it, it will tell you the email address. If you’re still unsure, Google the situation. Most of the time, you haven’t been hacked.
Cybercriminals are notoriously good at cloning email addresses and making it appear you were hacked when you weren’t. Moreover, if you have been compromised, change the password immediately. If you can, take a screenshot of the email and send it to your country’s version of Scamwatch. Email providers should have a specialised email account that allows you to report scams.
The final point we wanted to cover is email scam hyperlinks. If you get an email telling you to click something that looks like a scam, do NOT press it. If you do so by accident, run a virus scan on your computer to ensure you didn’t infect your device.
