To the younger generation, it's often very apparent when an e-mail we recieve isn't genuine. However, there are still a huge number of people who are being scammed out of thousands because of these e-mails. I'm hoping that this take will help people avoid being scammed in the future.
You weren't expecting it
If you're anything like me, you know the origin of all the e-mails you recieve, either from subscriptions or even just online order confirmations. Sometimes it's very noticeable when there's a scamming e-mail because it's from a company that you don't recognise or you've not signed up with.
It doesn't address your name
E-mails that say things like "Dear customer/member/subscriber" is a huge sign it's a scam. A genuine e-mail will address you directly.
Unusual URL or e-mail address
The e-mail might contain a link to another website but they often give away their malevolent nature by having a link that looks very unusual and often doesn't end with .com, .org or .co.uk. It might be a mixture of numbers and letters, more like a long code than a link. It's similar for the e-mail addresses, often not ending in live.co.uk, MSN.com or gmail.com and the company's name isn't even in the e-mail address which would be expected.
In the junk folder
Thanks to your e-mail provider, they can sort out what they think is junk/scam and put it in your junk folder. It's rare that they send genuine e-mails that you're expecting into the junk folder so you should trust that they've got it right.
Poor grammar
Large companies like Apple, proof read their e-mails considerably before sending them out. Scammers just want to type something up that's relatively believable and send it out to gain whatever they're trying to get. This is where scammers trip up though because they often have very poor grammar and messed up wording which isn't reminiscent of a geniune company.
Asking for all of your details
No bank or trusted company would ask for sensitive information such as your password or pin number through an e-mail or even over the phone. Don't be embarassed about being extra careful and never give them any information that could allow someone to get into your account such as username and password.
So what do you do when you've identified a scam e-mail?
Report the e-mail and block the sender
There should be a "report e-mail" option or "report junk". It's always good to report scamming e-mails because then your e-mail provider can work to stop it being sent to you and others in the future. Once you've reported the e-mail, it's useful to block any future e-mails from that sender because scam e-mails are often sent regularly which can fill up your inbox and become irritating.
Don't click on any links in the e-mail
This is how viruses can be implemented onto your computer and this is how they can access your e-mail and send that e-mail to everyone on your contact list, meaning more people get affected.
Be safe online!
What Girls & Guys Said
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3Opinion
Horrible Grammar and how pushy they tend to be when asking for information is always a clear sign. The sender's email is usually a sneaky one sometimes and not noticed at first glance.
Solid info and well put together.
Hopefully gullible people read this to keep from being scammed... but im sure it'll happen anyways lol.
this is good stuff, the grammar part is a good one. it becomes so obvious when they ask for sensitive information like a SSN, sadly some people fall for it lol.
and then they try to disguise themselves as a high ranking government agency or some shit, and people immediately fall for that.. LOL like wtf really, why would they be emailing you.
Exactly but people fall for it. A woman was on TV today saying she was scammed out of £8000. It happens a lot. Scamming e-mails stick out like a sore thumb to me and I laugh at their attempt. It's not easy for some people.
that's a lot of money, wow. hope she gets reimbursed if they catch the culprit.
No, no-ones reimbursing her for her naivety because she willingly gave authorisation for the payments but anyone with common sense would know that no legit company would ask for two payments of £4000 for something. Her bank even prevented the original payment of £5000 being authorised so the scammers asked for £4500 instead and that got approved.
true that, damn she dumb! lol
Great Take, very helpful indeed.