How email scams have changed.
Remember when all you had to worry about was an email from the Crown Prince of Nigeria? I mean come on, who would fall for that!?
Even if for some bizarre reason he didn’t have a bank account, surely he has contacts who have. Why would he trawl the internet looking for a random email address?
Anyway, generally speaking the scams of today are a little more believable. They are often made to look like they have come from genuine companies, banks, even HMRC.
And some of the links take you to a website that is a clone of the real one, so it looks real.
How do you avoid getting caught out?
Here are my tips:
How to Spot A Scam
1. Check Spelling and Punctuation
It never fails to amaze me that scammers go to all the effort of cloning websites etc then don’t spell check their emails. The number of them that have bad spelling, lack of punctuation and bad grammar is shocking. If the email sounds like it was written by a 7 year old, but claims to be from your bank, it’s a scam.
2. Don’t Panic
Often these emails (especially the PayPal ones) tell you there is a time limit or they will freeze your account. Breathe.
Ask yourself how likely it is that a company will freeze your account permanently because you didn’t change your password, or enter your bank details quickly enough. It is not going to happen.
If a company genuinely need you to amend details because they fear you have been hacked, they will have already frozen your account for your safety. Once you prove you are you and amend the password, the account will be unfrozen.
3. Look at What They Are Asking You to Do
No reputable company will EVER ask for your bank details to be sent in an email, or for you to enter your password in an email.
4. Check the Email Address
I remember getting an email about being owed money from HMRC. The spelling and grammar was good. It asked me to follow a link etc. I can’t remember the exact email address, but it ended in @yahoo.co.uk.
As if the HMRC aren’t going to have their own email. Some small companies might genuinely not, so don’t assume it is a scam just because of this (more on this later).
I've been getting an alarming amount of them lately, and I never used to get them. I enen got one from Yahoo itself the other say which really threw me off because it looked so genuine. Thanks for the tips, I'll have to be more vigilant.
They do seem to be on the up at the minute. I can imagine the Yahoo one will catch some out, it seems more believable when its your own email provider. Glad to have helped 🙂
This is so true and informative! I have read plenty of scam victims and I felt bad for them knowing that they were being robbed just by clicking a url mistakenly. This info should be spread out cause I know it can help every one. Thanks for sharing!
Yeah, its so easy to do if the email looks good. Especially if you aren't someone who is online a lot so may not have seen others talking about the scam. Thank you 🙂
Great advice! I get about 20 of different scams a day in my email spam folder. Just looking now there is 3 from Paypal. One promising me 3.2 million pounds and one from Barclays which I don't even have an account with….lol
Lol, the sheer nerve of them amazes me! The bank ones are pretty real looking though assuming they get your bank right. Thank you 🙂
The scam emails are so annoying, yet so many people still fall for them with so much info out there warning about scams. And of course, all the Ämerican Soldiers" falling in love with very desperate women and then milk them of every cent they have and don't have.
Thanks for linking with #ShowcaseTuesday
I know, its shocking how many people get ripped off through these scams. Oh yeah, I forgot about those ones, they are pretty well publicized and people still fall for them! Thanks for hosting 🙂
Great tips on what to watch for I get sooo many email spam and sometimes it's hard to know if its' real or not. Thank you so much for linking up to Share With Me. I hope to see you again tomorrow for another great round. #sharewithme
Thank you 🙂 I get a lot too, its so annoying, especially if its something that could be important and you have to take the time to investigate it. Thanks for hosting, see you tomorrow 🙂