Identifying Spam and Phishing

These days, Spammers are creating email accounts and websites with official looking logos. These fake websites are just waiting to steal any credentials that they can get their hands on. Look for links within the email. If it is a well-respected or high-profile company, they will tell you to log into your account, not click on a link.

Banks, eBay, PayPal, and other companies make it very clear that they will NEVER ask you for personal information over email. It’s always best to go to the official website and call customer service. Never use the number provided in the spam email for customer service! These types of emails are called “phishing”. Amazon recently had a flood of emails coming in about “phishing” emails. Often the fake email contains a link to a website that looks like Amazon, but is in fact a scam. These “phishing” emails try to steal your Amazon username and password or try to install software onto your computer to steal your personal information. The messages often include attachments, which they say are your invoice, but are in fact spyware.

Poor sentence structure is also a warning sign. This also includes STrange CAPitalization. (Legitimate senders use spellcheck.)

Unless you’ve submitted your email address to a list of charitable causes, no one is going to email you out of nowhere asking for help. Apple does not give away free iPads if you click a link. There is no prince that passed away leaving you millions of dollars. Another popular one that our customers see is an email notification to renew their domain. If an email seems suspicious, it’s best to mark it as spam. Never reply to the email. You can also talk to your internet service provider to report the email.