Email Scams: What To Look Out For
Foreword By The Editor
This article by Gregg Housh covers that perennial old problem ‘spam‘, and the general insecurity and potential dangers that come with it. Email is basically an insecure communication method due to the ease with which an account may be opened (and abandoned when any nasty stuff might be suspected) and because, with the prevelance of so much ‘underground’ software that can do virtually anything being so easy to come by, it can so easily be compromized.
Mike Alexander
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Red Flags
- Image via Wikipedia
Most of us are very familiar with the annoyance of spam (unsolicited e-mail ads). In recent years, these entirely unwanted emails have evolved into sophisticated attempts, very often successful, to avoid increasingly advanced filters and wary consumers. We have put together a list of red flags to help you quickly spot the commonest emails that may be harmful to your PC and your bank account.
Suspicious Attachments
Attaching files to an email is a quick and simple way to share with your friends and co-workers. The downside is that unscrupulous individuals can attach viruses and trojans within files in the hope that unwary recipients might download them and infect their computers. Whenever you receive an email with an attachment that you were not expecting, be careful about opening the attachment or even reading the email.
Links That Don’t Make Sense
In an email that claims to be from Yahoo, a link to a specific page on Yahoo’s site appears. So why does the text of the link not begin with “http://yahoo.com”? Because it’s a scam. Many hackers attempt to gain account information and credit card numbers by posing as respectable websites looking for information about your account. These emails typically have a link to a page where you can reset your password, confirm your credit card information, or log in to access some special new feature. To spot these bad links, you will need to look at the URL, the address of the page that is being linked to. All URLs begin with ‘http://’ or ‘htpps://’ and from there differ from website to website. If the URL isn’t visible in the link, you can hover your mouse over it and see it apelt out in the lower left corner of your web browser.
Accounts That You Don’t Have
Scam emails that disguise themselves as emails from major websites are betting on their recipients actually having accounts with that website in the first place. If you get an email about your FaceBook account when you never even signed up with FaceBook, the odds are very good that this is a scam or virus email.
Password Reset Requests
One of the most common email scams currently running is the fake password reset. These emails claim that you recently made a request for a new password, and direct you to a webpage where you can enter your old account name and password. You may be able to pick out these emails by the link URLs or because you do not have the account that you would theoretically be resetting a password for in the first place. Even if you don’t see anything wrong with the link or the account information, never respond to a password reset email that you did not specifically ask for.
False Sender Addresses
An official email from YouTube.com should be sent from an account that ends with @youtube.com. If joey5683426$$@ytmail.com is sending you official updates about your YouTube account, it’s a safe bet this too is a malicious email. If your email system hides sender information, you can change your settings to show full headers or usually click a link right in the email to show all of the sender information.
Money Transfer Plots
Frequently claiming to be from Nigerian royalty, these emails claim that there is some tremendous amount of money sitting in an account somewhere that the sender wants transfered to the US before something terrible happens to it. It’s not unusual for these emails to be completely in caps lock and poor English, although there are exceptions. These are ‘phishing’ attempts, trying to get your bank account information so that the sender can access your funds. No matter the pretense for the email, you should never share bank account information with anyone you don’t know. Newer varieties of these emails claim to be from ‘a member of your church’ or some similarly innocent-sounding source.
Emails From Friends
The most dangerous and difficult to pick out types of malicious emails are the ones that seem to come from your friends and other contacts. Typically, if you get a suspicious email from a friend or other contact, it’s either because, unknown to them, their PC has been infected by a virus or because their email account has been compromised. If you find an email from one of your contacts that contains strange characters in the subject, has attachments that you were not expecting, links to a file sharing site, or otherwise looks different from the emails you’re used to from that person, take the time to contact them before clicking on any links or downloading any attachments.
Emails From Yourself
These types of emails can be disturbing when you find them. If you find an email from your own account sitting in your inbox that you know you didn’t send (and you have not given anyone else access to your account) immediately change your password and security question for your account. Next, check out your ‘sent mail” folder to see if any other emails went out that you were unaware of. Let everyone who received one of these suspicious emails know that you did not send the emails, that they should not read them or click any links or attachments and that you suspect your account was compromised. You can also let your email provider know about your concerns. If this problem comes back, your machine may be infected and require virus cleanup service.
Summary
As users and email filters become more aware of these malicious emails, scammers will develop new schemes to get at your computer, bank account, and other information. The best weapon against these attacks is a healthy dose of skepticism, though even vigilant users can fall victim to scams and viruses. If you believe you may have a compromised email account or infected system, or if you just want to learn more about how to avoid these problems, give a professional a call.
About The Author
Gregg Housh is the Technician Manager at Geek Choice a Computer Repair company. Geek Choice solves computer problems such as: Slow computer, Virus Removal, and much more.
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