Real or a Scam? Know your emails

Some scam emails are hard to differentiate from the real thing, especially when it’s an email you’ve never had to deal with before.
There are thousands of different types of scam emails, from banks requesting your information to a domain name renewal and most recently, an email claiming there is an invoice attached that needs to be paid.

What do I do if I receive one of these emails?

Do not respond to the email, click any links or call the number provided. Please delete the email immediately.

How do I know if an email I have received is a scam or a spam email?

It’s important to learn how to differentiate future genuine emails from spam, please see a list below of ways to spot a fake email.

Learn to identify spam. You can shield yourself a lot more by asking the following questions of every email you receive:

• Has this person ever sent me spam before? Is there a sudden barrage of nonsensical spam emails from this person (an indicator that their email is hacked)?
• If the email tells you to open an attachment, you should not do this. This is especially so if the attachment name ends in .pif or .scr.
• If the email is from a ‘free’ email account (hotmail.com, yahoo.com, etc.), and you don’t know the sender, treat it with great suspicion.
• If there is a link in the email, hover your cursor over it (but do not click it!). This often reveals that the real location the link will take you is a (phishing) website you have never even heard of.
• Is the email mentioning recent natural disaster or similar headline events? Scammers watch headlines carefully to monitor for anything causes people distress; it is a way of setting up fake charities to ask for funds that only ever help the criminals involved. This includes links to fake websites and PayPal accounts (again, don’t ever click).
• If you do click the link to go to, say, an online banking website, check to see if the address says ‘https’ or ‘http’. All banking websites will use ‘https’. If you are still not sure, go to the actual website by opening a new tab and typing its name into your search engine. Compare the 2 addresses.
• If you get an email from a friend who lives close by, or who you can contact by phone, ask them if they sent you that email. Even the best phishers haven’t found a way to direct calls to them and perfectly imitate your friend’s voice!
• Think back and ask yourself: Did I physically enter my name into these sweepstakes? Even if you think you “might” have, why aren’t they phoning you? Call the company direct, using the Yellow Pages phone directory, not the email contact details.
• Check both the ‘To’ and the ‘From’ lines. If they both have the same address/person/name in them, it is a phishing email/scam.
• Is there a threat of immediate detrimental action if I don’t respond with personal information? Threats by email are illegitimate, do not deserve your attention but may need to be drawn to the attention of police or anti-scam officials. Remember, you have done nothing wrong––the scammer is the one doing that.

If you are an existing customer and have recently received an email regarding your website or domain name and are not sure if it’s genuine, please call our team today on 01452-729-953.