Check Email for Scam
An unsolicited check email for scam from a familiar brand or company with a subject line like “URGENT ATTENTION REQUIRED” is almost always a red flag. Companies that value their reputation and want to avoid phishing attacks will not send such an email to their customers without good reason.
Beware of emails that ask for personal information such as credit card details, bank login credentials, social security numbers and more. Legitimate companies will never ask for this information over email and should only provide this over the phone or in person.
If the email is asking you to click on a link or download an attachment, this is another warning sign that it may be a scam. Doing so could cause viruses to be downloaded onto your computer, and the con artist will now have your email address that they can sell on or use to spam you.
Don’t Get Scammed: How to Check Your Emails for Phishing and Other Scams
Lastly, if the email is requesting that you click on a link, hover your mouse over it to see its real destination displayed in the bottom left corner of your screen. The genuine destination is usually displayed as a ‘https:’ rather than ‘http:’ and will often have a padlock or unbroken key icon at the end.
If you have any doubts about the legitimacy of an email, do a Google search on the name of the company and visit their website to find out the official procedure for reporting phishing. Also remember that if you open a document, or click on a link, you are potentially giving the con artist access to your computer and could be enabling them to install dodgy software such as ransomware that locks your files until you pay a fee.