Anthology of Third-World Email Scams by Michael N. Marcus

Is the email asking you to click on a link, open a cloud storage document (i.e., Google Drive), or download a file?.Is the sender’s email from a suspicious domain name? (i.e., ).Does the sender’s email address and “from” name match? (You can hover over or click on their name to reveal their email address.).Is the subject line strange, with unusual punctuation and characters?.Is the sender asking for sensitive information like personal details or financial information?.Is this an unsolicited email from someone claiming to work for an organization like the FBI or the IRS?.Look at the strange sender email address starting with 'kp7sx.' How To Identify a Scam Email in 5 Seconds It catches you 'off-guard' by tricking you into thinking you sent someone money.It has the same font and styling as PayPal.It has a subject line that makes you want to open.Example: PayPal Scam Email That Looks Real Read this guide before you click on a link, respond to a strange email, or download an attachment. Įven if you have the tiniest suspicion that an email is from a scammer, stop what you’re doing. According to the FBI, businesses lost $2.4 billion in 2021 to Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams. įor unsuspecting victims, scam emails can lead to downloading viruses - or even identity theft and financial fraud. The Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) reported that nearly 23,000 unique phishing email subject lines were used in September 2022 alone. These legitimate-looking emails are designed to trick you into giving up sensitive information or clicking on malicious links.Īnd they’re getting more aggressive and sneaky with their scams.

Hackers use spam emails to “phish” for victims. Or an old friend is suddenly reaching out to ask for financial help. Maybe it’s an email from Netflix, PayPal, or another account you use, claiming your password’s been compromised. But while some are easy to identify as spam, others are less obvious. We’ve all received strange and suspicious emails in our inbox.

Anthology of Third-World Email Scams by Michael N. Marcus