Emails & Scams
Email is both an excellent communication tool and also a way that companies can inform you about their latest products and services.
ACTION TO FOLLOW
? Always be vigilant when receiving or responding to emails.
The vast majority of email sent every day is unsolicited junk mail.
Examples include:
? Advertising, for example online pharmacies, pornography, dating, gambling.
? Get rich quick and work from home schemes.
? Hoax charity appeals.
? Chain emails which encourage you to forward them to multiple contacts(often to bring ‘good luck’).
HOW SPAMMERS OBTAIN YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
? Using automated software to generate addresses.
? Enticing people to enter their details on fraudulent websites.
? Hacking into legitimate websites to gather users’ details.
? Buying email lists from other spammers.
? You don’t know the sender.
? Contains misspellings (for example ‘p0rn’ with a zero) designed to fool
? Makes an offer that seems too good to be true.
? The subject line and contents do not match.
? Contains an urgent offer end date (for example “Buy now and get 50% off”).
? Contains a request to forward an email to multiple people & may offer money for doing so.
? Contains a warning.
? Contains attachments, which could include .exe files.
THE RISKS
? It can contain viruses and spyware.
? It can be a vehicle for online fraud.
? Unwanted email can contain offensive images.
? Manual filtering and deleting is very time-consuming.
? It takes up space in your inbox.
eMAIL SCAMS
Scams are designed to trick you into disclosing information that will lead to defrauding you or stealing your identity.
EXAMPLES OF EMAIL SCAMS INCLUDE
? emails offering financial, physical or emotional benefits, which are in reality linked to a wide variety of frauds.
? These include emails posing as being from ‘trusted’ sources such as your bank, HMRC or anywhere else that you have an online account. They ask you to click on a link and then disclose personal information.
* a scam where criminals typically send emails to thousands of people. These emails pretend to come from banks, credit card companies, online shops and auction sites as well as other trusted organisations. They usually try to trick you into going to the site, for example to update your password to avoid your account being suspended. The embedded link in the email itself goes to a website that looks exactly like the real thing but is actually a fake designed to trick victims into entering personal information.
? The email itself can also look as if it comes from a genuine source. Fake emails sometimes display some of the following characteristics, but as fraudsters become smarter and use new technology, the emails may havenone of these characteristics. They may even contain your name and address.
o The sender’s email address may be different from the trusted organisation’s website address.
o The email may be sent from a completely different address or a free address.
o A sense of urgency; for example the threat that unless you act immediately your account may be closed.
o A prominent website link. These can be forged or seem very similar to the proper address, but even a single character’s difference means a different website.
o A request for personal information such as password or bank details.
o You weren't expecting to get an email from the organisation that appears to have sent it.
o The entire text of the email may be contained within an image rather than the usual text format. The image contains an embedded link to a bogus site
USE EMAIL SAFELY
? Do not open emails which you suspect as being scams.
? Do not forward emails which you suspect as being scams.
? Do not open attachments from unknown sources.
? If in doubt, contact the person or organisation the email claims to have
been sent by ... better safe than sorry.
? Do not readily click on links in emails from unknown sources. Instead, roll your mouse pointer over the link to reveal its true destination, displayed in the bottom left corner of your screen. Beware if this is different from what is displayed in the text of the link from the email.
? Do not make purchases or charity donations in response to email.
? Check junk mail folders regularly in case a legitimate email gets through by mistake.
? When sending emails to multiple recipients, list their addresses in the 'BCC' (blind copy) box instead of in the 'To' box. In this way, no recipient will see the names of the others, and if their addresses fall into the wrong hands there will be less chance of you or anybody else receiving emails.
? Similarly, delete all addresses of previous parties in the email string, before forwarding or replying.
? If you are suspicious of an email, you can check if it is on a list of known and scam emails that some internet security vendors such as AVAST! McAfee and Symantec feature on their websites.
? Most Microsoft and other email clients come with filtering as standard. Ensure yours is switched on.
? Most junk filters can be set to allow email to be received from trusted sources, and blocked from untrusted sources.
? When choosing a account such as Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail, make sure you select one that includes and that it remains switched on.
? Most internet security packages include blocking. Ensure that yours is up to date and has this feature switched on.