Top 4 Most Annoying Email Scams: 9 Ways to Spot Them
Disclaimer: The advice contained in this article is in no way meant to completely defend you from becoming the victim of an email scam. The suggestions in this article are meant solely to assist you in identifying possible email scams. It is your responsibility to contact all parties involved including the local authorities if necessary to confirm the authenticity of any suspicious email you receive. I am not responsible for any damages you may suffer as a result of following these suggestions and not investigating fully the authenticity of suspicious emails you may encounter.
1. The Nigerian Email Scam
Regardless of the country or characters involved in this financial fairy tale, the idea is the same behind each one and none of them ever have a happy ending. A prince, daughter of a king, heir to a fortune or some other character contacts you out of the blue and tells you a large sum of money is being held for some reason. They plead for your assistance and discretion to transfer the money to a North American Bank account. In exchange, you’ll receive a meager percentage for your assistance which usually amounts to a few million US Dollars. In order to release the funds, you’re asked to send small amounts of money in advance to process papers, file applications (all bogus by the way) that quickly add up until you finally get suspicous. Eventually you just never hear from the scammer again.
2. The Major Banking Institution Scam
A masterful forgery of the original banking institution’s login page is created for you to log into and then an email is sent out to thousands of email addresses informing you that changes in policy or a loss of data requires you to log in and update your personal information. You log into the forged login page and scammers use this information to log into your real account and drain it dry.
3. The Cheap Loan Scam
The purpose behind this scam ranges from simple credit card number theft to full out identity theft. You get an email from a company specializing in low-interest, short-term loans. When you click the link, you go to a website where you’re asked to fill out a short form. Happily, you divulge all necessary information to do a credit application on you which also includes everything the scammer needs to take out loans, apply for credit cards, and make purchases in your name.
4. The Free Trip Scam
This one is generally benign in the sense that your identity won’t be stolen or your bank account emptied but it still is a scam designed to make you part with your money willingly…at least, in the beginning. This scam has been used by even reputable companies to lure victims into situations where they can be conned, hounded, harassed, and in some cases bullied into spending additional money. A cruise package for example may be free but every amenity, beverage, meal, and outing costs a horrendous amount of money.
9 Ways to Spot an Email Scam
Most email scams can be detected with just a little common sense when reading a suspicious email. However, email scams have become increasingly sophisticated over the years and even some of the most technically savvy people fall victim to them from time to time. Websites engaging in scam practices look professionally designed, reputable, and in many cases identical to the organization they’re trying to mimic. When faced with any email, look for these warning signs:
- You’ve never heard of the company who’s sending you the message before.
- The email doesn’t disclose how this company came by your email address.
- The email asks you to perform a risky, suspicious, or sensitive action such as logging into your account, clicking a link, sending money, or divulging private information like a social security number or credit card.
- The email does not have your first name and/or last name.
- Links don’t link to the company they say they are. If you’re asked to log into your CIBC account but when you hover your mouse over the link it points to http://login.loans.cibc.cn (which would likely be an address in China), don’t click the link. Report it right away to your bank.
- Heavily Discounted Merchandise or services which would normally cost a considerable amount. If you’re not taken by a request to send only a few dollars to reserve your spot in the beginning, you’ll probably get bullied into paying a large sum of money for something you didn’t want in the end.
- The email does not have an address listed anywhere on the email.
- A Google Search of [Company Name] and “Scam” turns up reports of scams.
- A subject line that contains a name which could be a user name you’ve used elsewhere.
All in all, with a little common sense and some good old-fashioned intuition, it’s simple enough to detect a scam email. If an email trips one or more of the indicators listed above it’s highly probable that this is a scam email. Hopefully, you never fall victim to one of these scams. I have a few friends that did.
Filed under: Business | Tagged: Email Scams How to Spot
