Email Scam Alert
Identify Scams And Potentially Dangerous Emails!
How To Identify And Deal With These Emails To Protect Yourself!
Medium Non-Members Can Read The Full Story HERE!
What you will learn from this article.
Identify any email scam by paying attention.
Focus on these main areas in scam emails.
Never provide your personal details!
A true story and personal experience.
What are these emails usually about?
Identify a scam website with Scamadvisor.
Identify any email scam by paying attention.
Sometimes, you only have to pay a little closer attention to the email details in order to identify a scam. A scam email will often need your personal details or require you to “log in” to a certain account.
For the processing of a claim to a “fortune” left by an unknown dead relative. Somewhere in a country, where you can hardly even pronounce it! Really? What is the logical chance of that?
Often the email is also sent to “Undisclosed Recipients”, which can be any number of people. But not always, therefore you need to pay attention and avoid being the victim.
Good lord, how many dead relatives do this poor chap have, right? Is it going to be a “lucky draw” then? Which one of the “undisclosed recipients” will be the “lucky winner”?
If that on its own does not raise a red flag, I don’t know what does. Then we have the lotto that drew your email. Or the so-called Coca-Cola lucky draw I have seen in South Africa especially. I even had one from Rolls Royce, allegedly, mind you…lol!
All of them use free email accounts, I guess business is not that good these days then. I find it rather amusing, I must say. Scam emails are so transparent and predictable when you only pay attention to minor details.
Do you honestly think that these huge companies or internationally known billionaires are going to use a free email account? Yes, I have had a few of these billionaires allegedly offering me hundreds of millions in donations too. Come on!
But the latest “best” ones are (allegedly) from the “FBI” or the “CIA”, with a free email account (again). Offering funds in the millions to reimburse scam victims. OMG, are you kidding me? That’s your new angle, really…lol!?
Remember that these people do this for a living, and you are not always dealing with an “idiot”. Never underestimate the power of persuasion! But I despise these individuals, hence my post.
We will take a look at some of these focus points, coming up. One of them being free email accounts. So, keep reading and avoid being scammed, by email, ever! But I will also show you how to spot scam websites.
Focus on these main areas in scam emails.
There are several common areas you can check on to identify a scam email. Companies like Coca-Cola and Rolls Royce are most certainly not going to use a free email address or service to start with.
I sometimes find it hard to believe that people are still falling for these email scams, but sadly some do. Avoid getting scammed in an email by paying attention to the following.
Who Is It From? (Usually, Free Email Accounts)
To Whom It Is Send. (Usually, Undisclosed Recipients)
Prompt To Log In. (Your Bank Or Any Other Payment Processor)
Massive Amounts of Cash. (Tens Of Millions)
Contact Back on Another Gmail Email. (Two Different email Addresses?)
Asking For Personal Details. (You Have No Idea Who This Is)
Name in the Email And Name in the Signature. (Often Different Names)
As you can see below, the most common points are illustrated within Outlook. But the basics apply to any email account you have. If you see any one of these scam flags popping up.
Then immediately send it to your junk folder. Do not reply, do nothing else but send it to the junk folder and then just “empty” the folder. Because that is what it is and that is where it belongs, in the junk!
I would also strongly suggest you use good Anti-Virus Software like ESET Endpoint Antivirus. That way, this kind of email will probably land in the “Detected Items” folder with Outlook for instance.
Once it does, follow the same procedure. Make sure it ends up in the junk folder where it belongs. With ESET Endpoint Antivirus you can also select an option for “Secure Browser”.
Making your internet search much safer too, by identifying scam sites and sites with unwanted or potentially damaging material. But the secure browser option also offers extra protection when logging into any one of your payment processors.
Most scam emails are usually sent to “Undisclosed Recipients” as mentioned earlier. So, who is the email actually intended for then? Especially when it involves the transfer of millions of dollars. Rather ridiculous most times.
If that’s not enough, you must usually contact them back with regards to this “Urgent” matter. But on another free email address. Along with another name as well, not suspicious at all!
Oh, and don’t forget the grammar. An email from the “CIA” or “FBI” or whoever they’re impersonating, clearly raises a few flags when they cannot speak English, I mean, at all! Just a thought…
Because the majority of these emails are mostly from questionable countries! And I can call them by name, but let’s not go there. Just know that these people are ruthless, and so should you be.
Lastly, and this is what I find most amusing is the fact that many of these emails start with “Good day dear”. Learned a new English word, have we…lol!?
A true story and personal experience.
Quite some time ago, my brother actually received one of these emails with a rather large inheritance too. Around $25,000,000 or something as ridiculous if I recall correctly. So, we decided to “play along” just to see where “this” goes.
The “process” was set into motion, and to cut a long story short we received the paperwork from the “alleged” bank in question to “release the funds”. But I cannot use names, for obvious reasons.
My brother went on to have his lawyer take a look, just for interest sake because we were “playing along”. And you know what the real shocker is? Even the lawyer thought it was legit, he was just as shocked as we were. Even he had to take a second look.
Complete with bank stamps and all the legal requirements. As I said earlier, you will not always be dealing with an “idiot”. So, along with the lawyer, we decided to contact the bank in question on our own.
We researched the bank on the internet and got hold of their number. They followed up and confirmed that it was a scam! There was no such account or inheritance in my brother’s name!
This particular scammer even had the bank’s legit email signature! Some of these emails you can spot immediately, while others will require some research. Please, don’t waste your time.
If you do not recognize the “deceased relative”, or you did not enter any competitions then you should know better, right there! If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is!
Needless to say, we dropped the entire thing like a hot potato. But we had a much better idea of just how “professional” and “legit” these scammers can be! Thankfully, we didn’t pay any of the “administration fees” to process the funds release!
Never provide your personal details!
If an email is from “PayPal” (or any payment processor or bank) and you need to “verify” anything. Then go to your PayPal or payment processor account through your own login URL to investigate.
Never log into any payment processing or bank accounts through any suspicious emails. In fact, never log in to any account via any email. If you’re a member, then you will have a login URL.
Always log in through that! There is only one way to avoid getting scammed in an email, and that is to apply simple logic. Good old-fashioned common sense and logic.
Perhaps you have seen a few different scam emails. But these illustrations merely serve as an example. Just my own suggested multiple-point checklist to avoid getting scammed.
If you do know of some scam strategies I have not mentioned, please share them with us in the comments. Let’s put a stop to these people, (I have a much stronger word for them) and their creativity to scam hard-working people.
What are these emails usually about?
Almost as if “they” are using templates! Apart from sometimes starting with a greeting using the word “dear”. These scam emails are often used while impersonating certain people or companies as listed below.
Courier Or Postal Services Packages.
Soldiers Needing Help With Boxes Of Cash.
A Rather Large Inheritance.
Scam Victim Reimbursement.
Payment Processors.
Email Lottery Draws.
Large Donations From Known Billionaires.
These are among the ones I receive quite frequently, all landing in my “junk folder” by now. If I had to collect all the alleged money from these emails I receive, I would be a Billionaire by now. Instead, I rather choose to be behind my PC thank you!
I have been on the internet too long to get “taken for a ride” that easily. And have been around in life long enough to know there is no such thing as “getting rich quick”, or “getting rich overnight”.
Identify a scam website with Scamadvisor.
Checking on scam websites, I like using Scamadvisor. But you need to use the tool properly to ensure correct results. There are a few factors playing a role in a particular site’s trust rating. But this is a good way to check on that anyway.
You are more than welcome to even test any affiliate offer in my Medium stories with Scamadvisor. Simply copy the affiliate sales page link and see for yourself. Because that is part of my product research.
That is one way you know whether a site is a scam or not. Scamadvisor will warn you immediately of any suspicious activity or low trust rating. Which is why I check, review, and/or test what I promote thoroughly.
Just be sure to copy only the primary domain ending in dot com, dot org, etc. (https : // site domain (dot) com, org, etc.). Avoid using any slug with the URL, or you may get a false reading and analysis with Scamadvisor.
Scamadvisor may sometimes give a site a low trust rating when the site is fairly new too. So just bear that in mind. But Scamadvisor will state whether they deem the site safe to use or not.
Anything above a 40% — 50% trust rating might be considered fairly safe to use. But a trust rating above 80% for instance speaks for itself. Taking into consideration a few factors that can result in a trusted site having a little lower trust rating.
Like site age, or the site not being optimized properly for search engines, etc. Read the review on any site you test properly, to see why a site has a lower trust rating in the event it does.
So, when checking on a site trust score, also use your own discretion. The important thing to remember is to be sure you have a money-back guarantee. That is like your safety net! When testing affiliate programs and tools, always be sure they offer a money-back guarantee.
Your investment should then be safe. Because when a seller does not offer a refund guarantee. They may not be so confident in their product. Therefore, neither should you, especially with affiliate products.
You are going to see a powerful, but simple method that anyone can do. No matter where you live, and your level of experience. Perfect for beginners, but also works great for intermediate or advanced folks. It requires zero online marketing skills! — Source
AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE: Some of the links in this post are links to affiliate offers. If you visit them to make a purchase, I will earn a commission. The decision is yours, and whether or not you decide to buy something is entirely up to you. All offers come with a full money-back guarantee!
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