Everything Feels Like a Scam These Days
Lately checking the mail takes a lot more effort. Pounds of junk mail arrive in the mailbox weekly, and due to fatigue you could easily miss something important or fall victim to something scammy. On top of the burden of physical mail, our phones receive email notifications by the hour with junk and scams. Luckily email has built in junk filtering so we don’t see or deal with most of it, however savvy scammers find ways to subvert these filters.
Scams Don’t Always Look Like Scams
One of the most common realistic scams are in the form of emails telling you that an account you own has been compromised and that you need to change the password. The reason why this scam can be effective is because the email mimicks a legitimate communication. Anytime I receive one of these emails, I click the header and ensure the email is an official email from the company reaching out. For instance if it is amazon, I am looking for an account ending in something like “amazon.com”, however it’s important to ensure that the spelling is 100% correct and does not contain any mispellings such as “ammazon.com”. Once that is validated, I continue to read the email and check that there are no typos, mispellings, or errors in grammar as these also are signs of a scam. At this point if all looks well, I can believe that this may be a legitimate communication, however I do not click any links in the email even if the link appears legitimate. My recommendation is to always go directly to the source on your own, leave email and go directly to the source (Amazon.com in this case). From there, attempt to sign in as normal and if the communication was legitimate the website should let you know that you need to reset your password and you can continue through the process from there.
Wouldn’t It Be Easier To Click the Link?
Yes. However, the scam we are attempting to avoid is betting on the fact that you will click the link. In the event that you receive one of these emails that are a scam, everything will look and feel official. Even once you click the link, you will likely be met with a sign in page that looks alot like the real thing. Once you put your credentials into the fake sign in page, your login details will get stored in the hacker’s database and they will use an automated script or bot to sign into your account. From there they will either attempt to change the password (and maybe even the email if they can) and lock you out of the account. Or in the Amazon example, they may order things with your saved cards and/or steal private information such as your name and addresses.
Take Care of Your Loved Ones
While you may be reading this and feel that nothing you read is new. I encourage you to think about all your loved ones who may not know these things. Share this with your parents, grandparents, and great grandparents so they can be better prepared and understand how to avoid these kinds of scams.
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