Tips From Semalt: How To Spot A Scam Email Properly?

23.05.2018

Tips From Semalt: How To Spot A
Scam Email Properly?

Fraudsters are increasingly using scam emails to steal from unsuspecting victims. Though more and more of their
tricks are continually being exposed, the fraudsters seem always to be a step ahead, and they'll do anything to lure
people into their scams. As a result, it is sometimes quite hard to differentiate a phishing email from a genuine one.
But there is some things scam emails have in common.

Michael Brown, the Customer Success Manager of Semalt Digital Services, offers you to check out the following
basic signs of a phishing email:

You did not initiate the action

When you receive an email indicating that you've won a lottery or that a recruitment agency has reviewed your
resume and gave you a job, there is a problem. You never bought a lottery ticket or applied for the job. You can be
sure that the email message is a scam.

The email asks for your personal information

This is the commonest method fraudsters use to steal information from individuals. A scam email will often ask for
information that is not relevant to the purpose for which it is sent. For instance, a scam email with a job offer may

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23.05.2018

ask for your date of birth and your bank details. It may even go further to
ask for a proof of your identity, and that means sending a copy of the ID or
passport. In such a case, you should stop and ask yourself: which company
needs all these details before you've signed a job contract?

The URL contains an unusual domain name

Scammers always depend on victims not having information about abnormalities. In this case, they target
individuals who don't know how website domains are named. According to the DNS naming structure, the last part
of any domain is the most informational. A domain name help.paydayloans.com is likely to be a child domain of
paydayloans.com. This main domain name appears at the end of the child domain name. Scammers who mimic
genuine companies will make up a domain name like paydayloans.com.scamdomain.com. Such a domain name would
not have originated from paydayloans.com because paydayloans.com is on the left side of the made up domain
name.

Bad grammar and inappropriate use of capital letters
and punctuation marks

Most scam emails are badly written, use basic and unprofessional
language, have spelling mistakes and often use capital letters and
exclamation marks inappropriately. A scam email sent to a job seeker may
try to use words close to a job description, but it will not make clear sense.
The message will either sound completely made up or largely
meaningless. Scam job offers will also not seem to care about your skills.
They might give a lot of details about the role but very little information
about the exact skill set required for the job.

The email asks you to send money

It doesn't matter whether the money is for covering whichever expenses (taxes, fees, etc.). Any email that asks for
money is almost certainly a scam. And remember you might not get hit using the rst email. Smart scammers will try
to make you develop trust in them rst before asking for money. Don't fall for the trick. Whether they ask you to
send money in the rst or tenth email, it is still a scam.

When something about an email doesn't feel right, there's a high likelihood that it's not genuine. If the email
message you receive seems suspicious in a way, it would be best to avoid taking any action directed by the mail and
quickly check its authenticity.

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