How to spot a scam email
Fraudsters are increasingly targeting victims through scam emails purporting to be from your bank. Moneywise TV reveals how you can stay safe from even the most sophisticated scam email.
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It used to be that a conman had to knock on your door to rip you off. Today, there's a much easier way of targeting you - an email straight to your inbox.
The most common type of email scam is 'phishing'. This is an email from a fraudster masquerading as an organisation like your bank. They'll ask you to log on, confirm account details and passwords and then use these to plunder your account.
So how can you spot a phishing email? The biggest giveaway is the content. Your bank will never contact you by email to confirm confidential information. Someone who isn't your bank is highly unlikely to know your name so might address you as 'a client' or 'valued customer'. Some emails are more convincing than others - look out for spelling errors and poor grammar.
You may also find offers to work from home in your inbox. If they promise lots of money for little work be on your guard. You'll either need to pay money up front or find it's commission only. Genuine work from home schemes will tell you exactly what you need to do and how and when you'll be paid.
Winning a lottery is a dream, but ignore any email claiming you've won a guaranteed prize. You'll have to pay a fee to claim your so-called winnings and may have to call a premium rate number and provide financial information.
More sinister is the Trojan scam. These are emails that install viruses in your computer by getting you to follow links to malicious websites. Watch for any messages that attempt to alarm you – saying your credit card has been charged for example - or those offering dramatic information such as news on terrorist attacks.
These are some of the most common scams but the list is endless. Protect yourself by being vigilant of unsolicited email and install quality anti-virus software on your computer and keep it up to date. And remember the old adage, if it looks too good to be true, it usually is.
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The same happened to me last week. I was suspicious as I remembered that I had heard banks etc will never contact you online. I was `wise` to th ebank and buillding society scams-have had emails starting `Dear Customer` -for banks I have no accounts with, and have never had accounts with... ! But that is more obvious.
Customs and Tax etc is a new trick !Also I noticed the spelling mistake. I just `Report As Phishing` ed it. But for a split second I guess we all think` Could this be genuine`???Obviously-it most definitely isn`t!
These scammers obviously are trying to trick people at the time of year when people are getting lots of info about new tax codes etc. They said they were too busy to deal with the rebate claim by post, and as soon as I spotted the words `Debit or Credit card details`....that was enough to warn me!
I have noticed that the 'report spam' link is often unnavailable on scam emails - if I can't click - I don't trust...............
I was contacted by phone from WINDOWS and told I had a lot of faults on my computed and a virus and I need to take urgent action. The faults were demonstrated to me on my computer and I foolishly did agree to a package to clear them. I again asked them to confirm they were windows and they assured me they were. My daughter says this is a scam and they put the faults on my computer themselves. She says not to use their support notify my bank and have nothing more to do with them. This surely is getting money by false pre
tences!
How can the email address above not be valid I use it all the time?
I to am constantly getting calls from an withheld number tyhat shows up as International. Again they were insistent that they were calling from Windows and that I had a lot of 'Don'tr Send' activity om my computer they then demonstrated to me the number of viruses I had on my computer. I was then passed to someone else who was going to remove these on behalf of Windows. This person then went into a sales pitch on a package guaranteed to keep my computer safe. At this point I told him that I was not inerested and hung up. Since then I am still getting these calls and just tell them to get lost. Who can you complain to about these companies?
I can identify with all the above comments, the usual giveaway are spelling mistakes, but also I have several e mail accounts, and often the ones linked with my bank accounts don't tie in with the e mail received. Also, we have had calls from insurance company's (unidentified) offering to help us with " our recent accident" claim ! I find that the only method to deal terminally with them is to be downright rude, not my nature, but seems to work a treat.
I too have had what I think are scam e-mails asking for details from Lloyds TSB. I deleted them.
You could always forward suspicious " emails from "banks" directly to
reports@banksafeonline.org.uk
who investigate. You can also add spam addresses to your blocked list if you have the facility.
I receive e-mails on a daily basis purporting to be from banks i have never used,My policy is to be suspicious of every one on of them & delete them instantly.Generally speaking your bank will never contact you by e mail asking for account ndetails etc..If in doubt delete
The "best" phishing attempts I've had were supposedly from Paypal; on one, the link (in small print) had the word 'paypai', which, at first glance, could easily be mistaken for 'paypal'. Paypal have an email address on their you can forward these messages to.
I have received emails stating that the a private postal service have a package that they have been unable to deliver and ansking me to click onto a link in order to receive the package. After asking my family members if they were expecting any deliveries to which the answer was no I just deleted the emails, should I have forwarded them to some police site for investigation?
I receive many emails from Banks - many of them whom I don't have an account with - I pass these on to the relevant Bank as it helps them to try to trace & stop the spammers. As for HMRC - I used to work for them so again I never open these emails but instead pass them on to HMRC. Banks do not adress you as dear valued customer or dear value customer! Also beware of emails which are supposed to come from PayPal - I've had many which are definately pshishing.
I was contactad by western union to tell me that i have won a price. Than i got an e-mail asking for name D.O.B. and adress to pay the price out to me.
After giving wrong information to them to see if they would pay, i finaly got a reply e-mail telling me that the price money had been taking back because it stayed to long in the bank's system so they put a hold on the money but for USD $ 355 I could get it relesed to me LOL :) that means that 200 hunderd stupid people that fall for the trick 200 x £355.00 = $71000.00 How can whe fight against it and is there an internet adress to report the scam e-mails to?
never open up any scam emails you are wary of...if they are in your junk box..that"s exactly what it is.have been getting them for years now...scan through them all in list then "sweep" as phishing scam and block them.they still keep coming but don"t entertain them one bit.if in doubt delete..simple!!
I would like to enquire about yuor bank.First is mr. Nelson smith your transfer
officer. i am becoming suspicious on a transfer i want to make from your bank.
please advice me as soon as possible.
I get scam emails a few times each week. A lot of them are "US" delivery services such as Fedex or UPS. They want me to open them up and when I was tempted on one occasion to read one, fortunately for me my internet security stepped in with a Virus warning.
Once bitten.... Fortunately, that was a lucky escape and I now delete all unrecognised emails. I did investigate the UPS one on Google and there was a listing marked UPS scam, so that alerted me to the fact that this is what it probably was.
On the funny side though, I keep getting unsolicited emails for Viagara and "Max Gentleman", which I leave to your imagination. I delete these too, mainly because I am female. I think some of these emails are arriving because some of the unscrupulous comparison sites are selling on our details.
Please note I keep receiving span emails from banks - who I have never banked with, such as Santande - saying about paper statements - Cop, saying about bank details and other banks saying to up date your details.
Can the the IS-P's have a link with the email to report spam, such as banks.
I have a dim-witted friend that fell for one of these tricks few years back... This person was requesting a part-time personal assistant, saying she was recommended. Well, she just so happened to be personal assistant and was open to the extra money. He said he was out of the country and needed to have money orders put into his bank account to continue doing his business overseas. He sent her fraudulent money orders which she successfully deposited, only to get a knock on the door a week later inquiring into her transaction. She ended up having to pay back the entire sum, which she didn't have and ended up putting it on a credit card, which ruined her credit standing. She's worked hard on do-it-yourself credit repair and paid down her debts. These online scammers are ruthless, kind of makes me loose my faith in humanity when people are so determined to completely rip each other off!