The Best Way To Avoid Email Scams

With the abundance of email every day from family, co-workers, friends, news, retailers, and spam, Strikeworks Solutions has some advice for staying safe from spammers and scammers when dealing with your inbox. Spam emails are frequently retailers sending mass emails regarding sales, special offers, company information, etc. Spam emails can also come from hackers, who make the email sound urgent, and will bring you to a website which requires your personal information to ‘win a prize' or fix some “urgent” problem.

Scammers may say your bank has spotted suspicious activity regarding your account, hoping to alarm you. To avoid being scammed, call the actual company the email pretends to be from, and ask them directly if there are any problems, to confirm whether the email is legitimate. Never provide your personal information to an email solicitation. Professional companies do not ask for your sensitive information in random emails.

The first step in avoiding spam emails is recognizing them. They come from hackers who do not have typical email addresses. Check the email address to see if it looks scrambled, has misspellings, odd capitalization, or is not a professional company email address. You can copy and paste the email address into Google, who can verify if it is legitimate or not. 

If the email says “Urgent!”, or “You’ve Won!” in the subject line, it is most likely spam. Because scammers send out mass emails, they frequently say “dear Sir” or “dear Miss”, as they don’t know your full name or how to spell it. Typically, scam emails contain numerous grammatical errors, and the layout doesn’t look quite right. If you do click on the link, they will request your social security number, credit card number or password. NEVER provide this information if you didn’t initiate contact with a company. 

You can have your inbox hide spam emails through Gmail and Microsoft Outlook. In Gmail, right click on the box to the left of the email, then click on “label as”, then “unwanted/junk” and hit “apply.” Your Gmail account will then filter emails from that sender, so they go straight to trash. In Outlook, right click on the email, click on junk, and click on “block sender”.  Scammers and spammers can see if you opened their email if you click on the link, and they will continue to send you emails or target you for scams. 

To unsubscribe from unwanted and spam emails, you can go to Unroll.Me.  On this website, you will find tools to manage a cluttered inbox, unwanted, advertising and subscription emails. Another good website is Mailwasher, which blocks spam email before it gets to your computer. Both of these are free services that can help save you time, lighten your email load, and keep you safe. 

If retail spam clogs up your work email, consider creating an email account just for shopping, separate from your work email. Avoid including your email address on social media accounts, as that gives scammers easier access to personal information. Try to keep your email private, avoid signing up for subscriptions, and report suspicious emails. 

If you are a business in need of securing your networks, emails, devices, and protecting employees, reach out to Strikeworks Solutions for IT support services, cybersecurity and infrastructure security in the Los Angeles and Orange County areas.