Three ways to spot an email money scam
Fake emails can be financially ruining. They’re an easy way for criminals to steal your personal details, banking and/or credit card information. So how do you avoid all of that?
1. Fake emails often won’t contain your name
It will probably be along the lines of “Dear Sir/Madam” or says “undisclosed recipients.” If the email greets you with a really vague term, it may be a bogus email.
2. The sender’s address doesn’t match up
If you hover over the email address, you should be able to see where it really came from. The sender’s email address may not actually match up to what the name or email address says in the signature. If it doesn’t, hit delete.
3. Bad grammar, weird capitalisation, and spelling mistakes
These are dead giveaways that your email is a fake. Legitimate businesses, especially banks, will always proofread their communications before they hit send and have entire departments working on their marketing and communications.
If you do come across an email that looks like a scam – what should you do?
Never open the attachments! Unless you know an email is from a trusted sender, you should never open attachments as they may contain malware.
Don’t click on links if they don’t seem trustworthy. They can lead to fake sites where you personal information may be stolen, or malware downloaded onto your computer.