I sometimes fantasise about finding scammers locked in a room somewhere , maybe even catching them in the act and, as Marsellus Wallace said in Pulp Fiction, “I’ma get medieval on your ass”
But alas, all I can do is try and help people avoid their scumbaggery.
These examples of wasted DNA, these rat brained filth weasels have been more active than usual lately and if I tried to cover every trick they used I’d be here all day.
So instead I am going to focus on one scam in particular, namely the fake email. I consider the fake email to be different from ordinary spam because to me spam is the digital version of junk mail. It is unwanted and annoying but it is from who it says it is and it is offering real services or merchandise.
Fake emails on the other hand pretend to be your bank, Telstra or PayPal and are trying to trick you into paying a bill or entering a password into a fake website.
How it works isn’t important for our purposes, what matters is how to spot it.
So let’s say you get an email from AusPost.
At first glance it looks legit. The spelling is correct and the logo is up to date. And, of course, they want you to click on a link or call a number.
A few years back I wrote an article about the best way to deal with strange emails or calls and you can find it here.
I would definitely still follow this every time. I can assure you, even if I was convinced this was real I would still have deleted it and gone to the post office or called them using a number from MY CONTACTS.
But to be extra sure it’s a scam you do the following.
By clicking on the email address itself and getting info, you can clearly see this is definitely NOT from AusPost at all, but rather some human shaped haemorrhoid looking to steal my money.
From here you trash the email with full confidence, hope that the writer cuts themselves shaving and move on with your day.
2 comments
Sensible advice, Renny. I get legitimate e-mails from my bank (which I’ve opted into) but NEVER assume they are genuine. If a response of any kind is required I always open a Firefox window and go to the bank (or whoever it concerns) and log into their website directly. If it’s genuine there will be a copy of the message on their platform. If not I will FORWARD the e-mail to their fraud depertment but not reply to the sender or click on any links.
Thanks Renny for all the info on how to spot fake emails . Much appreciated.
There are so many scammers out there!