Today your inbox gets FILLED with spam. If you sign up for companies offers, then sometimes daily you are receiving promotions and discounts as a “valued” member. If you are on social media then your inbox will be filled with notifications of people liking, sharing or posting. In all of that you also get valuable emails that hold the relative information you want and use. With all these emails how do you spot the spam?!?!
With just one click of a link your device is open to malware and viruses. In an instant, your computer will be giving a spammer an open gateway to your personal information. It is to our great surprise that month after month clients call and inform us they have a virus because they CLICKED ON A LINK! The email looked legit with colors, logos and relative information that maybe only the company would have. But if you take a closer look you can spot the spam!
- Spelling – Most of the time the hackers and spammers do not use English as a first language. This is an easy way to know immediately that something is off and it is not from who it says it’s from. You can delete and blog when you see this.
- Email – When you check the sender’s emails address it should NEVER use Hotmail or Gmail as their email provider. Companies will use internal emails that use their domain. Even if the senders email is using the domain – check the spelling! Most times there is an error in the spelling that can show you it’s not actually from the main source.
- Clickable Link – The only way these hackers and spammers can access your computer is if you click the link. Many emails with clickable links appear to come from banks, company accounts and service providers with a scare tactic. Someone has accessed your information, there has been a breach etc. If the spelling and email check out – DO NOT CLICK THE LINK! Call the company and verify the information and ask them for a second email to confirm the request. Most times – it will not check out.
The dangers with email links that can be clicked on from a spam email are phishing which requires you to give out bank information or personal information that is used by the hacker OR malware downloads which takes you to a website that infects your computer and in worst cases can capture everything you type including passwords and credit card information.
Better to be safe then sorry! Next time you get a link from a “trusted source” check the three obvious signs to Spot the Spam and never again be a victim. Ensure you mark it as junk and block the sender in your mail program to reduce more attempts from that specific hacker.
If you have fallen prey you can always give us a call – we can help you recover and fix the malware and virus issues.