How to avoid getting scammed online
Online scammers are getting more convincing than ever. Find out how to spot one from afar
In most parts of the world, online scammers continue to find newer and more convincing ways to pick their next victim. Since most companies now leverage technology to provide self-service options for their customers, a lot of requests/call to action are now sent via e-mail. Online fraudsters study these patterns in detail and come up with specially curated write-ups that look like the real deal.
The image below was taken from an e-mail sent to my mail box as an obvious attempt to get at my personal information. The numbers on the image point to red flags that you can look out for to quickly determine if an e-mail is real or from a fraudster.
Red Flag Number 1: A dodgy subject
Can you imagine how well crafted the subject of a real e-mail from UPS would actually be? They would certainly put quite a bit of thought into it because, well, they value their customers. Online scammers do not value you so expect really shoddy e-mail subjects with little to no thought put into it. You will also find typos such as “confrimation” or “confamation” often times, which will likely not happen if it was an actual mail from UPS.
Red Flag Number 2: Improperly addressed e-mails
Most fraudsters adopt a “spray and pray” approach in a bid to see what sticks. They often source for e-mails either from sites with poor security or stolen databases with millions of e-mail accounts. A legitimate e-mail from the actual company will be sent to you directly (quoting your actual e-mail address) to add a personal touch and not put you in blind copy of an e-mail addressed to you!
Red Flag Number 3 : There is usually some prize money to win
Fraudsters prey on the need many people have to make some extra cash and so the easiest way to present their scam is to offer some prize money. Beware of such offers as often, it is just a ploy to get you interested enough to read till the very end. A lot of people receive hundreds of e-mails and so this “offer” is not too far from the title to get the recipient’s attention in the first few lines of the e-mail.
Red Flag Number 4: They do not know your name
Think about it, if you were a customer of any company, they would most likely have your details (your full name and e-mail address at the minimum). This information would then be used to address you personally (by name) and not dear user, or hello, or greetings. Such salutations point to the fact that they do not know who you are (remember the spray and pray approach?).
Red Flag Number 5: The call to action
Now this is the real trap! If you have read the e-mail up till this point, the scammer now assumes you will be willing to take the bait and so there is almost always a call to action button. Behind the button is usually a web page with the fields you are required to fill. Of course, this will mostly be sensitive information that the actual company would have and certainly will not request from their customers (such as credit card information outside of a payment page)
You worked hard for your money and so you should not let dodgy characters dip their hands into your pockets by masquerading as a service provider of some kind
Bonus Red Flag: Most times these are services you have never used before
If you have never subscribed for, or used the service that is now requesting sensitive information from you, then that is an obvious sign that something is wrong. You should stop reading the e-mail at that point and hit the delete button.
In Conclusion…
We live in a highly interconnected world which is getting smaller by the day. Websites you have visited are able to track your personal information and sometimes such details get into the hands of the wrong people. It is important to err on the side of caution by not responding at all or calling the service provider to verify the authenticity of questionable e-mails before you respond.
