Scam e-mails put you at risk. Often times we unintentionally provide highly sensitive information via email, which can end up getting us into legal, financial, or personal problems. If you see in your inbox a fraudulent email, beware and report the email. The spread of fraud can be further prevented by investigating the existence of such emails.
Step
Method 1 of 3: Recognizing Scam Email Traits
Step 1. Recognize the characteristics of fraudulent emails circulating
You must be able to recognize the characteristics of a fraudulent email in order to be able to report it. Today there are many types of fraudulent emails, including:
- The old method used is usually a fake offer. Business deals that claim to make a lot of money per month via the internet; an offer to continue to be healthy and fit; explanation of the natural benefits of new foods; exercise that can help you lose weight drastically, or in a short time; all of these scams attempt to get the recipients of the emails to share their personal information over the internet.
- Scam e-mails sometimes offer low-cost software that after you download turns out to contain malware, viruses, and other malicious programs, to steal information from your computer.
- Certain scams, known as 419 frauds, seek to lure victims with a series of false documents and claims usually involving large sums of money or violations of the law. You may be found to be the heir to a wealthy Nigerian business owner, or you may be accused of violating the Patriot Act for which you have to pay a fine. This scam aims to get as much money or as much of your information as possible. Once the fraudster feels he has achieved his goal, he will cut off communication.
- Old-fashioned email scams can usually be characterized by logic. There's a foreign expression that says "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is", which, loosely translated, means if an offer looks too good, it could be a scam. The same is true if the content of the email you receive looks very bad. You can't possibly lose 10 kilos just by eating this newly discovered fruit in the Amazon rainforest. You don't necessarily violate the Patriot Act just by sharing a news article you read on Facebook.
Step 2. Know the forms of phishing email scams
This is a new form of fraud. Fraudsters attempt to impersonate a valid website in order to trick you into going there, for example impersonating Twitter or Facebook sites. Its purpose is to prevent you from accidentally downloading malicious programs, or to provide sensitive personal information.
- Phishing emails usually mimic legitimate emails from your bank, for example, or social media websites like Instagram. These emails usually sound urgent, such as "Problem with Your Account". When opened, it will ask you to fill out an internet form to validate your account. If you click on the link in the email, you will be taken to a site that looks very much like the original. This is why phishing scams are classified as very dangerous because they often succeed in deceiving their victims.
- You should not immediately trust emails that ask for your personal information over the internet. Contact your bank by phone to confirm the validity of the email you receive. If the email is from a social media website, copy-paste the subject matter of the email into Google. If it's a scam email, you'll see a Google search result that says so.
- The Anti-Phishing Workshop Group website provides an up-to-date list of various phishing scams. Go through this list if you receive an email that you think is a scam.
Step 3. Watch out for Trojan Horse emails
This type of email usually operates by offering you a number of services to download, which in turn will spread the virus to your computer.
- Generally, Trojan emails have things that sound weird, and then ask the recipient to open the attachment. For example, the once famous "Love Bug" virus featured the subject "I Love You". The email asked the recipient to open the attachment in the email so they could receive the love letter, which in fact infected the recipient's computer with a virus.
- Trojan emails can also appear as virtual postcards, promise funny jokes on attachments, or offer free virus cleaners. Therefore, don't open attachments from email senders you don't know.
Method 2 of 3: Reporting Fraud in the Relevant Email Account
Step 1. Report the scam to your Gmail address
The fraud reporting tool in Gmail is pretty straightforward.
- Sign in to your Gmail account. Visit the help forum. From there, click on "'Security and Privacy". On this page, there are links to report phishing emails or other types of fraud
- Google requires you to fill out a form to report fraud. You must enter your email address, fraudulent email address, email header, subject matter, body, and any additional information you feel is important. You can then submit the form. If necessary, a Google representative will follow up on your reporting by asking a number of questions.
Step 2. Forward the scam email to the Hotmail abuse team
Hotmail's tools for dealing with fraudulent emails are very simple. You can simply forward any suspicious emails to the Hotmail abuse team.
- When you receive an email that you suspect is a scam, click the " Forward " button.
- Hotmail's abuse team address is "[email protected]". Forward the relevant email to this address. Hotmail will then take care of this problem.
Step 3. Report a fraudulent email on Yahoo
At Yahoo, you must visit the Yahoo website to report fraudulent emails.
- Log in to your Yahoo account, then click " Yahoo Account " at the top of the page. After that, click "abuse and spam".
- There are various Yahoo categories to choose from, such as "Report phishing" and "Received spam e-mail or IM message".
- Determine the most suitable category. A form will appear to enter basic info, such as your email address, suspicious email address, detailed content, subject, and email header. Fill in the required information as completely as possible.
Step 4. Report a fraudulent email to your institution's IT department if you receive it on your school or work computer
If you receive this fraudulent email on a computer that you commonly use for work or school, immediately report it to the IT department at once to the email server. The IT department knows how to deal with phishing scams and will be able to identify the culprits. This is an indication that your job or school is being specifically targeted by scammers. Make sure you share information publicly to prevent casualties.
Step 5. Know where to report a general complaint
It's a good idea to report fraudulent emails to the general public as well as law enforcement who can help identify and stop scams. Here are other ways to report the email apart from the email provider.
- Emailbusters.org will publish emails that are reported as fraudulent to let others know which messages they should avoid or delete.
- Ip-Address-Lookup-V4 is a site that is able to find the email address and IP address of the sender. This will help you identify scammers.
- If a fraudulent email asks for your bank information or other personal information, report it to the FBI's Complaint Center. They are able to find and punish the fraudster thereby minimizing the number of victims of the fraud.
Method 3 of 3: Avoiding Scam Emails in the Future
Step 1. Use the email spam filter system
One of the easiest ways to avoid scam emails is to use a spam filter system. This means that fraudulent emails won't go to your main inbox, but will be redirected to the spam directory and then deleted.
- Most email applications and mailing services provide spam filter options. If you're confused about how to add a spam filter to your email, look for the " Help " section on the website or app.
- Some spam emails can still get through even if you use the best filters. Having a spam filter installed doesn't mean your email is safe. Remember how to flag phishing scams and other scam emails.
Step 2. Be careful with unsolicited emails
Never open emails that come from people or organizations you don't know, let alone click on links or open attachments in them. Even if the email is from an organization you know, don't open it if you never asked for information, or ordered something, filled out a survey, or contacted the organization.
Step 3. Open an email attachment that you trust
Attachments are one of the easiest means for viruses or other malicious programs to enter your computer. Make sure an attachment does have to be opened.
You should only open email attachments from people you already know. If you're in publishing, for example, and you receive an email attachment from someone you don't know, make sure the email is legit. Fake emails are obvious by serious grammatical errors as they are usually created by spambots, not humans
Step 4. Install antivirus and update it regularly
Antivirus is a powerful weapon to protect yourself from fraud.
- Look for an antivirus that can upgrade itself. We often forget to update our antivirus, so you'll be better protected against emails or scams with a standalone update.
- Make sure that the antivirus you use has an email scanning system to prevent you from downloading attachments that contain viruses.
Step 5. Study the email policies of the company you work for
You will be greatly protected from fraud by studying. Find out the email policies of the company you work for so that you are better able to spot phishing scams.
- Most commercial banks have strict policies against requests for personal information via email. Banks are usually more likely to contact you by phone to confirm certain fees than email. If you receive an email asking you to provide personal information, contact your bank by phone to confirm, before you fill out any forms.
- Social networking sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, have e-mail policies regarding account security. Make sure you read all of these policies, and know why when and email from Facebook or Twitter are more appropriate.
