For security reasons, most email accounts like Yahoo, AOL, Gmail and Hotmail filter out incoming emails that cannot be identified and save them directly in the spam folder. The filters are not accurate so some spam email may still come through to the inbox and vice versa. Below are some tips on how to identify a spam email.
FROM NAME: Does the “From Name” match the email address? Eg. Lisa Krammer <[email protected]>. This email shows that its coming from Lisa but the name in the email address is John Doe’s.
EMAIL: Another red flag in the example email above is the bunch of characters after the @ symbol. A legite website url or the name of an email account should follow the @ symbol eg. yahoo.com, aol.com, paypal.com etc.
TYPOS: Look out for typos
in the email address, subject line or email content eg. [email protected]
instead of [email protected]
SUBJECT LINE: If the subject line makes no sense to you, its most likely
spam. The most common spam subject line is, ’Having trouble with your account? ’
CONTENT: If the money you will receive from the email is too good to be true, then IT IS too good to be true. Stay away from any email asking for payment, personal details or account information. If the email states that there’s an issue with your account, call your bank or account company directly or log in to your account to resolve any issues rather than send your personal details in an email.
LINKS: Spam emails sometimes have links to click on that lead to a phishing site. To view a link in an email before clicking on it, simply hover your mouse over it and the url will show up. If you dont recognize the url, do not click it.
I hope this information is helpful to you. If you have any questions, please contact me at (561) 880‐5678 or email [email protected]