Is it ‘urgent’ or threatening? Is it attempting to get you to act immediately?
This is the biggest red flag because attackers do not want you to think clearly or talk to anyone.
Who is the email sender? Are they who they say they are?
Does the email match who they claim to be?
Are there links or attachments they want you to click on or visit?
How are they ending the email? Does it seem sudden or suspicious?
Does the email sound, feel, or seem strange?
Are there obvious spelling mistakes?
What is the email asking of you? Does it seem suspicious or unusual?
Are they asking for sensitive personal information such as passwords or SSNs?
Promises of large sums of money, prizes, or something else are too good to be true.
Is the email trying to scare you into doing something you don’t want to do?
Is the branding in the email not correct or mismatched?
An Example Phishing Email Scam
To the left is an example phishing email scam. There are many warning signs within this email, as listed below.
- The sender is pretending to be from PayPal, but the email is NOT a valid PayPal email. If it was a legitimate PayPal email the email domain would be something like “@paypal.com”
- The subject of the email starts off with “Re:” which stands for “Reply”, why would PayPal be replying to an email to you?
- There is a sense of urgency and threatens that it will disable your account
- The email is trying to get you to click on an “authenticate now” button, which is unusual
- The sender is pretending PayPal, but the PayPal logo is fake
- The introduction and sign-off of the email is vague and unusual
If Classified an Email as a Scam, Here’s How to Proceed
If you have checked for potential warning signs and classified an email as a scam email, here’s a few things to “adaptive” actions to take.
- Do not click or following anything they say in the email
- Block the sender’s email address through your email application, browser, and/or contact list
- Report the email as a phishing/scam email through your email application/browser
- Delete the email
- Follow steps to take “adaptive” actions on the Adapt page
