Email provides a convenient and powerful communications tool. Unfortunately, it can also provide scammers with an easy way to contact potential victims. The best way to protect yourself from this fraud is to understand what they look like, how they work, and what you can do to avoid them.
The email scams included below are some of those addressed by the Federal Trade Commission.
Bogus Business Opportunities These scams promise the opportunity to make a great deal of money with very little effort. They’re normally full of enticements such as “Work only hours a week,” “Be your own boss,” “Set your own hours,” and “Work from home.”
Health and Diet Scams Health and diet scams prey on the insecurities some people have about the state of their wellbeing. These insecurities make some people particularly susceptible to quick fix or discount pricing scams because they may be reluctant or embarrassed to discuss their problems with a doctor, or they can’t afford to buy legitimate drugs or treatment.
Discount Software Offers These scams frequently consist of advertisements for cheap versions of commercial software. The discounts offered may be hard to believe, and with good reason: the scammers either do not deliver the promised software at all, or provide illegal, pirated versions of preloaded malicious software.
Social Engineering/Phishing Email Social engineering is a strategy for obtaining information people wouldn’t normally divulge, or prompting an action people normally wouldn’t perform, by preying on their natural curiosity and/or willingness to trust. These emails attempt to fool you into visiting a bogus web site to either download malware (viruses and other software intended to compromise your computer) or reveal sensitive personal information.
419 Advanced Fee Fraud These schemes are quite elaborate and despite their preposterous appearance manage to hook a surprising number of victims. These scams attempt to entice the victim into a bogus plot to acquire and split a large sum of cash.
Virus-Generated Email Note that, in some cases, a familiar “from” address does not ensure safety: Many viruses spread by first searching for all email addresses on an infected computer and then sending themselves to these addresses.
What You Can Do to Avoid Becoming a Victim
Filter Spam. Most email applications and web mail services include spam-filtering features, or ways in which you can configure your email applications to filter spam.
Regard Unsolicited Email with Suspicion. Don’t automatically trust any email sent to you by an unknown individual or organization. Never open an attachment to unsolicited email or link.
Treat Email Attachments with Caution. Online scammers commonly use email attachments to sneak a virus onto your computer.
Use Common Sense. When email arrives in your mailbox promising you big money for little effort, accusing you of violating the law, or inviting you to join a plot to grab unclaimed funds, take a moment to consider the likelihood that the email is legitimate.
Install Antivirus Software and Keep it Up to Date. If you haven’t done so by now, you should install and maintain antivirus software on your computer.
Install a Personal Firewall and Keep it Up to Date. A firewall will not prevent scam email from making its way into your mailbox. However, it may help protect you should you inadvertently open a virus-bearing attachment or otherwise introduce malware to your computer.
Configure Your Email Client for Security. There are a number of ways you can configure your email client to make you less susceptible to email scams, such as configuring your email program to view email as “text only.”
(Source: https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/emailscams_0905.pdf)
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