Spam or Scam? Tips for Treading Through Emails

The second you get a new email, your first message is likely from someone you don’t know. From that moment on, you are always making decisions about whether you should open an email or not. As a business you need to be extra vigilant in checking for scams and spammers. Here are some tips for determining if that email is a spam or scam and how to protect your business email.

Do you recognize the sender? 
If mail comes from a sender that you don’t recognize, odds are it’s from a spammer. Many of these emails can actually contain viruses, so be sure to use the automated features in your email program and mark these kinds of emails from now on. Keep in mind that spammers today have the ability to access your personal email list and use the names of your friends in the subject lines of your emails. If you do not recognize the email address, do not open the email.

There is no such thing as good news you did not solicit. 
If you are not expecting any money or lottery winnings through your email, no one is going to offer this stuff to you. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. These are the types of emails most likely to contain a virus or some other type of malware. Usually they’ll end up in the junk folder, but make sure you are vigilant about checking what ends up in your regular inbox.

Does the email have attachments? 
Emails with attachments are especially dangerous. Sometimes upon opening an email, an attachment will download immediately without you giving permission. These should be deleted immediately, don’t even consider opening emails with attachments, especially attachments too small to be a picture. If an attachment is in bytes, odds are very high the attachment is a virus.

Check out proper formatting.
Emails from legitimate sources will have proper formatting and hopefully good grammar. A dental website designer, Progressive Dental Marketing says companies should avoid advertising their contacts as much. Scammers won’t take the time to search out a contact list, and Spammers won’t take the time to format an email in an attractive fashion, or fill it with relevant information. Legitimate companies will have to try to impress and will be vetted online. Google a company if you are unsure.

In general, emails should definitely be looked at with a grain of salt. There are a few worth your time, the key is to look for emails that come from legitimate sources you can vet, before you go opening emails left and right.