Author Michael Lindner is a software developer living in Monmouth County, NJ, with his beautiful wife and the youngest of his three sons. His interests are faith, family and freedom, which makes him an anachronism.
The term “Spam” is used to describe any unwanted or unsolicited email or text. Often these “spam” messages are also “scam” messages – messages designed to con you out of money or personal information that can be used to rob you. If you’re like me, you get text messages and emails almost every day from scammers. As a long-time computer professional I can share some tips to spot them and avoid getting scammed. Here are some of the things I look out for – do any of these seem familiar?
Getting messages from a company you don’t do business with. Almost every day, I get a message with a link to a gift for being a loyal Verizon cellular customer. The problem is that Verizon is not my phone carrier.
If you receive a message claiming you are a customer of some company you know you are not a customer of, chances are it is someone trying to trick you into either trying to accept a “free” gift or trying to tell them you are not their customer. Sometimes the message is from a company you have an account with, but is referencing something fake. For instance “Thanks for paying your December bill, here is a gift” when you paid your December bill weeks ago (or haven’t paid yet). Check the source of the email or text, it is probably wrong.
Getting email messages from a suspicious email address. Email and web addresses work from right to left. If you google Verizon you will find their web address is www.verizon.com. The important part is the last two parts, “verizon.com”, which is called the “domain name”. Every web site the company has, and every email the company uses, will end in that same domain name, “verizon.com”. Scammers will usually use email addresses and links that are similar, but different. Some examples might be “verizon.xyz.com”, “verizon.xyz”, “verison.com” or “verizon.com.xyz.org”. Note that they do not end in “verizon.com”.
Most email programs will show you the actual email address if you hover the mouse cursor over the “From” email address on the screen. A few will make you right click or click on “show headers” to see it. But if an email is suspicious, take the extra time to see who it’s actually from, and whether it is legitimate.
Getting text messages from a suspicious phone number. Most large companies use “short codes” to contact their customers. This is a five to seven digit number. If you receive a text message allegedly from your phone carrier or similar that is from a “normal” 10 digit phone number, it is likely a scam. Be careful.
Getting message with a link that doesn’t go to the right web site. Links to web sites look like “https://www.verizon.com/support”. The part after the “://” and before the next “/” is the important part, and just like the email addresses, it must end in the proper domain name, in this case “verizon.com”. An email might have a link that says “click on Verizon customer service” to claim your gift. If you hover your mouse cursor over the link, most browsers will display, at the bottom of the window, where the link actually goes. If that link is not going to the domain you expect, odds are the email is a scam. If the email looks suspicious but you want to go to the site the email allegedly goes to a safer way is to google the address (for example, google “Verizon customer service”) and click on the search results.
Web sites that ask for personal information. Suppose the email looked ok, but when I click on the link the site I go to is asking for my name and birth date, or other personal information, to “verify” who I am? That’s likely not a legitimate site. If you are uncomfortable with the site asking for personal information, look up the phone number of the company it’s supposed to be from, call their customer service and ask if the email and site are legitimate. Most companies are happy to help, and grateful to find out about scammers using their name.
What to do with scam emails, texts, etc. What should you do with a suspicious message? First off what not to do. Do NOT respond to it, even to say “rot in hell you scammer”. The more information they get from you, even just the fact that you are a real person, the more they can do. Ignore ignore ignore.
Most email clients have a “Spam” button that you can click on. Use it. Not only does that keep you from having to see the message, but it gives the email program information on catching future scam messages. Use spam filters if your email/phone provides has them. These take feedback from other users reporting spam to stop such messages from getting through to your inbox in the first place.
Most of all, remember the adage “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t.”