Viewers often ask VERIFY about scam emails. Here are five things to look for to determine if an email is fake.
At VERIFY, we’re dedicated to helping you figure out what’s true and false. One of the top questions we get is whether an email a viewer has received is a scam. Some scam emails can look legitimate, but there are ways to figure out for yourself if an email is fake. We compiled five key tips you can use to figure out if an email is a scam.
THE SOURCES
Here are five things to be on the lookout for to determine if an email you received is real or fake:
- Scammers pose as a company but the email comes from a different email address: Scam emails may look like they’re coming from a company that you know or trust, such as a bank, a credit card company, or an online store like Amazon, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says. The email below looks like it’s from Amazon, but it uses a Google Groups email address. Amazon says its real emails are sent from an amazon.com account.
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False sense of urgency: Scammers will often create a false sense of urgency in prompting you to click a link or open an attachment immediately. The email will often have an urgent subject line. The IRS provided this example of a…
