Some ways to quickly spot a scam email
Question: I have an email and I'm not sure if it is a scam or not. Could you please look at it for me?
A: Sure! But first read the following... You can send the email to us at: scamoftheweek@gmail.com
Here are 15 questions regarding your email. If you answer "yes" to any of them - it is a scam.... (Some others can also be scams so proceed very cautiously!)
§ Does the email mention millions of dollars or some other very large sum of money?
§ Does the email ask you to pay a comparatively small amount of money (hundreds or thousands of dollars) to get a much larger sum of money in the future?
§ Does the email say you just won a lottery? (All real lotteries inform winners in person - never by email.)
§ Does the email say you are entitled to a large inheritance? (Real lawyers and bankers will call you or write a real letter to inform you of an inheritance - never by email.)
§ Does the author want you to pretend to be the next of kin of a rich dead person? (Or to do something else that is illegal or dishonest?)
§ Does the author claim to be a government official, bank examiner, barrister, diplomat, FBI agent, a deposed leader or a member of royalty? (Such people rarely solicit the help of strangers and never by email.)
§ Does the author, who you have never met before, want you to cash checks for him?
§ Is the author requesting your help in transferring funds from one place to another?
§ Does the author need your help to clean defaced currency? (This is a classic "wash-wash" scam.)
§ Did the author email you a scanned copy of his passport or some other form of ID? (No legitimate person would do that.)
§ Did the author ask you to email or fax a scanned copy of YOUR passport or ID? (No legitimate person would do that either.)
§ Did the author ask you for your personal information? (No legitimate company will ever contact you by email to ask you to provide your username, password, phone number, date of birth, country, credit card information, etc...)
§ Does the author ever mention "Western Union" or "Moneygram"? (Scammers love WU and MG!)
§ Does the author want you to re-ship items he has purchased from others?
§ Is the email from Nigeria, written by a Nigerian or is connected to Nigeria in anyway? (you can check the IP address in the email but if it is not from Nigeria it is probably a scam anyway) See ‘Good Resources… on the home page for ‘IP Tracker Online’
Here is another list of questions. If you answer "yes" to any three of these - then you can be sure the email is a scam...however, even if you can’t say yes to 3 you should still beware! Feel free to send suspect emails to us at scamoftheweek@gmail.com
§ Was the first email sent to you unsolicited?
§ Is the email from someone you have never met before?
§ IS THE EMAIL TYPED IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS?
§ Do the email has not good grammar? :)
§ Does the, email have missing or misused' punctuation
§ does the email fail to capitalize the first word of each sentence?
§ Doez tha emale hav severail speling erors? :)
§ Are sum of the words in the email used in-corruptly - as if the author haze no conscript of what the words rally means. :)
§ Did the first email address you as "Dear Sir/Madam", "Dear Friend", "Hello Dear", "Dearest One" or in some other way that indicates they have no idea who you really are?
§ Does the author offer you a lot of money in exchange for doing simple tasks?
§ Does the author claim to be an orphan, widow, refugee or a sick person?
§ Is the author, who is from another country, seeking your help with something? (Can't he find just one person in his own country to help him?)
§ Is the email from Africa, written by someone from Africa or is connected to Africa in anyway?
§ Is the "return" email address, on the first email, not the same as the "from" email address?
§ Does the author want you to respond to a different email address then the one the email was sent from originally?
§ Does the author use a free email service? (Examples include @yahoo, @hotmail, @gmail, @jmail, @aol, @live and @myway.) There are many others.
§ Does the email ask you for your name, address or phone number?
§ Does the email mention gold, oil, diamonds or silver?
§ Does the author say he/she loves you or wants to marry you, even though you have never met face-to-face?
§ Does the author ask you to keep his email or business idea a secret or confidential?
§ Does the author claim his situation is urgent or that time is limited?
How can I recognize a scam?
While not an exhaustive list, here are some of the warning signs to look for:
Ø It sounds too good to be true. There's the potential for a large gain with very little investment of time or money.
Ø The approach has come as a complete surprise.
Ø The scammer does not address you by name.
Ø There is an insistence on urgency and on confidentiality.
Ø People are introduced to you by the scammer, such as bank officials, security companies, diplomats or lawyers. (These additional characters will be played by the scammer himself or an accomplice).
Ø You're supplied with many seemingly official-looking documents that are actually forgeries.
Ø There's an early request for detailed personal information such as address, date of birth, bank account details, or identification such as a passport.
Ø Emails supposedly coming from legitimate-sounding government agencies or financial organizations are actually sent from free email accounts like Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail or others.
Ø The scammer uses mobile phone numbers rather than official company landlines.
Ø Each fee is said to be the last.
Ø The scammer may claim to have personally paid some of the fee in order to build up your trust.
We began to write this list one Sunday morning and saw that the fine folks at Scamwarners had done such a good job we did not want to reinvent the wheel! Thanks!
Courtesy of our friends at: http://scamwarners.com/
Courtesy of our friends at: http://scamwarners.com/
