Ever since the dawn of email decades ago, there have been opportunistic scammers who have sought ways that they can exploit people in a range of different ways. In the following blog post, we are going to look at a few of the most common email scams, which will help you to be better prepared to protect yourself and/or your business against them.

Foreign Lottery

This one has been around for many years, but it still proves to be an old favorite among scammers and hackers of all description. Essentially, it involves you getting an email that makes it appear that you have won a lottery or a big cash prize of some description. It is then often the case that you will be asked for your personal bank account information so that they can ‘wire you the money’. A good rule of thumb to follow on this particular scam is that if you didn’t enter the lottery in the first place, you can’t be a winner!

Survey Scam

The major issue with this particular scam is that it appears relatively innocent, which is why people can end up falling for it who would not have otherwise been drawn in by a scam of this nature. Often, when you end up clicking on the survey link, you will find that some sort of spyware or malware is installed on your computer. You can then find yourself becoming the victim of identity theft, or you may find yourself racking up charges that you for services that you didn’t use. Find out more about protecting yourself against phishing scams from Proofpoint.

Hijacked Profile Scam

Another common scam is that a hacker will gain access to the profile of a contact from a social networking site. They may then start asking you to click on certain links or buy a specific product. The scammers are preying on the fact that you are more likely to trust the other person, and you may input your details as a result. Beware as these hoaxes can seem very real. On the most part, if you are contacted by someone who you don’t normally talk to on social media with a strange seeming message about a business opportunity or similar, it is likely to not be for real.

‘Click on This’ Scam

The one rule that you need to be careful of when it comes to emails is not clicking on anything that appears to be suspicious. Scammers are adept at arousing your curiosity and may send you a ‘photo that you have to see’ or an innocent-looking quiz. Essentially, you should be wary of opening anything up unless you can be entirely sure of the email address.

While these are just four of the most common email scams out there, educating yourself about these and more can go a long way towards helping you to protect yourself and your business if you run one. Don’t fall into the hackers’ traps!