How To Spot A Fake E-mail Message

Contributed by Chad Barlew

How many times have you received spam in the “inbox” of your e-mail client or web mail? If you are anything like me, you receive hundreds of junk e-mails a month. Usually these e-mails are easy to spot and delete. Sometimes you can even mark the company’s domain name in the preferences of your e-mail program to have it automatically move these e-mails into your “trash” folder for you. However, some of these companies are tricky and spend hours everyday developing ways to fool you into visiting their web site by unknowingly clicking on an erroneous hyperlink. Even worse, sometimes hackers generate fake emails to invade your privacy or infect your computer with a nasty virus.

These fake e-mails usually appear to have come from a company you use or trust like eBay® or even a bank. There will usually be a link for you to click at the bottom of the page that will ask you to update or verify your account. If you are not accustomed to identifying fake e-mails, here are some tips to help you avoid falling into their devious snares.

The first thing you should do is move your cursor or arrow over the link provided, but please do not click on it because that is exactly what they want you to do. When your cursor is over the hyperlink, check the status bar at the bottom of your browser window and see what address it gives you. If it says that it will take you to the web site in which the link advertises, then it is very likely that the e-mail is legitimate. If no web address comes up, it is a dead link and probably a fake e-mail. If it provides a different domain name than what the hypertext link indicates, then it is probably fake.

If you still do not know if it is a fake, then you might want to see if you have an e-mail saved from a previous interaction with the company. It is always a good idea to save some of the legitimate e-mails you receive from online companies, the same way you would save a receipt from a store. You can pull up or print out both e-mails and see if there is a difference in their appearance. Companies spend time and money developing their online image. You will notice that a sometimes real e-mail from a company like eBay will look much better than a fake e-mail.

Another way to check if an e-mail is fake is to check the sender’s return-path. If you are using a program like Microsoft® Outlook, you can do this quite easily. Go into your “inbox” or wherever you have stored your suspect e-mail and click on it. Next, you will want to go up to the “File” menu and select “Details.” Once the window opens, look at the “Return-path” section. Does it show the proper domain name as the return-path? If it does not, you can delete that e-mail with confidence. If you are not familiar with Microsoft Outlook, you may want to refer to a Microsoft Outlook tutorial, or you may want to look online for Outlook assistance.

Again, if you have an e-mail saved from this company, you can open it and check the return-path to see if it matches with the return-path of the questionable e-mail. Hopefully they will be a perfectly-matched domain pair.

Remember that most legitimate companies do not want to fool you or complicate your life. They assume that you will want to log into your account and will not provide a link or a window for your account information. If an e-mail ever asks you for your account information or requests you to sign in through the e-mail, it may be a false e-mail. Consider deleting it. Companies will not send you compressed files you have not requested. If there is an attachment or a compressed file, do not open it as it most likely contains a virus.

Sending invalid e-mails is an easy task for anyone who has a good Internet connection and a little knowhow in the field of programming and web site development. Perhaps local and national governments will find better ways to intervene or software companies will improve e-mail servers’ ability to recognize false e-mails, but until then, it rests on our shoulders to protect our computers and our personal information. These steps should help you in your battle against fake e-mails.

About the Author:
Chad Barlew is a freelance writer living in Denver, Colorado.

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