By Catherine Haug, updated Oct 2017 – see Example 3, below (originally published Jan 15, 2017)
In the last week I’ve gotten several phishing/scam emails, so I thought I’d share them with you to help you know how to recognize them.
Phishing is fishing for private information such as usernames, passwords and credit card accounts. Wikipedia (1) defines it as:
“the attempt to obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details (and, indirectly, money), often for malicious reasons, by disguising as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.”
A scam is “fraudulent scheme performed by a dishonest individual, group, or company in an attempt obtain money or something else of value” according to the Business Dictionary (2).
The examples below appear to be from the trusted businesses: FedEx, USPS, and Earthlink. But if you look at the sender’s email address or other clues (see example 3 for example with several other clues), you can tell the sender is pretending, in an attempt to gain your trust and get your information. (more…)