E-mail is a means of communication that is widely used both by private users and by companies. It is something widely used and is part of our day to day. There are many providers and services that we have at our disposal. However, it should also be noted that it is one of the main sources of malware entry. We must always take precautions when using this type of services. In this article we are going to talk about how to recognize if an email we receive is false .
How to know if an email is false
As we say, there are many types of malware and threats that we can simply receive via email. This is something that can put our security and privacy at risk if we do not take precautions. A simple email could steal our passwords or make our files and systems encrypted.
It is essential that we know how to identify when an email we receive may be false, it may be a threat that simply seeks to steal our credentials and passwords.
View domain name
Something fundamental to determine if an email we have received is false or may be a threat is to carefully observe the domain name . We refer to the name of the email address, analyze whether it really is legitimate or there is something strange.
Generally when it comes to fake, generic emails that seek to infect our system, they usually have a strange address. For example many meaningless numbers and letters or even trying to imitate a legitimate address.
Message Subject
In the subject of the message we can also detect possible anomalies. Let’s say we receive an e-mail with a subject that makes us suspicious, addressed in a generic way, with a name that does not match, etc.
It is undoubtedly one of the sections that we must analyze to know if an email we have received may be a security problem.
Misspellings and style
Of course the inside of the message also matters a lot. If we receive an email with misspellings, bad translation or anything that makes us suspicious, we are probably facing a false email.
In many cases, hackers send generic emails to many users. They use basically the same information translated into several languages and we can appreciate that. It is an indication that we are facing a scam attempt.
Suspicious attachments
Another point that we must take into account is that of the attached files . It is very common for many security threats to come through an email file. That malicious software can be an executable, text file, audio …
Normally, hackers will look for us to download that content or install it on the computer. This could pose a problem for our security. We could suffer identity theft, install back doors, which encrypt our files …
Seek the urgency
This is very frequent. Cyber criminals play with immediacy . For example, they send us an email indicating that there is something wrong with our account, that we must log in as soon as possible to resolve a fault, etc.
If we receive an email indicating that we must urgently take some action, there may be something behind it. We may actually be facing a false email that only seeks to steal our data.
They ask us for too much information
Finally, another example that something can go wrong with an email we have received is when we are asked for too much information . For example, they ask for personal data that is not relevant, they ask us to put the password and log in from a link, etc.
In short, these are some ways we have to know if an email we have received is false. We must pay attention at all times since as we have mentioned it is through e-mail where we can be attacked. Maintaining common sense is vital, as well as having security tools that can protect us.
