Phishing and Spam: This Is how You Recognize Fake Emails

Blackmail emails are currently circulating. It says that blackmailers hacked your Smartphone or computer and recorded videos while watching porn.

Fake emails from your own bank, Amazon, PayPal, and Co. - it doesn't stop. Warnings from counterfeit DHL mails and Amazon customer service notifications are currently increasing. Also, blackmailers try to panic you by e-mail and get your money. The details:

Current Warnings

Warning: Three Nasty Scam Emails Circulating

The Porn Blackmail Scam:
Blackmail emails are currently circulating. It says that blackmailers hacked your Smartphone or computer and recorded videos while watching porn. The extortion mail exists in different versions from different senders - sometimes there is your own mobile phone number, sometimes a password, the blackmailer wants 290 euros, sometimes 1,000 dollars. The important thing is: This is scare tactics and a fake!

The DHL Phishing Scam:
"The package is with your neighbor": With this subject and one Tracking numbers mislead scammers. Visually, the fake mail can hardly be distinguished from a real notification from DHL. Important: Do not click on the "Track shipment" link! The link leads to a counterfeit login page. If you log in here, you will hand over your access data to the fraudsters.

The Amazon Customer Support Scam:
Strangers supposedly have your Amazon account orders placed - the phishing e-mail warns of this. To cancel the orders, the user should click on a link. Behind this is a fake log-in page. Here, too, the scammers hunt your access data.

The phishing phenomenon remains - but you don't have to fall for the fraud attempts! We'll show you 10 tricks you can use to recognize phishing emails:

1. Find the Sender on The Internet

Simple, obvious, and the first protection against phishing emails: take the sender and look for testimonials online. You will usually find what you are looking for relatively quickly if it is already a known mail address of the rip-offs.

2. Beware of Panic Emails

The criminals like to work with panic and time pressure. If the alleged Amazon email speaks of irregularities in the orders or your bank writes about unusual account movements, you should be especially careful. Especially if you are then asked to confirm your customer data in the email.

3. Call Customer Service

If you are not sure whether an email is an original or a fake, simply call the customer service of the company or your bank if in doubt. Here you can confirm whether such emails are actually being sent by the company.

4. Does Not Follow a Link

Do not follow a link in an email if you are not sure that it is actually an authentic email. For example, if you should confirm your contact details on Amazon or PayPal, you should go directly to the page of the respective provider and log in there.

5. Do Not Fill out Any Mail Forms

Don't fill out a pre-made form in an email! If you are asked to enter sensitive information in a form field directly in an email - just don't do it. There is almost certainly a degree of fraudulent intent behind this.

6. Pay Attention to Safe Websites

If you provide personal information and credit or bank account information on a website, make sure that this site is secure. Take a look at the URL in the address bar and make sure that instead of the normal "HTTP", you can see an "HTTP s". In this context, the "s" means that your data is transmitted over a secure connection.

7. Take a Close Look at The Web Address

Don't just trust the outside of a website. A website can look like Amazon, but the dizziness is quickly noticeable in the address bar. For example, if it says "http://www.abzocke.de/amazon/login.htm", then it is not Amazon. But it can also be more inconspicuous: Occasionally the ending is simply replaced. Then you are not on "Amazon.com", for example, but on the imitation page "amazon.tk".

8. Pay Attention to The Language

Phishing emails become more professional and look more authentic. Even so, some scammers still stand out due to sloppy grammar or poor spelling skills. Conversely, this does not mean that you can blindly trust correctly written emails.

9. Unmask Fake Senders

Even if the sender of a message appears serious - i.e. at first glance it comes from Amazon, Apple, or PayPal itself - this is not a guarantee! The sender of an email can be changed relatively easily. However, the IP address from which the mail was sent cannot be falsified. To find out, you have to display the entire letterhead.

10. Check the IP Address

In the letterhead, the so-called header, the entire path that the mail has covered is shown - including the sender IP. The consumer center NRW has a small one Guide compiled. There you will learn how to find out this multi-digit number and how you can then check whether the sender is actually who he claims to be.

STEP BY STEP

This is what you should do if you've been hacked

1. Change the password on the service that was hacked.
2. Change the password for all other services where you use the password.
3. Uses a different password for each service.
4. Activates two-factor authentication for important accounts. Whenever you log in, the service sends you a code via SMS. You can only log in with a password and code.

5. Install the best antivirus software to prevent further attacks.