Last week I decided to capture how many email scams come my way on a weekly basis. These are not “spam” emails but “scam” emails. You know someone is trying to dupe you.
Spam is different. Those are follow-ups from previous products you’ve bought, or someone legitimately trying to fix your web site but emailing you with no previous connection to you, or perhaps it’s even a sale item on something similar you’ve purchased in the past. Those make sense, even though you won’t respond to 99.9 percent of those inquiries.
No, the scam email is trying to steal your money or get your social security number. It’s a version on the Nigerian network email from years ago telling you you’ve won $1.37 million (always good to give an odd dollar figure, because then it sounds legitimate) if you’ll only send your name, drivers license number, social security number, and phone number to a designated email address. Goodbye life savings!
I get scams sent to my in-box, but mostly they end up in my junk folders, which I check periodically just in case something isn’t junk. I totaled those numbers up from the past week. Here’s the breakdown:
Monday: 4
Tuesday: 5
Wednesday: 4
Thursday: 8
Friday: 5
Saturday: 1
Sunday: 4
The scammers must snooze on the weekends, like we do. More come in over night (another indicator the email is a scam) than during the day. They peak more during the work week (from my unofficial sampling), coinciding with when a businessperson would expect you to be more approachable on a legitimate offer.
If you’re a person who wants to know the difference between scams, spam or a legitimate business propositions, here’s a sampling of scams:
“Dearest loved one, I write you with sinseerist intentions of marriage proposal.”
“Greetings, I represent a multi-asset, multi-capital financial investment firm and we are looking for clients who have a minimum of easily accessible one hundred thousand dollars in cash that you can quickly wire to get you in on this can’t miss deal.”
“Your email password is about the expire. Click here to access your email, and send us your password so we may connect with you and get your account back online.”
“Recently, I lost my cousin overseas, and he died with $479,000 in his account. He left you in his will and you stand to receive half that amount if you click here or our web site and enter your personal data to receive your pay out.”
“Your bank account has been hacked.”
There are many more versions of the scams. I received them in Korean, Chinese, French and Arabic this past week. That’s another red flag.
My wife wonders why I get so many. I figure her spam filter is more powerful than mine. I’ll be looking into that at some point, but don’t worry right now because my mental filter allows me to chuckle at the asininity of the approaches.
Don’t click is the best advice. Anyone you don’t know who asks a leading question or one that causes your spider sense to tingle or wants you to give away ANY type of personal information should be ignored. Flush that email. If that doesn’t work, change your filter.
Spam is different. Those are follow-ups from previous products you’ve bought, or someone legitimately trying to fix your web site but emailing you with no previous connection to you, or perhaps it’s even a sale item on something similar you’ve purchased in the past. Those make sense, even though you won’t respond to 99.9 percent of those inquiries.
No, the scam email is trying to steal your money or get your social security number. It’s a version on the Nigerian network email from years ago telling you you’ve won $1.37 million (always good to give an odd dollar figure, because then it sounds legitimate) if you’ll only send your name, drivers license number, social security number, and phone number to a designated email address. Goodbye life savings!
I get scams sent to my in-box, but mostly they end up in my junk folders, which I check periodically just in case something isn’t junk. I totaled those numbers up from the past week. Here’s the breakdown:
Monday: 4
Tuesday: 5
Wednesday: 4
Thursday: 8
Friday: 5
Saturday: 1
Sunday: 4
The scammers must snooze on the weekends, like we do. More come in over night (another indicator the email is a scam) than during the day. They peak more during the work week (from my unofficial sampling), coinciding with when a businessperson would expect you to be more approachable on a legitimate offer.
If you’re a person who wants to know the difference between scams, spam or a legitimate business propositions, here’s a sampling of scams:
“Dearest loved one, I write you with sinseerist intentions of marriage proposal.”
“Greetings, I represent a multi-asset, multi-capital financial investment firm and we are looking for clients who have a minimum of easily accessible one hundred thousand dollars in cash that you can quickly wire to get you in on this can’t miss deal.”
“Your email password is about the expire. Click here to access your email, and send us your password so we may connect with you and get your account back online.”
“Recently, I lost my cousin overseas, and he died with $479,000 in his account. He left you in his will and you stand to receive half that amount if you click here or our web site and enter your personal data to receive your pay out.”
“Your bank account has been hacked.”
There are many more versions of the scams. I received them in Korean, Chinese, French and Arabic this past week. That’s another red flag.
My wife wonders why I get so many. I figure her spam filter is more powerful than mine. I’ll be looking into that at some point, but don’t worry right now because my mental filter allows me to chuckle at the asininity of the approaches.
Don’t click is the best advice. Anyone you don’t know who asks a leading question or one that causes your spider sense to tingle or wants you to give away ANY type of personal information should be ignored. Flush that email. If that doesn’t work, change your filter.