Email Fraud

Identifying email scams and avoid being a victim.

This is a type of fraud that happens to people both in their personal lives and at work – and is also one of the simplest and most common types of fraud. You get an email from someone saying they’re your lawyer, real estate agent or even a family member requesting money. In the workplace, the scammer will often pretend to be the company’s CEO, CFO, owner, or your supervisor, indicating that you must access the business account and forward them cash. To guard against this type of email fraud, you should carefully scrutinize people’s signatures and letterheads. Better yet, don’t transfer money based on email at all. If you get such an email, call the person who’s allegedly sending it at a phone number you know is theirs, and ask if the request is legitimate.

4 Warning Signs of an Email Scam:

• Contact you out of the blue - Unknown communications could come from anywhere, either an email, a knock on the door, a phone call, or a piece of mail you weren’t expecting.
• Request you to wire money - Being asked to wire money or purchase prepaid debit cards is one of the easiest ways for fraudsters to get their hands on your money.
• Claim there is an “emergency” - Fraudsters might warn you that if you don’t respond immediately, your prize winnings will be lost, or a friend or family member is in trouble in a foreign country and ask you to take immediate action.
• Asking for personal information - Those with ill intent can pose as banks, health care providers, or government officials asking for identifying personal or financial information. Anytime someone asks you for this information, it is a reason to be suspicious.

Email attachments can also be another way that scammers will attempt to access your devices and personal information. They will disguise them as legitimate documents such as invoices, receipts, contracts, or other commonly emailed documents, but will actually result in malicious software being installed. Even worse, scammers will sometimes send a blank email with an attachment that is titled something baiting your curiosity such as “passwords.pdf.” If you receive an unprompted email and/or attachment, think twice before you click.

Additional Resources:

• Enrich Article: Identity Theft Scams You Need to Know
• Enrich Article: 5 Steps for Avoiding Phone, Email, and Mailed Scams
• Affinity Article: Managing Your Cybersecurity: 7 Ways to Protect Yourself Online
• Webinar Recording: ID Theft Prevention