Just today, I received an email from what appeared to be a reputable hosting company. It had the official logo and no misspelled words. The email was warning me that my hosting account was going to be terminated due to non-payment.

If you’re busy at your desk absorbed with other things, you might think this is a serious email, click the link to renew, and find that you’ve been scammed.

Phishing scams are super common, and the scammers can sometimes be excellent at what they do. They go out of their way to make emails look authentic. To protect yourself, be sure to do the following with any email you may be even slightly suspicious of:

1. View the FROM address of the email. Make sure it is coming from a legitimate email. In most cases, the email will be wrong. However, don’t let this be the only thing you look for. Spammers and hackers can spoof a FROM email from a legitimate email address.
2. Hover your mouse (don’t click!) over the link in the email, and at the bottom of your browser it will show you the web address it will send you to. Phishing emails will send you to some hacked website with a script asking for your credit card or personal information.
3. If ever in doubt if an email is real, the best practice is to open your browser and go directly to the company’s website in question. This way, you are sure to be using the legitimate website and not clicking on some suspicious links in an email.

The image below is the email I received with some hints of where to look to protect yourself. Stay safe out there in the wild world of the internet. Bad guys, sadly, are everywhere.

Have questions or need help identifying a suspicious email or website? Reach out to your company’s IT department. If you’re a client, reach out to me and I will help or find someone who can help.

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