Have you ever wondered how people know whether an email is a potential scam? There are some easy ways to spot a scam email if you know what to look out for.  Here is an example of one I received yesterday:

Email title was Thank you for buying iTunes Gift Certificate!

Hello!

You have received an iTunes Gift Certificate in the amount of $50.00
You can find your certificate code in attachment below.

Then you need to open iTunes. Once you verify your account, $50.00 will be credited to your account, so you can start buying music, games, video right away.

iTunes Store.

Now that email included a zipped folder attached to it which I didn’t open. It could have contained a virus that would spread through my system and/or email itself to everyone in my address book.  It could have been a phishing scam which means it provides a link to click on which takes me to a somewhat genuine looking webpage and asks me to enter personal details then uses those details either for identity theft or to drain my credit card or bank account – depending what information was requested. Now we don’t want any of those things to happen, right?  Right!

So what made me think this was not a genuine email?

• Well first of all and most obvious, I didn’t buy a gift certificate.
• Secondly, the email says I’m receiving a gift certificate but the title said I bought one – which is it?
• Thirdly, the reply-to email address was “prankof6@c****-w***********.com” (no they aren’t rude words, I’ve just edited them out). Now really, as if any reputable business would have that as their reply email address. You just have to laugh at the stupidity don’t you?
• Fourth – the email wasn’t personalised in any way and the ‘To’ email address was not mine so it was probably sent to a whole bunch of people and the rest of the addresses were hidden.
• Lastly, as I mentioned above there was a zipped folder attached to the email. Why would you need to zip a gift certificate?!  Simple, you don’t. The code they mention could have easily been incorporated into the email as is the case with every gift certificate/voucher I’ve ever received.

All of these things led me to the conclusion that this was a scam email and I should not open the attachment.  It has now been deleted.  Keep an eye out for the signs and you’ll see it can be quite simple to spot a fake from the real deal.