Useful Tips on How to Check Real Email Sender
Online scams are everywhere and you could be a victim if you're not careful with your online activity. Last year, more than $5 billion were lost to scams in the USA alone as identity theft, scam calls and emails are everywhere. Individuals unfamiliar with any of these types of scams will likely lose more money before realizing they just lost thousands of dollars.
Email scams are one of the most popular methods used by scammers to get money or personal identity for financial gains. Without knowing it, you may end up giving up money to unknown individuals or personal information that they may use for other illegal purposes.
Deceptive Email Phishing
Phishing is a form of online attack where a scammer tries to extract information from an individual with illegal tactics. A very popular and dangerous type of phishing is deceptive email phishing. In gist, this type of attack pretends to be a company familiar with the target. They will alert the target that something might be wrong about their account due to an unknown threat and they need to update their information.
The email comes with a fake link that directly sends the information to the attacker. They often pretend to be a bank since they will often cause clients to act immediately when they are alerted that their account is probably under attack.
Checking the Real Email Sender
Learning how to check real email sender requires a little bit of awareness of different types of attacks and how to spot them. Email phishing may come with different types of scams but they can be prevented by following simple protocols:
- Double Check the Email Address - scammers will try to emulate the email address of a bank with a slightly different syntax. For example, BankOfAmerica email will look like Bank0fAmerica email - they simply replaced the letter O with Zero to make you think they are a real email address.
- Never Click or Download from the Message - when a bank alerts you that they have a problem with your account, do not click on any link. Go to the bank's official website to check on your personal information. It's also a good practice not to download anything from the email because they might contain spyware and/or malware.
- Check the IP address of the sender - find the "original message" or "raw message" of the email by finding the email properties. They are usually the three dots on the upper right side of the email. Look for the "permitted sender" IP address to track them using a free IP address lookup. A valid email especially from a bank will be traced back to their approximate location. A fake email will come from a different server.
Using an Email Validation Tool
Another simple yet highly effective method to learn more about the email sender is through an email validation tool. This is a website that specializes if an email came from a valid source. Simply provide the email address and get the result in an instant.
This is a sample validation from Bulkemailverifier.com. The result says that the email is invalid because it came from a disposable email address (@gmail.com). No bank will send an email from a personal, free account. If you suspect someone is trying to steal your personal information or banking account through email phishing, use this tool from Bulkemailverifier.com to immediately identify if the email is suspicious.
It's important to always protect ourselves online against hackers and identity thieves. Aside from being alert from potential danger, use online tools such as www.Bulkemailverifier.com to validate sensitive email messages to ensure they came from a reliable sender.