Stealing a person’s wallet is still one of the most popular ways to steal a person’s credit cards and other documents. However, growth in technology has made thieves more advanced in terms of identity theft. This requires thorough planning of a con that can make victims put their guards down and let thieves steal their identity. E-mail, for instance, is used for identity theft because it is one of the easiest and fastest ways to lure people. Most people agree that awareness and knowledge about the scams, email phishing and id theft, are vital to the process to avoid becoming victim of email or phishing scams. How does email scam work? Thieves using email scam as an identity theft method will do everything to make you give them your personal details. Be sure to keep an eye out for any suspicious-looking emails. For instance, when somebody asks for your email and password, social security account details or credit card information — for whatever reason — do not give your information by directly replying to them. You need to verify everything that has been said in the e-mail, especially the name of the company they are working for. If any of these appears to be suspicious, keep your guards up; it is also better to ignore the e-mail, mark it as spam and report to your e-mail provider about a possible e-mail scam. E-mail scams are usually sent by unfamiliar users and are best marked “spam” as soon as you receive them. If you choose to read these emails, do it with care. It is better, on the other hand, not to open it, because it may also contain viruses that can affect your computer and mess your personal identity. If in case you have opened the e-mail, look for typographical errors or grammatical error, because most scam artists are not native English speaks and does not have a good grasp of the language. Phishing prevention Phishing is used to describe the process of stealing personal identity through e-mail or web scams. It is basically derived from “fishing,” in which their scam is the “bait” and you are the “fish” – responding to their emails with your identity information is like being a fish on a baited hook. The best way to guard against phishing is to determine if you are really the recipient of the message. If this is really your e-mail provider, they will address you by your full name and not as “mister,” “miss” or other unspecific names. To sum up, your roles are vital in preventing identity theft and becoming the next email scam victim. Other scammers will even use a photo of your provider to make their messages real, and this is known as spoofing. For instance, you receive an e-mail from your reputed e-mail (with the company’s logo) provider asking for your password and account name because they need to update their database and when you ignore their message your account may get deleted, always be cautious. The tips to prevent email phishing scams vary greatly, but the most important factor to protect from email scams is to simply not respond to such emails. Amy is an active blogger who is fond of sharing interesting finance related articles to encourage people to manage and protect their finances. Follow her and discover more on how to identify if you are victim of email scams and how to prevent email scams.
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