Beware Of Spoof Emails

A spoof email is an email from someone pretending to be somebody else, i.e. eBay, PayPal or your Bank. The reason for them sending spoof emails is that they want to get your details, passwords etc so as to steal your identity.

It’s not every day that I receive a spoof email, but I do get quiet a few each week. The latest one says it’s from “secureATpaypal.com” and it’s entitled “Important Information Regarding Your Account”.

The first mistake of the sender was sending it to an email address that isn’t linked to my PayPal account. So there’s not a chance of me opening it.

However, when I get any suspect emails there are a few simple little things that I check.

1, If it has any attachments I DO NOT OPEN IT, as neither eBay or PayPal send emails with attachments. Many viruses are passed by attachments and I never open any emails that have attachments unless I know and trust the sender.

2, I check the email address it was sent to. If the email did come from eBay or PayPal it will show your email address. Many spoof emails will read “Not Set”.