Reporter: Nicole Rozema
Spam, junk and fake emails come to your inbox and junk folder, but they still get into your inbox and these emails are getting upgraded to look more legit.
While they are changing in appearance, the outcome is the same. They’re, fake, and email users fall for them.
Hotmail users fall for these emails, and unless email users know what to look out for they will continue to fall for them.
If you look at the sender and receiver addresses, often the email isn’t addressed to you and it isn’t from someone you know. Someone who manages hotmail wouldn’t have an email like sparkie118@hotmail.com. It isn’t professional.
A common fake email on hotmail just got upgraded to look a little more legitimate. It now has the Live envelope picture and additional images, an address but no banner.
The original still goes around, it has a banner at the top saying Microsoft Live Account Alert in red text. Both emails are asking for you to send the user your password, name, date of birth and country or territory.
If you reply to this email, whoever sent it goes into your email account and they may lock up your account, or you could get lucky and still have access to it.
The person sends out individual emails to everyone in the user’s contact list and it is usually asking for money.
If you look closely at the questionable email, there will be spelling errors, grammar errors. If you know the person who the account belongs to, you will pick up on the fact that he or she would never send the email.
An example, “I am writing this mail with profound sense of sadness as my family and I came down here to London,England for a short vacation unfortunately we were mugged at the park of the hotel where we stayed,all cash,credit card and cell were stolen off us but luckily for us we still have our passports with us. We’ve been to the embassy and the Police here but they’re not helping issues at all and our flight leaves in less than 4hrs from now but we’re having problems settling the hotel bills and the hotel manager won’t let us leave until we settle the bills.
I am freaked out at the moment… Kindly help.”
There are so many red flags going up in that email it isn’t funny. What should be done is contacting the user of that email account because he or she needs to know so they can check to see if they still have access to their email. Then they need to find a way to notify their friends and family to delete the fake email.
Sometimes these emails will be about making money, winning money or needing your help. Don’t fall for them.
If you are unsure about an email don’t pay attention to it.
If it is directed to you specifically in the subject or mentions someone you know in the subject, have a look.
