No matter how careful you are with your phone number or email, spammers can find you. Text messages, emails and even phone calls come to us at all times of the day throughout the week. And the spammers are getting more sophisticated in how their communications reach you; disguised as trusted sources, clients or even your own co-workers. How do we know who or what to trust? We have four simple tricks to keep you protected and on alert for spam communications:
- It’s all in the name. Take a look at who is sending the information; check out the telephone number or email address. Is it something you recognize or resembles that person’s actual email? If there is even a slight discrepancy it can be a signal that it’s a spammer trying to make you think they are someone you know.
- Robots can’t write. A lot of spam communications are written by an automated system. These automated systems didn’t spend years learning proper grammar and punctuation which makes it easy to see if a message is truly coming from an actual human being. If an email or a text doesn’t read how the supposed sender typically sounds, then its an indicator that it could be spam.
- Spam is a click away. If you have even the smallest inclination that a message is spam, if it contains links, do NOT click them. Spam communications are notorious for holding viruses in links that can steal your personal information or ruin your phone/computer. Research suspicious URLs to see if other’s have come across it or if it is even a workable link.
- Go to the source. The true way of knowing if a message is spam is by going directly to the supposed sender. Start a new email, or better yet, call the person to see if they did in fact send something to you. If they didn’t, you know not to engage with the message. Others may not be aware that spammers are using their information; let your friends, colleagues and clients know when you receive spam information on their behalf.
Spam content is getting more sophisticated with new technologies and forms of communication. Stay alert when reviewing emails and other forms of communication to protect yourself from those wanting to trick you.