 TITLE: How to Avoid Phishing Scams CONTENT: How to Spot a Phishing Scam\n---------------------------\nWhether they're aimed at a business executive or a consumer, phishing emails have some common characteristics. Learning to spot the warning signs that an email is bogus could help you avoid falling victim to a phishing scam.\nBe alert for emails that:\n*   **Use a generic salutation rather than your name**: For example, an email from your mortgage company that begins \"Dear account holder\" instead of actually addressing you by name.\n*   **Urgently require you to take a specific action**: An email purporting to be from your credit card company may say your account will be frozen unless you click a link in the email and complete a form.\n*   **Contain implied or explicit threats**: For example, \"confirm your user credentials immediately or your account will be permanently frozen.\"\n*   **Have a suspicious sender email address**: Although some phishers may be able to fake an email address that looks credible, phishing emails often come from addresses that don't make sense. For example, a personal email address in the sender line of an email claiming to be from your bank.\n*   **Have a wrong or bogus recipient address**: Scammers may know one of your email addresses, but not the one you gave to the company they're pretending to be. For example, you receive an email from your credit card company on your business account, even though you provided your personal email address as contact information.\n*   **Contain URLs that don't go where they say they'll go**: Often, scammers will embed hyperlinks into an email that directs you to a fake site where they collect your information or load malware onto your computer. Before clicking on links in an email, hover your mouse over it to see what the actual URL looks like to make sure it will take you where it says it will.\n*   **Include poor grammar or spelling errors**: Multiple typos or spelling errors could be a sign the email does not come from a legitimate source.\n*   **Have an email or web address that is not quite right**: Scammers may change a letter or word in a URL or email address so it closely resembles the real thing.\n*   **Include attachments**: It's unusual for a legitimate financial institution or company to send account information as an attachment, so be wary of any email you receive that says a statement or credit card bill is attached. Opening a suspect attachment could allow malicious software to download onto your computer.\n*   **Request or demand information the company they're imitating should already have**: For example, your bank should never need you to verify your account number because they already have it. Likewise, the IRS already knows your Social Security number—plus the IRS only contacts taxpayers by U.S. mail when money is owed.\nAs you make your way through your personal and business inboxes, keep an eye out for all of these signs that could point to a scam. END