Spot An Email Scam You probably already know not to open an unusual looking attachment or a link from an unknown sender. But, as proven in both the Netflix and Gmail scams, these links and attachments can appear to come from your own contacts, or from services you subscribe to. This is known as spear phishing, says Gary Davis, the chief consumer security evangelist at Intel Security. According to Davis, most phishing emails will be opened less than five minutes after they were sent. So, what can you look for to avoid falling victim to these emails? Whenever you get an email that isn't part of an exchange you initiated (or were expecting), be on alert. "Examine all web and email addresses to see if anything is misspelled or suspicious," Geers says. "Be wary of anything suggesting that you must take a certain action, especially with any kind of urgency. Be suspicious of anything asking you to approve a software download or installation, or asking you for personal data, financial information, or a password." If it's a message from your bank or another site you use regularly, reach out to them directly — not as a reply to the suspicious email — to ensure the message was truly sent by them, Davis says.