16 Fun Tips for Spotting Spams, Scams, and Malicious Emails

. . . collected from actual spam. Real examples shown.

1. The email is from a major company or website, but, where your name should be, there is only a generic greeting.

Dear PayPal Customer;

Dear Bank of America Patron ,

ATTN: Sir /Madam

2. The email says you have won the lottery or some big cash award.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

CLAIM YOUR AWARD!!!!!

INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY PROMOTION

NEW YEAR AWARD NOTIFICATION RESULT !!!

3. The message is from someone you have never heard of who has a huge pile of wealth and wants you to share it.

I am Mr.FRANK BELLE GEZI,The first son of Mr.JOHN MICHEAL GEZI, the director or the ANGOLAN diamond mine,and a wealthy business man who was recently murdered in the land mine dispute in ANGOLA which i have no doubt you may be aware if you listen to either BBC or CNN.

I know this will come to you as a surprise but never mind, I got your Contact in my search for a reputable and trust worthy person/Company,Who can stand confidently with me in this successful business Arrangement.

We are group of company and I am Mr. James Herrington an American one of the boards of director in this company in London and we also want you to take our reparable modality of this opportunity I will also send you my international driven lances or my international passport.

4. The subject line or message is complete gibberish; that is, it is not in English words or even Latin characters.

¡‚©‚ç–¾“ú‚Ì’©‚܂ňꏏ‚ɉ߂²‚µ‚Ä‚­‚ê‚Ü‚¹‚ñ‚©H

ŽÊ^‚ð‘—‚è‚Ü‚·‚Ì‚ÅŒ©‚Ä‚­‚¾‚³‚¢B

[6]: áîëüøîé âûáîð êðåñåë äëÿ ðóêîâîäèòåëÿ

$B4uK$N6b3[$rA43[@h$KEO$7$^$9$N$G2q$C$FD:$1$J$$$G$7$g$&$+!)(B

5. The message greets you as if you are a close, special friend even though you have never had any contact with the sender.

Dear Beloved,

6. The email is from someone in Nigeria and you don't know anyone in Nigeria. Note: Lagos is in Nigeria. Note: Surulere is in Nigeria.

7. The email name is an unpronounceable string of letters.

nqzbynzeg@bezeqint.net

efkqdwahd@blauer.com

smyzhb@mail.com

6. The email subject is about your loan application or mortgage or credit card or hot investment but you have not applied for a loan or inquired about investing.

Loan request approved

Loan for a low month payment

Aggressive Investors Alert

Payment Correspondences

URGENT BUSINESS PROPOSAL

7. The email subject just says Hi or Hello or Re: or Re:[2] or some other bracketed number.

8. The email subject sounds like a news headline but is not related to any news you are interested in.

Musicians play tribute to Don Henley

The hash function you're most likely to use routinely is SHA-1.

It's also kid-friendly, with a marionette museum.

9. The subject line says your gift card is ready or that you have won a gift card or valuable product.

PLEASE CONFIRM: Victoria Secret $500 Gift ID#33-FA212ZP

Second Attempt: Macy's Gift Card Inside

Dell Computer Giveaway - Absolutely No Charges

WINNER! Home Depot Gift Card ID#YY-234-1A

jetBlue Airways Ticket! - Confirmation #343-7331

Congratutlations on your JCPenney Gift Card Offer

Your CIRCUIT CITY Card valid Thru Feb 15th -- Act NOW! -- ID# CCJXB93ST

Second Attempt: WAL*MART (R) 500 Dollar Gift Card Inside

7. The subject line is a string of words that makes no sense.

mass production admonish

it vague

Don't read it.

it cyclist an mingle

his dissension be norwegian

8. The subject line says Re: followed by something you have never heard of before.

Re: RyixX

Re: dynamicvar divT

Re: recipient Postinis

10. The message has bizarre, incorrect English usage, punctuation, or syntax.

I am gonna be waiting your answer I hope that you can help me in this moment that I need it.

Hello Dear ,

Mrs.Jenny Brooks

Have a nice day, be bless.

I look forward to read back from you.

12. The link in the email doesn't match the subject of the email, or is not a legitimate business, or does not exist.

http://pizzasarhey.com/

http://www.autoroad2000.com/

13. The message promises to get you top placement on search engines.

Boost Your Website To The Top

Free Website Analysis and Ranking Report of Your Website!

14. The phrase "I will like to" appears anywhere in the message.

Before I proceed, I will like to introduce my humble self To you.

I will like to know if you ship to Australia and my method of payment will be credit card???

15. The message is from someone who claims to be doing God's work.

Mark from Guiding Light Ministries

ST. PETER CHRISTIAN BIBLE CHURCH

St.Andrew Mission,Portland Oreegon

pray4missingkids

He said to them, "But who do you say I am?" Simon Peter answered and said, "Your are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Matt 16:15, 16

I decided to WILL/donate the sum of $2,500,000 (two million five hundred thousand dollars) to you for the good work of the lord, and also to help the motherless and less privilege and also for the assistance of the widows.

16. The message contains a paragraph filled with complete nonsense that sounds like computer-generated "poetry."

should have a name that is derivative. For instance, the name given to It is not possible to know forthwith whose head or hand is meant. Thus it is in the case of those opposites only, which are opposite in the bald does not regain his hair; the man who has lost his teeth does not

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The idea being that languages were perfect at Babel and degraded thereafter. " What sadist came up with the "sports" included in the game?The emphasis on the genetic component of human language is often misunderstood to mean that languages are inherited within the brain.My best wishes for Caleb. Obsessed with design?" and accusing him of "wiggling around" hisorder.How we treat them after that is when we engineer them.

END

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