Spams, shams and scams! We all get them in our inboxes.
However, many of our customers have reported receiving spam emails that are more devious than the average email fraud attempts, and we feel everyone should be aware of these emails, and how to recognise them before it's too late.
At DotGo, we feel it is our duty to alert our customers, and indeed anyone who reads our blog, of the current Scam email trends and how to spot and avoid being caught out.
Before reading an email, it is always prudent to check the email address of the sender, if it is from an official address, and if it matches the content of the email itself. We continually monitor email traffic, and block suspicious addresses.
Image Copyright Phishing Scam
One more serious email looks like this, claiming to be a legal notice informing you that you have copyrighted material on your website.
Hello, Your website or a website that your company hosts is infringing on a copyright protected images owned by our company (mailchimp Inc.). Check out this official document with the URLs to our images you utilized at www.dustycorners.co.uk and our earlier publications to find the evidence of our copyrights. Download it now and check this out for yourself: (link to Google APIs store, which downloads harmful programs). I believe that you willfully infringed our rights under 17 USC Sec. 101 et seq. and could be liable for statutory damage of up to $130,000 as set-forth in Sec. 504(c)(2) of the Digital millennium copyright act (DMCA) therein. This message is official notification. I demand the elimination of the infringing materials mentioned above. Please be aware as a company, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act requires you to remove and/or deactivate access to the copyrighted materials upon receipt of this particular letter. In case you do not stop the utilization of the above mentioned copyrighted materials a legal action can be started against you. I have a strong belief that utilization of the copyrighted materials described above as allegedly violating is not permitted by the legal copyright proprietor, its agent, as well as legislation. I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information in this notification is accurate and hereby affirm that I am permitted to act on behalf of the proprietor of an exclusive and legal right that is allegedly infringed. Very truly yours, Bryan Malith Legal Officer mailchimp, Inc. mailchimp.com 06/15/2022
However, the link within the email, instead of leading to the relevant images that it says you have copied, links to a Trojan virus download page, which can be absolutely fatal for your computer or phone. While image copyright claims should be taken seriously and investigated, never click a link directly from an unsolicited source. If in doubt, you can check where a link is going by hovering over it with your mouse cursor first, and if the link is anything with complex jumble of letters and numbers, it is likely to be something not worth clicking on.
Your mailbox is almost full!
This is a sneaky email, pretending to be from your email server. It will say that your email inbox is either full or almost full, and provide a link to increase your email capacity or grant you access to your unread emails.
Attention:
Your email quota has reached 98% and will soon exceed its limit. Follow the URL below to upgrade your quota to 25GB for free to avoid loss of email data. [Link]
You are using the old and outdated version of the dotgo.uk mailbox. 6 new voice messages are waiting in the new mailbox. Kindly use the button below to request and migrate the newest version of the webmail (version 2.4.2022) and retrieve received voice messages (6). [link]
Needless to say, these links will lead to a download for malware or viruses, and if your inbox is nearly full, you can delete the oldest emails manually, without needing a link or extension.
‘Sextortion' Blackmail
Many people may have received emails claiming to have hacked into the user's computer and recorded them viewing adult material. These sinister emails will then threaten to distribute these recordings to friends and family, if they aren't sent a certain amount in Bitcoins. They will often claim to know passwords (leaked passwords can often be purchased in the black market in bulk), and that they are watching your every move via your webcam or keyboard tracker.
Thankfully they will have no such recording, and all you have to do is move the email to the junk folder. If they mention a password that you still use, change every place where that password exists as quickly as possible. Unfortunately these scams surged during the pandemic, but thankfully, other than a password and an email address, usually whoever sent the email has no other information, and they can be ignored safely.
We've spotted an error in your website!
Every website owner receives spam emails from time to time from website building companies or agencies, claiming they can help you get to number 1 on Google with a simple trick or a few error corrections.
Hello, How are you? Hope you are fine. I have been checking your website quite often. It has seen that the main keywords are still not in the top 10 positions in Google Search. You know things about working; I mean the procedure of working has changed a lot. So I would like to have opportunity to work for you and this time we will bring the keywords to the top 10 spots with guaranteed period. There is no wonder that it is possible now cause, I have found out that there are few things that need to be done for better performances (Some of them we will discuss in this email). Let me tell you some of them - 1. Title Tag Optimization 2. Meta Tag Optimization (Description, keyword and etc) 3. Heading Tags Optimization 4. Targeted keywords are not placed into tags 5. Alt / Image tags Optimization 6. Google Structured Data is missing 7. Custom 404 Page is missing 8. The Products are not following Structured markup data 9. Website Loading Speed Development (Both Mobile and Desktop ) 10.Off –Page SEO work Lots are pending…………….. You can see these are the things that need to be done properly to make the keywords others to get into the top 10 spots in Google Search & your sales Increase. Sir/ Madam, please give us a chance to fix these errors and we will give you rank on these keywords. Please let me know if you encounter any problems or if there is anything you need. If this email has reached you by mistake or if you do not wish to take advantage of this advertising opportunity, please accept my apology for any inconvenience caused and rest assured that you will not be contacted again. Many thanks for your time and consideration, Looking forward Regards Harry Gardner If you do not wish to receive this again, please reply with "unsubscribe" in the subject line.
At DotGo, we are often questioned by our customers about strange emails they may receive. While our spam filters are cutting edge, some emails are well-written enough to slip through the net. We are always on the lookout for the next trend in spam emails, so we can counter them as quickly as possible.
How to email the right way
The worst aspect about all these emails is that it discredits emails you yourself may wish to send to your customers. How can you market your products or business without being accused of sending spam?
Never send mass mails if possible, as this can result in your email account being blacklisted. If you invest in a mailing system like Mailchimp or a CRM system, you can send emails more efficiently. Always keep your email passwords secure, so that you can avoid it being hijacked and used for spam by a third party, which would be a disaster for any small business.
The best approach is to make each email unique, informative, and meaningful, so your customers are rewarded for reading your emails. We have composed a blog article on How to Write the Perfect Email here.
