Attention: Phishing e-mails - How to recognize dangerous scammer e-mails

Attention: Phishing e-mails - How to recognize dangerous scammer e-mails

How to recognize dangerous emails

Many Internet users have already fallen victim to a so-called phishing e-mail, whereby some fake e-mails are easier to recognize than others. The aim of the e-mails is always to obtain valuable data from the recipient. For example, credit card data, access data for online banking, but also passwords for other accounts such as Amazon, PayPal, Ebay, etc. The fraudsters then use the personal access data to clear out entire accounts or order expensive goods to false addresses. Currently, more and more fraudulent e-mails are landing in the inboxes of thousands of people. We show you how to recognize dangerous virtual mail.

Phishing e-mails often look deceptively real. Company logos of well-known corporations, online stores, banks and credit institutions can be seen, even the E-mail sender appears serious at first glance and contains the name of the company. Nevertheless, there are seven striking features that can be used to quickly identify phishing e-mails as such:

Errors in grammar and spelling

Phishing e-mails are often written in faulty German. This ranges from small comma errors to completely incomprehensible texts. Foreign scammers do not go to great lengths to translate their texts, but work with simple online translators. Missing umlauts or Cyrillic characters are further indications of a fake e-mail.

Emails in foreign languages

Phishing emails written in another national language are easy to spot. Your bank would never think of sending you an urgent email in French.

No salutation is used

If you receive a suspicious email and the salutation does not include your personal name, it is very often a fake email. "Dear Customer" or "Dear User" are very impersonal and show that the sender does not know you at all. Conversely, your name can also be in a phishing e-mail! Despite your name, an e-mail is not always trustworthy.

Urgent need for action is urged

In typical phishing e-mails, the victims are asked to act within a short period of time. For example, to log in under a certain link within three hours.

This request is usually also associated with a consequence for not complying with it - for example, the blocking of the bank account, credit card, customer account, etc.

Do not click on the given link under any circumstances, because at this point a virus/Trojan may have already nested on your computer, which can intercept your data even after you delete the mail, or you will be redirected to a dubious page where you are supposed to enter your personal data.

Enter personal data

If a page asks you to log in with a PIN or TAN, it is a phishing e-mail. Reputable senders would never ask you to do this, as such entries are only made on encrypted websites. No one but you should know your passwords and TAN numbers.

Request to open an attachment

A popular scam used by online fraudsters is to send a supposed invoice or reminder in an email attachment. As soon as you click on the attachment, a file is opened, but it installs a virus/Trojan on your computer unnoticed. Even complete remote control and real-time monitoring of your PC is then possible. An easy game for scammers.

Never open attachments from unknown senders!

You do not have an account with the provider

This time it's easy for you, because if you are not a customer of the supposed sender of the e-mail, you can send it straight to the trash. The problem: Nowadays, most people have an Amazon, Ebay or PayPal account. That's why the scammers always use stores or banks that are used by many people around the world.

Check the email header

Some phishing emails are very well made. The sender's email address looks trustworthy, the link in the text too, and the German is flawless. Nevertheless, the email does not have to be genuine. The sender of an email can also be fake.

If you want to know exactly where an alleged phishing e-mail comes from, take a look at the mail header. This contains the IP address of the sender. Only this is forgery-proof and provides information about the actual sender.

If not already available, an up-to-date antivirus program and a optimal password protection strongly recommended for your sensitive data!

If you are not sure whether your e-mail is genuine, you may always contact our Contact support. We will be happy to help you.