Daily, more than 100 billion emails are sent; the challenge is knowing the legit and fraudulent ones. Over the years, scammers have used emails to defraud many people. Distinguishing between authentic and scam emails is not very easy, but it is doable. Learning how to distinguish both will help you avoid being a victim of scammers. Read and learn how to check if an email is legit.
Five ways to know if an email is legit or not
A lot of people have fallen victim to email scams. Many people have lost life savings to email scams. Below are five ways to identify a legitimate email.
Check the email address domain
The best way to spot a fake email is to check the hosted email address domain. Interestingly, many scammers use domains that look like popular sites to make you think the email is legit. The idea of using similar domains to send emails is to fool you into believing it’s from the right source.
Check the sender’s display name
Carefully look at the sender’s name and check if it’s from someone whose name does not match the sender’s name field. If the name doesn’t match, then it’s a red flag. This is the most obvious red flag of a fake email. Don’t respond or interact with such email addresses.
Look out for mistakes
Identifying a fake email address is easier if you are a meticulous reader. Most of the time, scammers make many grammar mistakes and incorrect spellings. Check for emails that have poor sentence construction or poor grammar. A scammer or a bot most likely sends such emails.
Check the links attached to the email
Some emails contain links and attachments, so checking for the first three tips before you click on them is proper. Furthermore, you need to hover over the links and attachments. Check for anything usual. Don’t click on the link from your email. It’s best to copy it and paste it into your browser. This strategy will help you avoid downloading malicious software or viruses.
Verify the sender’s information
If you are not sure of the sender’s identity, you can run through their name or address on Google. You can use an email checker like Zerobounce free verifier to determine if the email is from a legitimate source. Furthermore, if you don’t find any details about the sender in your search, then it’s most likely fake.
Conclusion
Email scams are the most used by fraudsters. This is because many don’t try to verify the source of the email before proceeding to read it or respond. Clicking the link or attachment of a fake email will cause a lot of damage to your data. Finally, use an email verifier to determine whether the email is legit. There are several free email checkers you can use. Nevertheless, the paid version of an email checker is better. The paid version of an email checker is not as expensive when you use a coupon.
