Identifying whether an email is safe to open involves looking for specific warning signs that suggest it might be a phishing attempt or malicious.
Key Indicators of a Potentially Unsafe Email
Based on common security advice, certain characteristics can indicate an email is not safe. Pay close attention to these details before interacting with the email content or clicking any links.
Here are specific signs to look for:
- The email is not from a company domain. Emails from legitimate companies usually come from their official domain name (e.g., @microsoft.com, @amazon.com). An email claiming to be from a company but using a generic email provider like @gmail.com, @outlook.com, or @yahoo.com is highly suspicious.
- You received a verification email for an application, account, email list, etc., that you didn't sign up for. If you receive an email asking you to verify an account or subscription that you did not initiate, it's likely a scam designed to trick you into clicking a malicious link or providing information.
- Spoofed or masked names and/or email addresses. Cybercriminals can make the sender name look legitimate (e.g., "Apple Support"), but the actual email address, revealed by hovering over the sender's name, might be completely unrelated or nonsensical. Always check the underlying email address.
- The domain is misspelled. Look closely at the sender's email domain. Scammers often use domain names that are close to the legitimate one but with subtle misspellings (e.g., @microsft.com instead of @microsoft.com). This is a common tactic to trick recipients.
- The entire textbox within the email is a hyperlink. In some phishing emails, the entire body of the email, or large portions of it, is formatted as a single hyperlink. This means clicking anywhere in that area will take you to a potentially dangerous website, even if the visible text suggests otherwise.
What to Do If You Suspect an Email is Unsafe
If an email exhibits one or more of these characteristics, it's best not to interact with it. Avoid clicking links, downloading attachments, or replying. Mark the email as spam or phishing within your email client to help filter similar emails in the future. If you need to verify a request from a company, navigate directly to their official website or app through your browser, rather than using links provided in the suspicious email.
