We’ve all gotten them – emails informing us that it is crucial that we immediately log in and change personal information including user names, passwords, Social Security numbers, and even bank account numbers. Most of us consider ourselves too savvy to be taken in by some of the more obvious scams, but as the public becomes more and more knowledgeable about fraudulent emails – sometimes known as “phishing” – the perpetrators of these scams are also kicking it up a notch in order to continue to trap the unsuspecting or newbie Internet user. Here are some tips to help you avoid being deceived by fraudulent emails.

Fraudulent Email – A Definition

Any email that is mass distributed and purports to be from someone other than the true originator is considered fraudulent or spam email. It doesn’t matter whether or not any attempt is made to extort information from the reader; if someone is pretending to be someone else, the email is fraudulent. Phishing takes this one step further, attempting to trick the recipient into providing personal information such as a Social Security number, bank account number, login name and password, or demographic information.

These emails may look surprisingly legitimate, and include the name of the alleged sender in the “From” field. Do not be fooled by this. It is very simple to put in a different sender name, and anyone can use any name that they want in this field.

Brief History

Fraudulent email has been around since the late 1990s, but really began to mushroom in 2002. In some ways, spam email mimics the kind of junk mail that has been clogging up our mailboxes for decades. The difference, however, is that because information is being conveyed electronically, the potential for harm is far greater. Additionally, spam and fraudulent emails can carry viruses that often are responsible for serious problems with one’s computer. At least junk snail mail never caused your hard drive to crash, annoying as it may be!