Scam, spam, or legitimate? Sounds like a cheesy TV game show or a Saturday Night Live skit, but it’s actually a game we have to play on near daily basis with our emails. I’ve been getting a lot of emails lately from clients and friends asking about emails that they’ve been receiving and wondering if they are a scam, spam, or legitimate. When it comes to figuring out if an email is scam, spam, or legitimate, Grandma’s teachings still hold true – if it sounds too good to be true, it’s a lie (or in this case scam or spam).
Obviously, if the Prince of Nigeria needs to hide a bunch of money, he’s not going to be asking you or me. There is no million dollar Russian lottery that you won, keep in mind they use rubles, no dollars. And you don’t have a rich great uncle that dies and needs you bank account to send your inheritance to. And yes, these are all emails that I’ve been asked about in recent months.
Another one I’ve seen recently was about wanting to buy a domain name. These can be tricky, because sometimes people will ant to buy a domain name from you. I have sold a domain name once when asked about it. A quick way to tell if these emails are scam, spam, or legitimate it to take a unique line of text in the email and Google it. If the first five listings say “it’s a scam!” then that email is junk.
If you do get an email about your domain name or any other emails and you can’t figure out if it’s a scam, spam, or legitimate, let me know and I’d be happy to help you figure it out.