Watch Out for Email Scams

BY WILLIAM THOMPSON NJ REALTORS ® DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY

“Welcome… You’ve got mail.” Do you remember the rush you would get when you dialed into your AOL service to catch up on the latest news? It was a simpler time, when email was sent between people you knew or company newsletters you could remember signing up for, and most importantly, you likely read every email that entered your inbox. The invention of email came about in the early 1970s as part of ARPANET, the precursor to the Internet we know today, and was used just as we use email today—to message a user who could log in on their own time to read and reply. In just a few years, before the Internet was even publicly available, what is considered the first spam message was sent, an unsolicited email to hundreds of users informing them of a product launch. Since then, spam messages have evolved to be much more malicious and with email being such an integral part of our day-to-day businesses, do you know the signs to keep yourself safe?

I hope this warning is unnecessary, but just in case, I need you to know that the Nigerian Prince does not actually need your help and you’re not a beneficiary of a recently passed celebrity’s estate (R.I.P. Betty White). While widely considered a joke, sophisticated and even targeted versions of the scheme, known as a 419 scam, can be convincing as they can use your personal life events to build trust and a relationship with you. 419 scams, named for the Nigerian criminal code the scheme violates, request that victims pay an “advance fee” so they may receive a larger payout, which will never come.

A variation of a 419 scam is known as whaling or CEO fraud. In this scheme, you’ll receive an email from, what looks to be, a member of your brokerage’s, franchise’s, or even association’s, leadership asking you to either perform a task, such as buy gift cards and mail them, or provide information (i.e. someone asking for your social security number to process a check.) This type of scheme is especially successful because the scammer is using clout and influence to catch you off guard in the hopes that you’ll comply first and ask questions later.

A very common and ever evolving type of scam is a phishing scam. Scammers will send a message, claiming to be from a company, one they know or are hoping you do business with, asking you to update your information. Information imposters are attempting to gather include: your sign-on credentials, which can be used to access your account and take control, your personal details such as name and address, so they have the necessary information to verify your identity when they contact a company claiming to be you, or it may be your credit card details, so they can rack up charges before you even click ‘save’. Phishing scams have become more sophisticated than ever where the fraudulent website can sometimes be indistinguishable from the legitimate one.

Here are some best practices to keep yourself safe while sifting through your inbox:

Verify the Sender

Look at the email address the message is coming from and verify it’s from a known email, be sure to check for misspellings and that the domain (e.g. @company.com) is correct.

Verify the Content

Before you reply, ask yourself a couple of questions: Were you expecting this request? Would it make sense for the sender to make this type of request? Does the language and tone used match how the sender usually writes?

Confirm Offline

If ever a request gives you pause, whether by phone, text message or email, listen to your gut! Contact the sender, by phone or preferably in-person, using information you know to be accurate. NEVER use the contact information in the message itself.

There is no fool-proof way to determine if an email is a scam or a request is illegitimate. The best you can do is stay vigilant and take a minute before you reply to question the intent. If you’re ever in doubt, reach out.