Finding out about a scam online can be very complicated, they become more and more perfectionists, but with a few tricks it is easier to protect yourself from phishing emails like this that reach us.
Fake emails on behalf of large companies and institutions such as the Ministry of Labor or Amazon are the order of the day. Hackers are increasingly careful to deceive their victims, but users can also educate our eyes to detect the signals that alert us to the deception.
This week, one of our colleagues at Computer Hoy received a fake email masquerading as the Amazon brand. It’s been a very common scam for months that has popped up on other websites such as Maldito Bulo where they report scams, but that hasn’t stopped it from continuing to be used to deceive users.
We will analyze these little details who helped us detect that it was a phishing email so that if you receive it in the future, you will know how to analyze it and protect yourself from this type of campaign. The mail is well designed, but it is not without flaws that betray them.
If we read carefully, we see that the e-mail contains spelling errors and use incorrect expressions or mix languages. For example, the first letter of “dear” is lowercase, whereas it must be uppercase. It also says “in Spain” and “your participation will be 100% rewarded”, instead of “in Spain” or “rewarded”. This might seem like very silly details, we all make a mistake every now and then, but it should make us hesitate and check mail more carefully.
Other useful details are usually subject or e-mail address from which the email is sent to us. In this case, the subject says “application accepted: May 23, 2021” (no more typos) and the address is “@ axocoffeehouse.com” which is obviously not from Amazon. Emails from this company always belong to an address ending in “@ amazon.es”, this domain assures us that the email is legitimate.
The same goes for email links. We should not choose them because they can download malware to the computer or lead us to a bogus page where, as in this case, they ask us to fill out a form with our data. As Amazon customers, the company already has our data, so it is strange that they are asking for it. By placing the mouse over the button or link, we can see the url which they intend to take us to the bottom of the window and thus verify that it is a fake website without the Amazon domain or the corresponding https security.
These types of offers are also suspicious in which Amazon or any other company gives us such an expensive product as the Samsung Galaxy S21 in return for a simple investigation and by mail. It is important to be wary of any offers or prices that reach us in the mail, as this is a technique widely used by cybercriminals to get our attention.
Can you tell a fake email from a real one? We explain the main signs to avoid being scammed online via email.
Remember to double check the messages before clicking on a link or downloading anything. Being informed of these techniques and new campaigns circulating on the net allows us to exercise our mind and detect these frauds more quickly. For it, It is advisable to consult the networks or search the Internet for these offers to see if other users have already reported this practice and can give us tips on how to avoid falling into the trap.
If you get one or think you’ve been scammed online (it can happen to anyone), contact the Internet Security Office (OSI) at National Institute of Cybersecurity (INCIBE).
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