Email Spoofing: Identify and Delete

Email spoofing is a malicious activity in which an email has the appearance of coming from a particular site, usually a well known, trusted site, when actually it originates from somewhere else. What's more, it is less than friendly. This spoof is an attempt to deceive the recipient, to trick them into giving up sensitive information such as credit card numbers, bank account numbers and passwords. Sometimes it is targeted at businesses in an attempt to dupe them into releasing a statement that could be damaging to the company or an individual.

There are four tests that you can run against a suspicious email. If the email fails even one of the tests, then chances are very likely that it is a spoof. So when you get an email that claims to be from your bank, credit card company, PayPal or some other trusted company, think twice, especially if it is asking you for personal information. Then, run these four tests and know for sure.

Test 1 The "Who is it to?" Test Take a look at the email. Does it address you by your name or is it more generic? A spoofed email will address you as "Dear Bank Customer" or "Dear Valued Customer" or some similar sentiment. A legitimate establishment like eBay, PayPal or your bank will address you by name. Now, as email spoofers are becoming more advanced, some have managed to get the name of their intended victims and insert them in the greeting, making them appear more legitimate. Don't buy into it just because it has your name, though, run the other three tests first.

Test 2 The "Where does the link lead?" Test A typical spoof email will include a handy dandy link for you to visit in order to verify the information it requests. This quick test will usually blast them right out of the water. Position your cursor under the suspect link and look at the window in the lower left portion of your browser. The actual like will appear in that area and you can see just where it leads.

A spoof link will look something like this: http://spoofer.net./.sh/.a/PayPal

A real PayPal link looks like this: https://www.paypal.com/us/

Not really the same, is it? However, you still have two more tests to run, don't stop now.

Test 3 The "Would the Real Sender Please Stand Up?" Test This can be a little confusing if you are not accustomed to dealing with HTML or code. But it is really pretty simple and it important if you don't want to be spoofed. When you receive a suspect email, pull full headers on it. You will have to look up the directions for your particular email program, but it is usually pretty simple. Look through the code and find a section that says "Received From." That is where the email address will be for who sent the email. If it says anything other than the site it is supposed to be from, it is a fake. Ditto if there is nothing in that line.

Test 4 The "Is this Email Really from You?" Test If all else fails and you are still left wondering, pick up the phone and call the company or send them a message. Do not use the link in the email to get to the site, it may misdirect you or it may contain a virus - neither of these outcomes is very pleasant. Just contact them directly and confirm whether they sent the email or not.

It is important to be aware and wary of email spoofing. Run the tests and don't take chances. It is better to take a little extra time to confirm and be sure than to experience the havoc that can result from a spoof. It just isn't worth it.