Phishing emails can be annoying and do present a greater threat than spam due their malicious or fraudulent intent. They can be more difficult to manage and they can be sent by real people trying to obtain personal, bank account or other information for fraudulent gain.
Real Estate agents are now at the top of the hit list with this increasing threat because they advertise properties online. There is now an alarming increase of phishing emails presenting themselves as genuine property buyers, domain registration renewals or banking or account scams. Most agents have enough street smarts to pick up on scams fairly quickly but they can waste time and do still pose a threat.
Here are a few tips to better manage this increasing threat:
Mail Washer Download a free trial version of a program called Mail Washer. This is a great program because for one it saves you time by automatically flagging known spam from its international database and secondly it also gives you the opportunity to decide on the legitimacy of each email before you download it to your mail program. You can easily (select Friend List) if the email is legitimate for next time. Mail Washer also has an automatic bounce feature that will send back the red flagged emails to the sender which in turn leads them to believe your email address doesn’t exist. You can easily download a free trial of Mail Washer here
Email Forms I still see many real estate agents websites using their email address. Don’t use your email address on your website; replace it with a more secure email form. This can reduce the amount of unwanted emails, especially spam. Scam emails can also be reduced and it stops them from inserting malicious or fraudulent live links on the email. Be aware though that some scammers will still fill in the form in some cases. When using an email form, make certain not to reply to the sender unless you are absolutely certain it is legitimate as once you have replied they will have your email address and along with it, the greater opportunity to contact you or, attach links in their reply.
Never Follow Links If you want to access an internet account website, use a bookmarked link or type the address in yourself: NEVER follow a link in an email.
Harmful Websites Beware of free websites and downloads. They may install harmful programs without you knowing about it.
Fake Websites Check the website address carefully. Scammers often set up fake websites with very similar addresses, especially for bank scams.
Personal Information It’s a given now days never enter your personal, credit card or online account information on a website that you are not certain is genuine.
Payment Details via Email Never send your personal, credit card or online account details through an email.
Auto Complete Software Do not use software on your computer that auto-completes online forms. This can give internet scammers easy access to your personal and credit card details.
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