Take a good look at this image of an e-mail I received recently. See anything wrong with it?
If you picked it as a scam, give yourself a pat on the back.
In essence this scam e-mail isn’t much different from many others that you’re likely to encounter on an almost daily basis. What makes this example particularly dangerous is the quality of the presentation. It really looks the part. But how do you tell the difference between legitimate and scam?
If you look at the HTML code behind that e-mail, you would discover that even the links (Contact Us, Terms of Use, etc.) are legitimate, and that they really do lead to the relevant pages on the Microsoft website.
[In Microsoft Outlook, to view the HTML code behind an e-mail, right-click somewhere in the body of the message and select "View Source" from the pop-up menu.]
Nevertheless, it is a blatant scam which is intended to do you harm.
The giveaway is the attachment.
Neither Microsoft nor any responsible publisher or vendor will ever attach an executable file to an e-mail. NEVER! Anyone who does so is a danger to your safety and deserves to receive a scathing response in reply.
Notice in the image above that my e-mail client Microsoft Outlook “blocked access” to the attached file so that I couldn’t click on it even if I was foolhardy enough to do so. If your e-mail client doesn’t react in the same way to dangerous executable attachments, you are at risk.
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