Spam can be dangerous
We normally associate spam with annoying messages. It is usually intrusive, continuous advertising that floods the inbox. In most cases it is basically this. But they can also use the junk mail to steal passwords or sneak some type of malware and therefore should be identified.
They invite you to click
The first sign that something fishy is going on is when they use a bait to get you to click on a link. For example for log in on some platform, download or install something from a web page. This already tells us that they are not only looking for us to open that email, but also something else through a link.
It is common for many computer attacks to arrive through this type of tactic. They send a spam email where they use some bait so that we end up clicking where we shouldn’t. This causes us to mistakenly download a file that is actually malware.
play with time
You also have to be alert if that email uses urgency and time. For example, they usually indicate that our account has been attacked and that we need to log in quickly to demonstrate that we are the legitimate user and not an outsider. That will make the victim quickly do what the email says.
What’s up with this? The margin of time to be able to think and realize that it really is a scam will decrease. An unsuspecting person can get scared and click where he shouldn’t, exposing all data and passwords without realizing it.
Contains attachments
Of course, we must also be suspicious when we see what it contains attached files. This is common when they try to sneak in some kind of malware. They usually send a text document, PDF, image… In all these cases they could hide a virus, Trojan or any other security threat.
When we open that file, it can execute the malicious payload and infect the system. Even sometimes it is not necessary for us to install anything, but simply open it. Security and privacy would be compromised.
They ask you to answer
Hackers’ strategy may be to obtain personal data. For this they need to know if an email is really used by a natural person and exists. They could also try get some data, like phone number, address or anything. For this they are going to prepare some strategy and basically it consists of responding to that email.
Therefore, to avoid this problem you should never reply to a Spam email. It doesn’t matter if you’re just going to respond with something without giving details, because that alone could start sending you a lot more spam to your address.
use personal data
Yet another sign that it may be malicious is when you use personal information yours. Perhaps a cybercriminal collected certain information, such as your name or where you live, and in this way he prepares a more personalized email, to have a greater probability of success and that you end up clicking where you should not.
Whenever you see a spam email with certain personal data, avoid interacting with it and don’t download anything. It is very likely that the intentions are bad and they want to steal your password or other personal information.
In short, with these tips you will be able to identify when a Spam email can become dangerous, beyond an annoyance. You can always follow some recommendations to avoid Spam and thus reduce the number of emails of this type as much as possible.
