DETROIT – The Better Business Bureau is sounding the alarm on harmful malware in scam emails that could pose a threat to Gmail users.
According to the BBB, emails that at first glance seem to be authentic and masked as a message from Google, may be a scam containing malware that can hunt through computer files looking for personal and banking information. This type of malware leads to the possibility of identity theft.
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The email appears to be a message about your Google or Gmail account informing you that "you have exceeded your email limit quota" or that "you have a deferred email."
In both messages, the text is hyperlinked, implying that you should click for more information.
Clicking on the link will download malware to your computer. The scam emails look real with details like Google's address in the footer. One version has a link to "unsubscribe" and "change my notification settings" links which also may contain malware.
How to spot a scam email:
1. Check out the "From" field: Scammers have the ability to mask email addresses, making the message appear to come from a legitimate source. But they don't always use it. In this scam, the "Google" emails aren't actually from a @google.com address.
2. Watch for typos, strange phrasing and bad grammar. Scammers can easily copy a brand's logo and email format, but awkward wording and poor grammar are typically a giveaway that the message is a scam. In the example above, the phrases "limit quota" and "deferred email" are a sign that something's not right.
3. Hover over URLs to reveal their true destination. Typically, the hyperlinked text will say one thing, but the link will point somewhere else. Scammers either set up fake websites or hack into third-party sites and use them to host malware.
4. Watch for look-alike URLs. Be wary of sites that have the brand name as a subdomain of another URL (i.e. brandname.scamwebsite.com) or part of a longer URL (i.e. companynamecustomersupport.com).