Google says that spam and scam emails are increasing during the holiday season, and that it’s using AI to help weed out these threats from your inbox. While the company says that “Gmail has a very high rate of success” in protecting you from these types of emails, it still shared some tips to help you deal with the few scam emails that make it through its defenses.
Google’s Tips to Stay Safe and Secure During the Holiday Period
Google says that these four golden rules will help you and your loved ones avoid getting scammed—during the holiday season or otherwise. So, if you see a suspect email in your inbox, you should do the following.
Slow It Down
Most scams want you to act immediately and not tell anyone about it. There’s always this threat that if you don’t do what it wants you to right now, you’ll suffer a massive loss. Be aware of terms like “urgent, immediate, deactivate, unauthorized, etc.” Google says that you should always take the time to ask questions and think it through. If you’re unsure, you could also ask someone you trust for advice on what to do about the email message.
Spot Check
Another thing you can do protect yourself is to check the details of the email. Does the sender have a legitimate email address? Is there something off about the layout of the message? Does the entire email even make sense? You can always research the message on the internet (or even ask AI tools for help).
Stop! Don’t Send
One of the signs of a scam is when the message asks for immediate payment. Google says, “No reputable person or agency will ever demand payment or your personal information on the spot.” This is true whether you’re talking to Amazon or to the IRS, as there’s a process for everything. So, if the email is asking you to pay or send information RIGHT NOW, then it’s most likely a scam.
Report It
If you see something suspicious in your inbox, you should report it to Gmail as a spam by clicking on the Report spam button near the top of the email. This will ensure that Google’s filters will learn about it and send other messages like it directly to your spam inbox. But aside from that, it will also help prevent others from getting victimized by a similar scam email.
These are some of the things that you should do to help protect yourself from scams in your inbox. But if you want to protect yourself while you’re browsing the rest of the internet, check out these holiday cyberattacks you should watch out for today. You should also be careful of these fake CAPTCHA pages that are designed to compromise your computer.
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