Be on the lookout for any Auto Warranty emails. In most cases these are Phishing scams. I recently received this one in my inbox (below) and I immediately knew it was a scam because of senders email address. The senders email was from an AOL account and not from the actual company (Direct Auto Warranty) in this case. This is usually the first thing I check and most of the time you will know right away from the senders email address if it’s a scam or not.
The senders email: briancortneruk[@]aol.com
Actual Email
If you come across and email like the one shown above you should ignore it and mark it as spam. You can also report scams by submitting a Consumer Complaint to the FTC at http://www.ftc.gov/faq/consumer-protection/submit-consumer-complaint-ftc
There are a few things to check to validate whether an offer from an email is legitimate or not.
- Check the sender address, it should come from a legitimate brand name
- Check spelling and grammar. Many cyber crooks probably missed the 3rd grade
- If you never signed up or ask to be contacted than mark it as spam
Phishing scams are engineered to steal your personal identifiable information to be used unlawfully without your knowledge or consent.
Be extra cautious as we approach the holiday season as this is the most popular time of year for for online crimes!
