This subject is never fun, but at the end there’s a cute cat gif waiting for you…

How to spot scams:

Email scams are based on the hopes that you believe their message is real and click on whatever link they provide.

This was sent to me yesterday asking me to verify my PayPal account.  See the link in the middle?  It would probably send me to a dead URL page while simultaneously installing malware on my computer.

But it looks sort of official doesn’t it?  Even the sender looks legit:

However….if I click on the PayPal name this appears:

What do you see?  @post.com?   Wouldn’t a message from the official company be PayPal.com?

A simple Google search of “PayPal post.com” immediately gives me info on a scam using that address.

So bottom line: Never Click A Link In An Email Until You’re Sure Who Sent It.

Another trick spammers use is hacking into email accounts (like Yahoo) and sending out spam email in your name.

So another tip: check your sent mail frequently.  Because spammers will send out hundreds of messages to your contacts pretending to be you asking them to click on a link.

If that happens, change your password immediately.  As well as any other passwords that are similar.  Because hackers can also read your email and thus know where you bank, shop, etc.  And if you use the same- or similar- passwords they can access those as well.

Sorry to bum you out.  But as promised: