SPAM ALERT: KNOW WHEN NOT TO CLICK

We all live in a digital world whether you like it or not. (Unless you live in a jungle where there’s no signal or electricity.) Technology advancements are made to make our lives more comfortable. But there are those who use this to take advantage of the gullible. You’d be surprised with how many still fall for the “I have a business proposal for you” email and “Please send me load. I have an important message to tell you.” text messages. I even know some who fell for it! Crazy? Perhaps not at all.

I make it a habit to check my spam messages from time to time as some legit emails get stuck there for some reason. And one of the spam emails that caught my attention was Metrobank’s email saying I have a problem accessing my account.

When I opened the email, it asked me to click a link. When I placed my cursor over it, it was leading me to a trekking tour site. I’m 100% sure it won’t lead me to “unblock my account.

But the email address customer.care@metrobank.com.ph seems legit. Or maybe not.

I backtracked and searched for my previous emails with Metrobank and I found out that the right email address should be customercare@metrobank.com.ph! No period between customer and care.

These guys are getting smarter and smarter!

Here’s another example…

I got an email from Mystery Shoppers Inc. offering PHP10,000 weekly. Sure, it was tempting as I know how mystery shopping works. But it sounds sketchy.

Nonetheless, I checked the email. True enough, there’s a link. I am allergic to links so I made a bit of research first.

I checked the company name and the only one I saw was a Facebook page. Okaaaay, that makes it very credible. Not!

Since I couldn’t find much information about the “company” I decided to Google the only other information I have, the sender’s email address.

And my hunch is right! The email address is not connected in any way to mystery shopping. In fact, @uni-oldenburg is the email used by University of Oldenburg, Germany.  Goodbye PHP10,000 weekly.

These people have a lot more tricks under their sleeves. It is up to us to be smart enough not to fall for it.

Be extra careful!

P.S. Click the images for clearer view.