I just received this email and noticed it’s a phishing email, so I thought I’d explain a few ways to easily check for scam emails.
This one says it’s from “Onedrive” and the subject line was “New File Received.”
First, check for misspellings, bad grammar, and bad punctuation.
- “Onedrive” should have been “OneDrive” – so that’s wrong
- I see a space before a colon – that’s a common way of using a colon in India.
- “It has been securely upload for your safety” – that’s bad English.
- The “Sign Here” button’s spacing looks off.
- “This document does not required to be downloaded” – more bad English.
Second, mouse over or click on who it’s from to reveal the real name:
OK, Mr. Prakash from India… I suspect you’re not Microsoft but a scammer.
Third, mouse over the link without clicking on it to see where it goes:
And sendgrid.net doesn’t match anything to do with Microsoft, I don’t think. Sure, some emails might have this not matching but in light of everything else going on with this email, I’m calling shenanigans on this. It’s a scam.
What if I Clicked on the Link?
Well, I did – but just to show you what happens.
Here’s how it looks in Firefox (still a great browser in my opinion):
And in Chrome (a little rougher on the eyes):
Crazy, Right?
I figured it out right away this time and my browser also caught it but to help make sure you don’t get fooled, you want as many safety checks in place as possible.
That’s why I wrote a book about a very easy way to get another layer of protection in place – for both phishing sites and for adult websites (to help make sure they don’t pop up).
