If you run a business, there’s a good chance you’ve received at least one suspicious email recently.
Unfortunately, scam and phishing emails are becoming increasingly common and, in many cases, increasingly convincing.
Modern scam emails are no longer full of obvious spelling mistakes or strange formatting. Many are designed to look professional and may even reference real businesses, websites, suppliers or services you already use.
Scammers are becoming far more sophisticated in how they use publicly available information to build trust and create urgency.
So, what should you look out for?
One of the most common tactics is using email addresses that look almost correct at a quick glance.
Examples may include:
Always check the full sender address, not just the display name.
Scam emails often try to create panic, urgency or curiosity to encourage quick action.
Common examples include:
If something feels unexpected or out of character, it’s worth pausing before clicking anything.
Many scam emails rely on urgency to stop people thinking things through properly.
Be cautious of emails asking you to:
Legitimate businesses should never pressure you into sharing sensitive information without proper verification.
Before clicking a button or link in an email, hover over it and check where it actually goes.
Scam emails often disguise links so they appear legitimate at first glance.
For example:
If you’re unsure, visit the company website directly rather than clicking the email link.
Unexpected attachments can sometimes contain:
Be especially cautious of:
If in doubt, verify the email with the sender through another method before opening anything.
One thing worth understanding is that visible business information online is often used by scammers.
Things such as:
can all be scraped automatically and used for spam or impersonation attempts.
This does not automatically mean your accounts or systems have been compromised.
Visible contact information is still an important trust signal for genuine customers and is a completely normal part of doing business online.
However, one sensible precaution can be to use more general public-facing addresses such as:
rather than individual named addresses.
This can sometimes make scam attempts easier to spot and reduce the exposure of personal inboxes.
If you receive a suspicious email:
You can also report phishing emails directly to:
report@phishing.gov.uk
You can find more details here:
https://www.gov.uk/report-suspicious-emails-websites-phishing
If you believe you may already have clicked a suspicious link or shared login details, change your passwords immediately and contact your website or IT provider for further advice.
Unfortunately, scam and phishing emails are now a very common part of running a business online.
The good news is that most scams rely on panic, urgency and familiarity rather than sophisticated hacking.
Taking a few moments to properly check an email before responding can often prevent a much bigger issue later on.
And if something doesn’t feel quite right, trust your instincts and verify it properly before taking action.
And don’t forget, you can always reach out to us via support@eighty3.co.uk if you need any help or even a second opinion.
