Website Scam Emails Are Increasing – Here’s What To Look Out For

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?

1. Check The Sender’s Email Address Carefully

One of the most common tactics is using email addresses that look almost correct at a quick glance.

Examples may include:

• extra letters or numbers
• Gmail addresses pretending to represent businesses
• slight spelling changes
• domains designed to look similar to legitimate companies

Always check the full sender address, not just the display name.

2. Be Wary Of Unexpected Requests

Scam emails often try to create panic, urgency or curiosity to encourage quick action.

Common examples include:

• “Your account has been compromised”
• “Your payment has failed”
• “Your website has security issues”
• “Your parcel could not be delivered”
• “Your invoice is overdue”
• “Unusual login detected”
• “Your subscription is expiring”

If something feels unexpected or out of character, it’s worth pausing before clicking anything.

3. Don’t Be Pressured Into Acting Quickly

Many scam emails rely on urgency to stop people thinking things through properly.

Be cautious of emails asking you to:

• urgently send passwords
• transfer money
• click unfamiliar links
• open attachments
• share sensitive information
• make immediate payments

Legitimate businesses should never pressure you into sharing sensitive information without proper verification.

4. Hover Over Links Before Clicking

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:

• the text may say one thing
• but the actual link points somewhere completely different

If you’re unsure, visit the company website directly rather than clicking the email link.

5. Be Careful With Attachments in scam emails

Unexpected attachments can sometimes contain:

• malware
• fake login pages
• harmful files
• viruses

Be especially cautious of:

• ZIP files
• unusual invoices
• password-protected attachments
• unexpected Word or Excel documents

If in doubt, verify the email with the sender through another method before opening anything.

6. Public Information Doesn’t Mean You’ve Been Hacked

One thing worth understanding is that visible business information online is often used by scammers.

Things such as:

• business websites
• visible contact forms
• publicly displayed email addresses
• social media profiles
• LinkedIn accounts
• Google Business Profiles

can all be scraped automatically and used for spam or impersonation attempts.

This does not automatically mean your accounts or systems have been compromised.

7. Consider Using General Contact Email Addresses

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:

• info@
• hello@
• support@

rather than individual named addresses.

This can sometimes make scam attempts easier to spot and reduce the exposure of personal inboxes.

8. How To Report Suspicious Emails

If you receive a suspicious email:

1. Do not click suspicious links
2. Do not send passwords or sensitive information
3. Mark the email as spam or phishing within your email platform
4. Delete the message once reported

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.