DON'T FALL FOR THIS SCHEME. IF IT SMELLS LIKE A SPOOF, LOOKS LIKE A SPOOF - IT'S A SPOOF

For those of you who do not know what an email "SPOOF" is, I will attempt to explain it to you in a language even I can understand. Usually when you receive email it's from the person or company who sent it to you.

However it's very easy to change that so when you get an email from a bank, online retailer, etc. it may not come from them. It's so easy that anyone can spoof an email, and usually the email is infected [ed. - keep this in mind as we're facing the "Crypto Locker" infection as I type].

If you are suspicious of an email and aren't sure if it's safe to open or not what can you do? One way is to look at the email header which has information you never see. For example, when I came home after work I checked my email and one message caught my attention immediately

Anytime you see a request for a password reset, the hairs on the back of your neck should start to rise. In the message was a brief "We've been hacked and you have to reset your password" sentence along with a link you can click on to take you directly to their website. Before you jump to attention and race to your computer, please read on.

HIGHLIGHT THE SUSPICIOUS EMAIL

RIGHT-CLICK ON THE MESSAGE AND A BOX WILL POP UP WITH OPTIONS

CLICK ON Message Options...

THE MESSAGE OPTIONS BOX APPEARS

I'VE SHORTED THE BOX BECAUSE YOU'LL BE INTERESTED ONLY IN THIS PART

As you see, my red arrow is pointing to something; does anything seem strange to you? Yes, you got it correct, it's the return path. If I get an email from Dropbox why does the return path show: <rehabilitated97@momix.org> ?? 

Because it's a spoofed email. It could contain hidden Malware within the message content, or an attachment, or a link to an evil site. My best advice is to slow down when opening email and take an extra second or two before opening it. I'm posting this on two of my Blogs because I believe they deserve your attention -

'Nuff Said,
Brian