Phishing Email Examples: What to Look Out For

Evelyn Sanderson - July 25, 2024

Phishing emails are among the most diverse and dangerous types of scam emails to encounter, as these emails are designed to trick you into interacting with them, downloading files, or otherwise following links that target your personal information and data. It’s important to know what to look out for when it comes to phishing emails, as being familiar with the signs of a scam email will help you avoid accidentally interacting with a suspicious email.

Our article gives you an overview of phishing emails in addition to the most common phishing emails to keep an eye out for.

What Is a Phishing Email?

A phishing email is an email that is designed to look like it is from a trusted sender such as an insurance company, a retail company, or a bank. These emails will have very similar email addresses and sender names as a real, legitimate email from the company, and they will ask the receiver of the email to send back personal information such as bank account details, first and last names, contact information, and Social Security numbers.

Email receivers may also be asked to download files or follow links, which may be a way for scammers to download malicious software onto a person’s computer.

Phishing emails are prolific, and it is important to be aware that the sender of an email might not have good intentions, especially if you are receiving emails from senders that you do not recognize or have suspicious email addresses.

Will Phishing Emails Automatically Be Blocked?

Sometimes, phishing emails will automatically be blocked by your email service provider, but you cannot count on this. Only phishing emails that are obviously scams or spam may be caught by your email provider’s spam filters, which means it is important to check your emails thoroughly for signs of a phishing scam before interacting with the email.

Phishing Email Examples

Unfortunately, there are plenty of phishing email examples around today, and phishing scams have even extended to text messaging in recent years. Below, we detail some of the most common phishing emails received so you know what to look out for the next time you check your email.

Fake Invoices

Fake invoice phishing email scams are one of the most prevalent phishing emails received. In this phishing email, you will receive an invoice from a sender claiming to be from some kind of business such as Amazon, Best Buy, or another retail store. They will claim that your order has been processed and send you an invoice in an attached document. Alternatively, they will claim that they cannot process your order until you pay the invoice.

Once you click on the link or the document for the invoice, you will be asked to provide your personal and financial details, or the phishing email may lead you to malicious software and viruses that end up on your computer.

PayPal Scams

PayPal scams in phishing emails rely on the large user base of PayPal and the fear or urgency someone might experience knowing that their PayPal account might be compromised. These emails include realistic-looking email addresses that appear to be from PayPal, including logos, and they will typically indicate there is a problem with your account. You will be asked to click a link to update your information or secure your account, or the sender of the email might request that you reply to the email with your personal and financial information.

Google Docs Scams

Many people in the workplace and outside of the workplace use Google Docs, and these phishing emails often appear with the names of people you might be connected to online or offline. With a Google Docs phishing email, the sender will ask you to click a link to view a specific important document.

Once you click the link, you will be taken to a sign-in page that looks very similar to Google’s sign-in page, which asks you to input your details. If you submit your information, the scammer now has access to your Google account and any related information, such as saved passwords, bank details, and personal information.

Advance-Fee Scams

Advance-fee scams are becoming less common because of how well-known they are, but you may still encounter this type of scam in a phishing email. With an advance-fee scam, you will receive an email telling you that someone is going to give you a large amount of money or asking for a small amount of money in return for a huge amount of interest and payment returned to you. If you give the sender money, they are likely to keep asking, steal your bank account information, or attempt to gain more of your personal information.

Some advance-fee scams can occur in phishing emails where the sender is asking for you to send them money in exchange for equipment, such as work-for-home equipment, to be sent to you. If you give the money, they will steal it and your information without sending anything.

Unusual Activity Account Scams

Unusual activity on your account scams are phishing emails designed to look like they are from your email provider or another large website, such as Facebook or Instagram. The email addresses, pictures, and logos will be similar, but if you click on the address of the email for more details, it may show a suspicious email address hidden behind a more trustworthy name.

This type of scam uses fear, confusion, and urgency to get email receivers to click on the link in the email to try and secure their account or review the unusual activity, only to end up accidentally giving away their sign-in information or personal details.

Account Upgrade Scams

An account upgrade phishing email may look like it is coming from your email provider or even your company’s IT department, and it will detail the need to upgrade your account or update your information to avoid losing access to your account. However, the links provided in this email will collect your personal information if clicked on, and they may leave your device vulnerable to malicious software.

Signs an Email is a Scam or Spam

With many phishing emails, it can be hard to recognize if an email is valid or not; many phishing emails are carefully designed and crafted to look almost identical to a valid email from a valid sender. However, you can keep an eye out for the following signs that an email is a scam or spam:

• Images and logos appear to be copied and pasted into the email
• The email has bad grammar, uneven spacing, or syntax that doesn’t look natural
• The email contains lots of urgency and calls to action to get you to click a link or download something
• When hovering over the sender’s email address, it shows a different sender than the name that the email claims to be from
• When hovering over a link, you can see it will go to a different destination than the one it is designed to look like
• The email contains an invoice for something you are positive you never bought
• The email is asking for money or personal information

If you are ever worried about an email being a phishing email, use an email lookup tool to check the authenticity of the email. If it turns out to be shady, report it as spam and then contact the supposed sender as needed in an email to confirm whether or not they sent the email and if there really is an issue that you need to follow up on.

Keeping Your Personal Information Private

Phishing emails are an unfortunate reality, and scammers never stop thinking up new ways to craft phishing emails in an attempt to steal data and personal information. It is essential that you stay aware of phishing emails and the signs of scam emails so that you can avoid interacting with a phishing email and losing access to your accounts, data, and sensitive information such as your financial details or Social Security number.