Have you received a suspicious email? Do you want to check if it is dangerous? Follow the steps below to perform basic checks that should let you know if an email is not legitimate.
If you’re still unsure you can follow our ticket submission steps.
If you want to report an email as spam or phishing, follow the process here.
Steps To Check If An Email Is Spam
This guide assumes you are accessing the spam in your inbox. If you want to learn how to view a message caught in your quarantine, please follow the below guide and come back to the page when directed.
How To Action A Message Caught In Quarantine
0: Don’t Click Anything!
Until you are 100% sure that an email is legitimate, ensure you do not click on any links or open any attachments! (even just to check the content).
To avoid unnecessary risks, refrain from clicking on any links or opening attachments in an email until you are absolutely certain of its legitimacy. Malicious links and files can provide unauthorized access to your PC, and although Sentrian strives to keep your system secure with advanced software, new attacks continuously emerge. So, exercise caution by not clicking on anything until you can verify its authenticity.
1: Check the sender’s email address
Look closely at the sender’s email address. Often, spammers use email addresses that seem unfamiliar, strange, or misspelled. Legitimate organizations usually have a consistent and recognizable domain name.
Examples of bad email addresses:
2: Analyze The Subject Line
Spam emails often have subject lines that try to create a sense of urgency, use excessive capitalization, or promise unrealistic offers. Be cautious if the subject seems too good to be true or suspicious in any way.
Scammers will also use data from data breaches to customise their emails to use not only the business’s name but potentially your name as well to make it seem more legitimate.
Examples of bad subject lines
- Payment Notification
- Payment Notification on 7/11/2023 | Your passcode is 52990
- Action Required Today, Monday July 10, 2023
- RE: HIGH PRIORITY: notice of overdue HOA paycheck
- Business365 Credential Expiration Notice
- CompanyName-Remittance Advice INVOICE-993 Paid On 17/07
- John, Urgent: Verify Your Account Now!
3: Examine the Content
The following items can be used to identify an email as spam:
Spelling errors:
Many spam emails originate from non-native English speakers or automated systems, resulting in noticeable grammar and spelling errors.
Generic Content:
Pay close attention to the email’s content. While the subject line may be personalized, the body of the email might lack personalization or contain generic language.
Poor formatting:
Legitimate businesses usually take pride in the way their emails look, if the email is poorly formatted and missing many elements an email from this company normally would have, it may be spam.
QR Codes:
Scammers are utilising QR codes to redirect users to malicious websites that mimic genuine Microsoft login pages. This technique is particularly effective at evading spam filters, as these filters tend to look for ill-formed or malicious URLs and have trouble identifying embedded QR codes as potential security threats.
Examples of bad content
4: Check Unfamiliar Attachments or Links
If the email has an attachment, check for these common attachments that can be used maliciously.
Common file types that attackers use
- .HTM
- .HTML
- .EXE
All of the above file types have legitimate uses, however, they can be abused by scammers to send malicious links or programs
Report An Email as Spam or Phishing
From your Outlook Inbox Folder
If you have completed the above steps and you are sure the email is not legitimate, please follow our article below on how to report the email as spam
Report an email as spam or phishing follow the process here
From your Outlook Junk folder
Please note that if the email is already in your junk folder, Microsoft has correctly identified the email as spam and no action is required from you.
In Quarantine
As the message was caught in quarantine, Microsoft has correctly identified the email as spam and no action is required from you.
However, if you wish to also block the user you can follow our guide here: How To Action A Message Caught In Quarantine
Still Unsure? We Can Help
If you’re not confident going through the processes above by yourself, please contact us.