Another tell for email scams is the”To” field. If it doesn’t contain your actual email address,there’s a good chance that it is a scam. In essence, the email was sent out to a large number of recipients with emails in the BCC(Blind Carbon Copy) field. It hits the maximum number of potential victims, yet still appears quite personal.
This specific example, even more than the last example, relies on the “most common characteristic” con. If some aspect of your email identifies you as in the UK (e.g.@btinternet.com, gmail.com with UK selected on your country profile,anything containing .co.uk, etc.), then odds are you have some dealings with HMRC. Like all of these scams, it’s a numbers game.
What Else?
There are a lot of ways bad people try harm people… particularly small businesses. We will try continue how these things work, and how to spot them, throughout2014. The bottom line is always to stay attentive, stay sceptical and stay alert.