Official Google alert issued to billions of Gmail users – check inbox for sign you’re a target for ‘criminal attack’
GOOGLE has a clever warning that can help protect you from some of the most dangerous cyber-attacks.
If you see it, it means you may be a target of a criminal ploy to hijack your private info, funds or account logins.
A Google memo reveals how users should look out for a small snippet of text at the top of emails.
It reads: “This message may not have been sent by…”
“You’ll see this warning if a sender looks like name@gmail.com, but we can’t verify that the email is actually coming from that Gmail account,” Google explained.
This can happen for a few reasons.
It could be that a sender emailed you from a website, for instance to share a news article.
And they may have sent an email that was automatically forwarded.
Google gives the example of an email forwarding from your school account to your personal Gmail.
But it could be a serious situation where a criminal sender is emailing you from a fake Gmail account.
Google says this is a common “phishing” tactic, which is where cybercriminals pretend to be someone else.
They will use the fake identity to trick you into handing over personal information – and potentially even money.
Google says that if you suspect an email is fraudulent, you should click the Report Phishing email.
“Do not provide any personal information or click any links in the email,” Google added.
If you think the message is suspicious, it’s important to treat it with extreme caution.
The email may ask for info or money and say it’s urgent.
But it’s best to simply try to contact the sender through another means to verify the request.
That might mean checking your bank website or app for the official phone number.
Or calling up a friend or colleague, if the email appears to come from them.
Just make sure not to use any of the contact details in the email itself, as they may be fraudulent.
Featured Image Credit: Google / Unsplash / The U.S. Sun