Several people received an email that they thought was SPAM. They reached out to me to check. Here is my response:
Thank you for reaching out to me with a suspicious email. In this day and age, it is extremely important to make sure that you don’t fall for phishing attempts.My Dad taught me long ago to “measure twice, cut once”. That advice is relevant here, check twice and make sure before you click on the link.I thought that I would share what I look for in evaluating this email:1. The From email address does seem legitimate. However, this is incredibly easy to mask, so not a very strong indicator of legitimacy (hover your mouse over the name on a computer)2. a “recent change in your work status”. I haven’t had a “recent change in my work status, so my spidey sense is starting to activate.3. “in the Company’s benefits plans”. Wait a minute, they don’t know which Company that I work for? Spidey sense is tingling.4. Hm. The link seems familiar. I’ll type this into a browser (NOT CLICK on the link in the email. when I do, I get an error message (This site can’t be reached…) Spidey sense is buzzing like crazy now.5. The phone number. Hm.6. “Your Benefits Manager”. Not a real person. I know people who work in the Benefits Department.
Given all this information, this is either an incredibly badly written email from a contractor or a Phishing Attempt (a special type of SPAM designed to steal your information).I would mark this as SPAM and move on.