Anyone who has gone online knows there's a really simple way to avoid scams that always works:  DON'T CLICK ON ANY LINKS.  But for some reason people can't seem to help themselves, and the scams keep multiplying.  So here are ways to recognize a scam and avoid getting ripped off.

#1.)  An email says "URGENT!"  When a legitimate business urgently needs your attention, they call you.  But scammers make EVERYTHING sound urgent, because they're trying to make you do something without thinking it through.  And it usually involves them telling you some kind of account information is being "compromised."

#2.)  The sender's email doesn't match the link you're clicking on.  This should be a dead giveaway, but a lot of scammers really are that lazy.  If you get an email from a gmail.com address, and the link is sending you to a different URL, don't click.

#3.)  The link has a sketchy URL of any kind.  Anyone can make a phony site LOOK legit, but no one can fake the URL.  Look at the web address in the field at the top of the page:  It might be off by a single letter, or it might have a zero in place of an "o".  Another way to tell is that a legitimate website that asks for personal information will always be encrypted, and the URL will start with "https://" NOT "http://".  A phony site often won't, because it costs money to encrypt a site, and scammers are greedy.

#4.)  The site has an invalid or expired security certificate.  Every modern browser will pop up with a warning when it comes across a site without a valid security certificate.  If that kind of site asks you for sensitive information, don't give it. 

Find other ways to spot an internet scam here.