Scammers register addresses one letter away from the real thing. Here's where to look.
Scammers often register web addresses that look almost exactly like a real company's, then send email from them. At a glance, the email looks like it's from someone you deal with every day.
Common tricks
- One letter swapped or added: deepnnet.com, or rn in place of m (rnicrosoft.com)
- A different ending: .co or .net in place of .com
- Extra words: microsoft-support.com, or yourcompany-invoices.com
- A real company name in the wrong place: microsoft.com.secure-login.net. The real domain is the last part, just before any slash: here, secure-login.net.
- A familiar display name with an unrelated address behind it
How to check
- Look at the full address, not just the name. In Outlook, select the sender's name to see it.
- Read the part after the @ slowly, letter by letter, especially for anything about money, passwords or files.
- Hover over links before clicking to see where they really go.
Spot a lookalike? Report it in Outlook using Report > Report phishing, and let us know if it's pretending to be someone you work with.
