There are some pretty insidious people who lie, cheat, and trick people. And one way they do it is with emails. You have probably seen emails saying you need to “click here” to save your website or your information has been compromised and send money to repair it. 

This clickbait technique is one of the oldest tricks in the email schemers book. We’ve gotten so accustomed to clicking on things in emails that it's important to remember to stop long enough to inspect your emails before you click on links.

PhotoBiz has security measures to prevent scammers from contacting you through your website. This includes using encryption like SSL certificates and Google reCAPTCHA on your online forms, blog post comments, and communication tools. 

But we can’t prevent a scammer or spambot from emailing you directly. Bots search for emails to contact! Their goal is to steal information (and sometimes money). Let’s take a look at how to identify spoof and legitimate emails.

PhotoBiz regularly sends communications to customers by email. You may receive tips, how-to articles, and promotions. You may also receive emails about your account usage, membership status, and website activity notifications. 

These emails include both automated system notifications and content generated by our marketing team. These emails aim to get you information to help you run your business and keep your account up to date.

To confirm an email is from PhotoBiz, check the sender. Official emails sent by PhotoBiz will come from an @photobiz.com email address (it might be something like emailsupport@mailbiz1.photobiz.com).

It is also a good idea to confirm the contact information in an email you receive. You can confirm ours by comparing information in an email you receive to the address and phone number on our website, photobiz.com. 

When in doubt, give us a call. We have a record of communications sent out and can help confirm if the content is legit.

There are multiple aspects of an email you can inspect to identify (or discredit) the sender and the content. 

First, check the sender. Does the sender’s domain match the company represented in the email content? If not, that’s an immediate red flag.

Then consider the request. No one should ever ask you to send financial information by email. You should always log into your account to make updates to your billing information. And to be safe, type the URL in yourself, and don’t click the link in an email asking for that information (even links can be scams). Always be on alert when your financial information is requested.

It’s also important to consider the content of the email. Does the branding look consistent or is it slightly off? Does the imagery look grainy? Are there unusual typos regarding the company the email is from or in “your” information represented in the email? Does the mailing address in the footer match the company the email is from? Inconsistencies like these are red flags.

Here is an example of a spoof email that a customer recently shared (it wasn’t from us).

The spoof email above references the recipient's email address and name, but it isn’t from us (or a company that has anything to do with their email or website) and doesn’t contain our contact information. Multiple red flags! They did the right thing by contacting us. 

It is important to keep your data safe. That means enabling security features and being alert. 

For your website, this means enabling SSL and reCAPTCHA.

For your email, it means being vigilant about reviewing what you are asked for and by whom and enabling spam blockers that may be offered by your email provider. Antivirus software is always a safe bet, too.

To learn more about domain phishing, check out our article on what to look for. If you have any doubts, contact our support team at 866.463.7620 or log into your account and start a live chat. We'll be happy to confirm if an email is real or not, and what to do in the future to prevent scammers from contacting you.