---
title: "How to Spot a Phishing Email: 7 Simple Signs"
description: "Phishing emails keep getting more convincing. Seven simple signs of a fake email, and what to do when one lands in your inbox."
canonical: https://techlab-ssh.com/en/blog/how-to-spot-a-phishing-email
language: en
---

# How to Spot a Phishing Email: 7 Simple Signs

> Phishing emails keep getting more convincing. Seven simple signs of a fake email, and what to do when one lands in your inbox.

Page: https://techlab-ssh.com/en/blog/how-to-spot-a-phishing-email

2026-10-17

Last week a few odd messages came in through the contact form on our own website. One asked for our prices in Albanian; another said "a customer is waiting for your reply" and pointed to someone else's site. Those turned out to be plain advertising and harmless. But some of the messages that arrive the same way are anything but.

These are called phishing emails. The aim is to trick you into giving away your password, card details or money, or into putting malware on your computer. The good news is that most fake emails give themselves away through a few simple signs.

## 7 signs of a fake email

- **It rushes you.** "Your account will be closed in 24 hours", "pay today or face a fine". People in a hurry don't check, and that's exactly what scammers count on.
- **The sender's address doesn't match.** The name says "Microsoft" or your bank, but the address is from a domain you don't recognise. Sometimes the difference is a single letter: "rn" looks like "m", and a capital "I" looks like a small "l".
- **The link goes somewhere else.** Before you click, hover your mouse over it and the real address appears at the bottom of the screen. On a phone, press and hold the link. If the address you see and the real one differ, don't click.
- **It asks for a password or code.** No bank, Microsoft or government office will ask for your password, an SMS code or the three digits on the back of your card by email.
- **An attachment you weren't expecting.** "Invoice.zip", "Receipt.pdf.exe" or an Excel file asking you to "enable macros". Don't open a file you weren't expecting, even from someone you know.
- **A strange request from "the boss".** "Transfer this to that account urgently, we'll talk later", "I'm in a meeting, buy some gift cards". When an email like that arrives, call your manager yourself and ask.
- **A generic greeting and odd wording.** "Dear customer", misspelled names, sentences that read like machine translation. But be careful: these days fake emails are often well written too, so don't rely on this sign alone.

## What to do with a suspicious email

- Don't click the links, don't open the attachments and don't reply.
- Check with the sender another way: call a number you already know, not the one in the email.
- Tell your IT person or your manager. The same email may have reached your colleagues.
- Mark it as "spam" or "phishing" in your email program.

## If you've already clicked

It happens, and there's nothing to be embarrassed about. What matters is acting fast. If you typed in a password, change it right away, and change it anywhere else you use the same one. If you opened a file, disconnect the computer from the internet and call IT. If you entered card details, call your bank and block the card.

The sooner you tell someone, the less damage there will be. The worst thing you can do is keep quiet.

## What can the company do?

Staff attention matters, but you can't put it all on people. A few technical steps cut the risk considerably:

- **Two-factor sign-in.** Even if a password is stolen, nobody gets into the account without confirmation from the phone.
- **A good email filter.** Most fake emails are stopped before they ever reach an inbox.
- **A short chat.** Once or twice a year, 15 minutes with your team going through real examples. Forwarding them this article is a decent start.

## The bottom line

Staying safe from fake emails isn't complicated: don't rush, look at a link before you click it, and pick up the phone when in doubt.

When TechLab sets up [Microsoft 365](https://techlab-ssh.com/en/microsoft-365), two-factor sign-in and email filtering are switched on from day one. And our [IT support](https://techlab-ssh.com/en/it-support) clients simply forward a suspicious email to us and we take a look. Any questions? [Get in touch](https://techlab-ssh.com/en/contact?topic=security).

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