Fake signups  are one of the biggest challenges for ecommerce marketers and can cause damage to your email deliverability. Not only do they skew your subscriber list, but they also damage your reputation and deter real customers from engaging with your content.

Signup fraud is usually caused by spam bots, automated computer programs that are designed to find and fill in online forms on websites and blogs. When they come across a signup form, they will automatically populate the field with fake information (such as an invalid email address). Spambots can also use this fake data to create a new account on your site or to try and get into accounts that require a password.

The first step to stopping fake signups is to implement a robust form verification system that will stop the submission of any suspicious signups. The most basic method is to use a CAPTCHA or ReCAPTCHA, which force the user to complete specific clicks that cannot be replicated by a machine (such as checking a box). This can help reduce the number of fraudulent signups on your website.

Smart Solutions: How to Protect Your Business Against New Account Fraud

Other red flags to watch out for include: a sudden surge in the amount of signups, an increase in non-corporate emails (if your business is B2B) or a high volume of gibberish (this can indicate that the email address has been created with spam software). You can also monitor and analyze user behavior on your site and check IP addresses to see if they are appearing on any block lists, which are curated by collaborators on the internet to filter malicious and fraudulent activity.

About Email Scam Detection

A scammer’s goal is to get you to click a link or open an attachment in order to infect your computer with malware. The malicious attachment could be a simple image or it may be hidden within rich content files like PDFs. Once the file is downloaded, hackers can use it to spy on your activity online, steal sensitive information including account logins and passwords, or even take control of your device (i.e. ransomware).

To make an Email Scam Detection seem more legitimate, criminals often create an urgent or time-limited situation – like telling you that your account will be locked unless you respond immediately. They also use fear and hope tactics to elicit emotions that could make you act without thinking.

Some tell-tale signs of an email being a scam include:

Email Scam Detection: Tools to Protect Your Inbox

A reputable company will always send emails that are addressed to you by name and will have an official looking logo. Many types of phishing attacks cast a wide net, so you can expect to see generic greetings such as “Dear Customer” or “Dear Account Holder”.

An unusual attachment is included.

Most of the time, when you receive an attachment it will be a Word, Excel spreadsheet, PowerPoint presentation, or Adobe Acrobat PDF file. But attackers can hide malicious attachments in any type of file and use icons and filename extensions that are easily confused with harmless ones. Always double check the URL by hovering your mouse over a hyperlink in an email before clicking it.

A URL checker is a tool that checks if URLs are functioning properly. This helps to keep you safe. If your links are not working you may be exposed to a wide range of malware and phishing threats.

Check if a Website is Malicious/Scam or Safe/Legit

The best link checkers offer more than just a scan. They help you identify a variety of relevant metrics to help you understand how well your web presence is performing. These include the total number of pages, how often users visit the site, the type of content they are viewing and more.

Fortunately, there are many URL checker to choose from. It is a good idea to use a combination of tools to perform a comprehensive analysis. You can use a number of free web services to perform this kind of assessment. Among these are VirusTotal, Trend Micro, PhishTank and Dr. Link Check.

Luckily, these companies have provided a free, ad-supported service to assist you in testing out your links. With this tool, you can find out if a URL is a phishing scam, which site contains malware, and how to rename it.

For example, the redirect trace tool helps you determine why a page is redirected. Another option is the dfndr lab from PSafe. This is a tool that uses machine learning to cross-reference URLs with other resources and provide actionable intelligence.

Using a reputable third party web service will provide you with the most accurate results. However, if you are looking to make a more personalized assessment, you can try to replicate the process yourself.