SPAM ALERT! LinkedIn Emails in your Outlook Inbox may not be real

Over the last few days I have received several emails in my Outlook Inbox from LinkedIn… turns out that the emails were not from LinkedIn at all. This is the latest trick that spammers are using to get you to click on links that send you to their websites. Luckily…  it is easy for Outlook users find out if a link is safe to click.

But first… What are the dangers of clicking on a spammers link?

One or more of several bad things can happen when you click on a trick link:

1. You end up going to a website selling stuff you have no interest in.
2. You end up telling the spammer that the email they sent you was sent to a valid email address… so they send you even more spam… and maybe sell your email address to other spammers.
3. The website you end up at infects your computer with a virus or worm.

So you need to make sure that the link is real before clicking on it!

How to check to see if the link is valid?

Simply move your mouse over the link (but do not click on it).

Outlook will display the URL that the link is pointing to as shown below.

In this case, it is obvious that the link is NOT going to LinkedIn… so don’t click on it… don’t click on ANY of the links in the email… and delete the email too!