5 red flags that an email is a scam

A Moneyville article looks at internet phishing scams that are sent via email and how you can detect them.

Internet phishing scams are ever increasing and twice last week someone was after my credit card number and PIN, sending personalized emails with urgent messages, one to a work account and the other to a home account.

Scotia Online asked for an update to credit card information. "PayPal" warned a card purchase had been rejected and requested immediate confirmation of the card details. I can't remember when I last used PayPal and I'm not a Scotiabank customer.

Thousands of people likely received the same emails, and odds are pretty good some were Scotiabank and PayPal customers.

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre says it received about 1,350 complaints in 2011 related specifically to phishing and identity theft, where those registering the complaint lost money. The agency says 95 per cent of incidents go unreported, so the real number of victims may be closer to 27,000.