Senior News Line: Scam emails designed to get you to act quickly before thinking it through

I received an email from a company that I use for computer repair and malware protection. No surprise there; they’ve sent me annual emails over the years when it was time to renew the service.

I opened the email and it was an invoice indicating they would be charging my credit card several hundred dollars today!

But I took a closer look. The area code of the phone number at the bottom of the invoice was not for the state where the real company is located. The address at the bottom of the invoice was for yet another state.

The amount was wrong. The name of my service plan was wrong. And I knew that my subscription wasn’t due to renew for several months.

The email asked me to click a link to contact them to verify the information. In other words, a typical scam involving a large amount of money and an urgency — today! — designed to get me to act quickly before I could think it through.

To be sure, though, I called the real company using a number I knew, not the one in the email. Yes, they said, it was a scam, and yes, my account was fine.

They were able to check my account and quoted to me information that I knew was accurate — the upcoming renewal date and the amount. They thanked me for letting them know and had me forward that email to their fraud department.

The question, of course, is whether the scammers really know I have a service plan with that company. Probably not. Chances are they send millions of those emails hoping someone will respond.

Bottom line with emails: Know your business transactions and subscriptions. Know when they are due to renew.

Beware even if it’s a company you know. Don’t click anything. And call the company if you aren’t sure it came from them.