SafePC · Online services
Spot a scam email
Recognize a phishing email (fake package, fake prize) and report it as spam.
Step by step
- Click the Start button! Look at the bottom of this practice computer: the dark strip there is its taskbar. In the middle of it, click the Start button (four blue squares). The main menu opens just above it. If you see two taskbars, use the one inside this page.
- Click "Browser". In the menu that opened, click the "Browser" tile (a square with a small picture and its name under it): the app opens in its own window.
- Open "Practice Mail". Just under the address bar there is a row of small buttons with names: the favorites bar. Click the one called "Practice Mail" (with a small red envelope icon): your mailbox opens.
- Open the message from "QuickShip". In the list of messages, find the line whose sender is "QuickShip Delivery" and whose subject starts with "Your package" and ends with "is on hold — action required". Click it: the message opens. Do not click anything inside the message yet.
- Look at the clues, without clicking the link. Read the message. At the top, next to the sender's name, the address in < > is "[email protected]": odd, a real company would use its own name. The text puts pressure on you ("within 24 HOURS") and asks for a small amount to pay through the underlined blue link at the bottom. These are the signs of a scam. Do NOT click that link. Instead, at the top of the message, right of the ← arrow, click the "⚠️ Spam" button to report it.
- Close this window. You are done with this window, so close it: click the ✕ button at the top right corner of the "Browser" window (on its title bar, the strip at the top). The window disappears.
These steps are written for SafePC, a pretend Windows-style computer in your web browser. On your own computer, the buttons and menus may look a little different, but the idea is the same.
Practice it where nothing can break
SafePC works like a real computer, but nothing you do goes anywhere. Try every button, make mistakes and start again.
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