Scam Alert! You may fall into trap if you click on email unsubscribe buttons

Photo Credit: Money Crashers

Are you tired of getting spam emails, calls, or messages? The new email services are quite efficient in detecting spam emails from inboxes and filter them. However, some of the mails can slip through the cracks and there are options to unsubscribe too. 

But since we are living in such times where scammers are looking to make money out of people’s misery, a new scam has erupted where these fraudsters are taking advantage of the unsubscribe option to “confirm” people’s email accounts.

After a user signs up for a particular newsletter, he/she is supposed to give the email address that needs confirmation by clicking a link (or entering a code) that is sent via email to the user. to you. This is basically done to ensure that they get the mails on time and to the right recipients. Users are also given the option to unsubscribe from these emails, by clicking a link at the bottom of the email.

Now the scammers wait for the opportunity and as and when users try to click on the button, they get a hint that this email belongs to a real user, which they use to sign up for future scam emails and dangerous fraudulent emails. The report further revealed that the scammers will use subject lines like "We_need your confirmation asap", "Request, please confirm your unsubscription", and "Verification" and more to trick users to click on the link.

The Bleeping Computer used this as an experiment to know exactly what happens and it was discovered that this would link it to multiple email addresses. The test account received many spam emails which clearly prove that scammers use this button to get a confirmation on whether the user's email address is “active” and "real" before sending spam. 

Therefore, it is advisable to not click on any kind of links from unknown emails where if a user sees a message to unsubscribe, then he/she should just mark it as a scam.