This Scam Email Almost Tricked Me - Here's How I Avoided Disaster

Scam emails are everywhere these days. They’re like cockroaches—sneaky, persistent, and almost impossible to get rid of.

I usually spot them a mile away, but recently, one almost got me. And that’s saying something because I write a newsletter warning you about this stuff!

So, let me walk you through my little adventure with this email. You’ll get a front-row seat, see my thought process in how I approached it and the tools / strategies I used to sniff out the scam and shut it down.

By the end, you’ll have a few more tricks up your sleeve to help you deal with these digital pests.

The Email That Made Me Pause

The emailEmail, or electronic mail, is a digital communication tool that allows users to send and receive mes... More landed right in my InboxAn Inbox is the main repository for new emails in any email client or service. Here, messages are co... More, not my SpamSpam refers to unwanted messages, usually emails, that are sent in bulk to many people. These messag... More folder, which gave it an initial air of respectability.

It referenced my business name, threw in a trademark serial number, and claimed to be from the USPTO Assistance Center (that’s the US Patent and Trademark Office).

According to the email, the trademark I filed for my business name had been abandoned, and someone else was trying to snag it.

The sender, Donald from the Center’s legal team, graciously offered to help me contest the claim. How kind, right?

Something Smelled Fishy

Here’s the thing: I did file a trademark for my business name… 15 years ago. It didn’t go anywhere, and I assumed it was long forgotten.

But the mention of someone else trying to trademark my business name? That hit a nerve.

Don’s email was just convincing enough to make me second-guess my suspicions. So, I decided to dig deeper… but did so very cautiously.

So, first things first. I followed Rule #1 for when you get suspicious emails: Don’t click anything. Not even out of curiosity!

But I took that rule a bit further. See, in the body of the email was an email address, supposedly from the sender. I could have typed the domain name from that email into my browser to see what their websiteA website is a collection of interconnected web pages or digital content that are accessible via the... More looked like.

But I didn’t. Why?

Because if this email was a scam, visiting that website could expose my computer to a virusA virus is a type of malicious software designed to replicate itself and infect computers, often cau... More, malwareMalware, short for malicious software, encompasses a variety of harmful programs designed to infiltr... More, or other digital nasties. It’s not worth the risk!

So, without visiting that website or clicking on anything in the email, how did I figure out if this was a scam? Read on to find out…

Spotting the Red Flags

Once I put my detective hat on, the warning signs lit up like Vegas at night:

The Sender’s Email Address: It came from a Gmail account. The U.S. government using Gmail for official correspondence? Unlikely!
The “Reply-To” Email: Donald’s email address at the bottom of this email listed a different address – donald@*******sistance.com – than the email address this was sent from. Which is weird. Plus, his email isn’t an official .gov email address you’d expect someone from a government agency to have. BIG. RED. FLAG.

By now, my scam radar was in full alert mode. But I wasn’t done yet.

Enter Scamio: My Scam-Detecting Sidekick

Next, I turned to Scamio, a handy AIArtificial Intelligence (AI) is basically when computers get smart—really smart. Imagine if your c... More chatbot that evaluates suspicious emails, texts, and other potential scams.

I copied the email text (without clicking anything) and pasted it into Scamio. Thirty seconds later, Scamio declared, “It’s a scam!”—complete with tips to avoid falling for phishingPhishing involves cyber thieves creating fake communications, often appearing as emails from trusted... More schemes.

(Thanks, Scamio. You’re the hero we didn’t know we needed.)

The Final Nail in the Coffin

For fun—and a little extra confirmation—I checked out the sender’s email domain using Whois.com.

If you’re not familiar, Whois lets you see who owns a website.

It’s not unusual for domains to be registered privately which prevents you from seeing the owner’s name and contact info.

But this domain wasn’t registered privately.

The owner? One Muhammad Ahmed in Karachi, Pakistan.

Case closed. The email went straight to the trash, where it belonged!

Quick Recap of the Lessons Here

Okay, before we go, let’s review the lessons you can use to sniff out sneaky scammers.

🔒 1. Just because it lands in your Inbox doesn’t mean it’s safe

Scam emails are sneaky. Sometimes they skip the Spam folder and show up right in your main inbox like they were invited. Don’t trust them just because they made it through the front door.

🧠 2. Don’t click on anything

Seriously. Not the linkA link, or hyperlink, is a tool used in electronic documents and websites to jump from one online lo... More. Not the “unsubscribeUnsubscribe is the action taken by users to remove themselves from a mailing list, newsletter, or su... More.” Not even “Donald’s helpful government website.” Clicking can invite viruses, malware, or worse—someone in Karachi might start managing your trademarks.

And if there’s a website listed, don’t visit it. At least until you’re 100% sure the email is legit.

🧐 3. Look at the sender’s email address

If it’s a government agency, it should end in .gov, not some random gmail.com account. When a “government official” uses Gmail, it’s a red flag the size of California.

📫 4. Check the “Reply-To” address

If it doesn’t match the sender, or if it looks weird (like [email protected]), don’t replyReply is a common feature in communication platforms and email clients that allows users to respond ... More. Scammers love hiding behind mismatched email addresses.