10 Common Email Scams (And How To Avoid Falling For Them)

Last Updated on 30 September, 2026 by Cara Sutra

If you’ve got email, you’ll have received some dodgy emails. Most inboxes have inbuilt tools which are fairly decent at filtering out rubbish and correctly assigning it to the spam folder. However, a few slip through the net. Scammers are always getting more devious, bolder, and learning new ways to bypass spam auto-detection. Even after 25+ years of dealing with emails, I’ve almost fallen for a couple of scams in recent years. Luckily, I realised each time before I got too deep or lost anything valuable, besides the wasted time of course. As a sex blogger with a publicly viewable email address, I get a lot of spam, and this includes scam attempts. Today I want to share what I’ve learned, as a follow-on to my recent piece about identifying PR reps’ time-wasting negotiation tactics. Here are 10 common email scams, and how to avoid falling for them.

If you’ve ever received a suspicious email claiming to have hacked your webcam mid-wank or ‘helpfully’ informing you that a company in a far-off country is attempting to steal your domain name and take over your brand identity, welcome to the club. I tend to get those two scam attempts on the reg. The first menacingly tells me that they’ve hacked my webcam and caught me in a ‘compromising situation’ – watching porn and wanking, as if I’d ever do that 😏. The second pretends to be looking out for me and my brand, informing me that some company is looking to buy the Chinese domains of my brand name.

Most of us can, by now, recognise a dodgy email or scam attempt a mile off. That said, the techniques used to access either your money or sensitive information are becoming more sophisticated. Whether you’re a fellow blogger, content creator, business owner, or just someone who wants to stay safer online, here are 10 common email scams to watch out for, and how to avoid falling for them.

1. The Sextortion Scam

You’ve probably all seen this one, and it relies on two things: shame and panic. The subject will be something along the lines of “You’ve been hacked” or “I recorded you pleasuring yourself”. Your best course of action is to delete without opening, but if you do open, you’ll see the email body begins with menace intended to cause alarm and a panicked response, such as “I know what filthy things you watched and did, and I have the video to prove it. Pay me or else I’ll inform your entire email list, which includes your work colleagues and close family.”

The sextortion scam claims your webcam was hacked and explicit footage is in the sender’s possession, showing you watching porn and wanking. It’s all lies and bluffing. The scammers simply send out the same blanket email to every address they have, hoping that someone will have a knee-jerk panic reaction and send them the money they’re demanding. Usually as cryptocurrency.

Some versions include one of your real passwords, usually an old one, to make the threat seem credible. It’s a scary moment, but it doesn’t mean they’ve hacked your webcam. The password will have come from an old data breach at a website or service you once used. Change it anywhere you still use it, and carry on as before.

Paying them will only result in you being a lot poorer and won’t make anything stop. In fact you’ll likely get increased demands from scammers, having proved yourself open to manipulation. Just delete, laugh, and move on. I mean, the laughing is optional but it makes me feel good.

2. The Chinese Domain Registration Scam

“A Chinese company is trying to register your brand name/variations on your website domains. We wondered if you were aware of this?”

The Chinese domain registration scam is one that very nearly caught me out. Luckily, I tend to Google this type of thing before replying and buy my domain names securely through a reputable registrar.

This email will sound helpful and urgent, and it’s designed to set alarm bells ringing if you own your own online business or website. In reality, it’s a sales tactic designed to sell you unnecessary domain extensions at inflated prices.

If you ever feel you want or need to secure additional domains, always purchase through a legitimate, tried, tested and verified registrar. Not from some seemingly helpful folk over email, who are just trying to prey on your brand protectiveness and rip you off.

3. Fake Invoices or Receipts

You receive an unexpected PayPal invoice, or an expensive bill demanding payment for something you definitely didn’t buy.

Surprisingly, the primary goal here isn’t to part you with your money. Not immediately, anyway. Rather, the scam works on the same “knee-jerk panic” reaction as many other types of scam. Feeling scared or outraged at being wrongly billed, the hope is that you’ll click the big “dispute claim” button which is conveniently visible and clickable. This leads to a fake login page or installs malware on your device.

Never click any links in these emails. Just delete and move on. Log into any related account directly, via the official website or app. If the charge isn’t there, the email is fake. The big tell on these is the sender’s email not being the official company address, as well as the induced panic generated.

The exception is PayPal invoice scams, which are often sent through PayPal’s own invoicing system, so they can arrive from a real PayPal address. In that case, the tell is a phone number or message in the invoice notes urging you to call about the charge. Don’t call it.

4. CEO or Boss Impersonation

“Hi, are you free? I need you to buy some gift cards urgently.”

This one’s more common in office-based workplaces. Scammers spoof the name and email style of your boss or a senior colleague, relying on urgency and a sense of obligation to authority to stop you thinking clearly and seeing this for what it is. Another email scam.

If you receive a suspicious email pressing you to buy gift cards, send money in any way, or share information with the sender, verify it in another way first. A quick message on a different and reliable channel, or a call, can save a lot of humiliating stress and money, as well as avoid security breaches at work.

5. Delivery Scams

Delivery scam emails pretend to be from delivery companies and often include convincing logos and familiar layouts. If you click any of the links in these emails, though, you’ll land on a fake website designed to scrape your login details or install malware.

The email subject is often something like: “Your parcel is waiting. Click here to reschedule delivery.” This targets the very human feeling of not wanting to miss out on any of our post. After all, it could be something you’ve paid good money for, you’re expecting, or sent with love from a family member or friend.

But the only thing you can expect with this sort of email scam is disappointment and security/financial risk.

If you’re expecting a delivery from the named courier service, check the status of any outstanding packages by heading directly to their official website or parcel tracking app. If you’re not expecting anything, well… you have your answer.

6. Account Suspension or Verification Emails

“Click this link to verify your details now!”

“Your account will be suspended unless you verify your details.”

Worrying at first glance, but that’s what this sort of email scam relies on. A panicked reaction and before you know it, you’ve clicked through to a fake login page designed to harvest your username and password.

Legitimate companies, brands and retailers rarely threaten account suspension in this way over email. Some companies require you to log in every so often, to keep your account with them active, but in these cases it’s recommended to log in via the official website or your related app. Not by clicking through any links in an email.

7. The Inheritance or Nigerian Prince Scam

Is there anyone alive who hasn’t heard of this old chestnut? Yes, it’s great news. Some distant relative you didn’t know you had, or royalty from overseas, has donated or bequeathed you millions. Absolutely fantastic news, you and all your loved ones are set for life.

There’s just the little matter of getting those millions of dollars to your account. But giving some personal information, and paying some small transfer fees, is a small price to pay in comparison to all those millions you’ll be enjoying soon, right?

Bad news, you haven’t been specially selected by someone with a terminal illness or Nigerian royalty as the recipient of their millions. Yes, it’s all just another scam.

These are still doing the rounds, and people still fall for them. They’re often poorly written, which may be to garner sympathy, help sell the ‘real person’ element, or to weed out anyone unlikely to fall for this con. The trick relies on greed or curiosity to draw you in. Yeah, if it’s too good to be true, it probably is, but what if…?

Don’t fall for it. No legitimate inheritance or donation requires your bank details via email.

8. Subscription Renewal Scams

What? You’re being charged to renew a service you never booked and don’t want? Outrageous. Let’s click through or call the telephone number immediately to sort this out. You wouldn’t want to lose any money, after all.

That’s the reaction this email scam is hoping for. Quite often, the subscription renewal will be for a service you already do have, but that most other people have as well, hence the beauty of this con. If you can call anything about scamming people beautiful. It’ll be something like antivirus software, or Sky TV, or a mobile phone plan, that sort of thing.

Click any of the links and you’ll reach a sensitive data scraping page or make your device vulnerable to malware. If you call the telephone number quoted, you’ll be connected with a scammer who will use aggressive techniques to pressure you into giving remote access to your device or goad you into sharing personal information.

Don’t click, don’t call. Block and delete. If you’re at all worried about any of the services you do subscribe to, check your bank account or head directly to the official website and log in to your account there.

9. Charity Scams

This is one of the most depressing email scams of them all: charity scams, especially those taking advantage of tragic global events, natural disasters, the effects of war and other humanitarian crises. They often present as being from well-known charities, trading off their hard-earned good reputation and your heartfelt sympathy to coldly con and rob you. Disgusting, really.

The scammers are counting on your empathy and a sense of urgency to get you to “kindly donate now” via dodgy links and payment methods. If you’re ever moved to donate to charity, go directly to the official website or fundraiser rather than clicking through any email links.

10. Job, Modelling, or Influencer Offers

Feeling flattered by an email you just received? This email scam appeals to your ego. We all love a bit of an ego boost, don’t we – I certainly do.

The email might claim that you’ve been headhunted for a role, or spotted and selected to model for a brand, or specially chosen to review their products. There’s a lot of love bombing, a known con artist technique, then the flattery turns into fishing for your personal details, requesting upfront payments, or being tricked into clicking suspicious links.

As much as you might want to believe an email is true, and as wonderful, and kind, and convincing as the flatterer sounds, try to stay level-headed. Remember the old adage about something sounding too good to be true.

Did you apply for the role? Have you expressed an interest in their brand? Is it likely they spotted you in whatever niche or industry the email relates to, or could this same email have been sent to thousands of other potential marks? If something seems wrong, that’s because it’s probably a scam attempt.

How To Avoid Falling For Email Scams

Keeping good email habits can dramatically reduce your chances of being caught out by a scam.

• Don’t trust the display name or brand, always hover or reveal the sender’s full email address. This is often the ‘tell’ when it comes to spam senders.
• Never click links or open attachments from unexpected or unfamiliar sources.
• Don’t rely on bad spelling and grammar to spot a scam. Plenty of scammers now use AI to write polished, convincing emails, so check the sender’s address and any links instead.
• If you can tell an email is a scam attempt before you open it, avoid opening it. Immediately mark as spam, if it hasn’t been auto detected as such by your email provider.
• If you’ve opened an email and you judge it to be a scam attempt, do not reply. I know, it’s tempting to give them what for. But any reply simply confirms your email address is active, and before you know it hundreds more will be hitting your inbox.
• Report scam emails. In the UK, you can forward suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk, the National Cyber Security Centre’s reporting service. If you’ve already paid anything or shared bank details, contact your bank straight away.
• Use two-factor authentication on accounts wherever possible.
• When in doubt, search online. This has saved me a few times! Chances are, you’re not the first person they’ve attempted to scam in the same way. Many scams are widely reported, and therefore easy to identify and deal with after a quick Google.

Final Thoughts

I don’t want you to feel paranoid in your own email inbox, I just want to share my experiences from years of scam attempts I’ve dealt with. Hopefully in this way you can avoid falling foul of these con artists’ despicable intentions and stay safe both online and in your everyday life.

Keep cautious and carry on!

Get In Touch (No Scammers Please)

By the way, if there are any email scam tactics currently doing the rounds you think I should include here, please let me know. I’d love to update this with all the relevant details to help us all stay ahead of the latest scamming trends. But no, I don’t want a bigger penis, or to buy your little blue pills, or a mail-order bride, and if I’m really due millions of dollars, you can send it directly to my PayPal. Cheers.