Forum Discussion

BeK1nd's avatar
BeK1nd
Joining in
2 months ago

Phishing Scam: British Gas email

I received a 'Your Bill is now Ready' email which looked like it was sent by British Gas but my name, address and account number were wrong. Like a BG email the text instructed me to access my account via the button but the wording was odd, the button the wrong colour and anyway BG usually takes a few days to produce a bill. The email arrived soon after I submitted my meter readings so I'm wondering how the scammers knew.  

Why wasn't the email sent straight to spam? 

  • goslow's avatar
    goslow
    2 months ago

    An email gets tagged as spam when some aspect of the message triggers the spam monitoring process (such as message content, spoofing of an email address etc. etc.).

    In the case of a fake bill notification, the scammers may simply target the end of the month to send out such messages (rather than necessarily knowing anything about you individually).

  • goslow's avatar
    goslow
    Alessandro Volta
    2 months ago

    An email gets tagged as spam when some aspect of the message triggers the spam monitoring process (such as message content, spoofing of an email address etc. etc.).

    In the case of a fake bill notification, the scammers may simply target the end of the month to send out such messages (rather than necessarily knowing anything about you individually).

    • BeK1nd's avatar
      BeK1nd
      Joining in
      2 months ago

      British Gas should not send customers emails with direct links to their accounts, such as buttons and the like. Rather they should advise customers to access their accounts securely by entering their email addresses and passwords on the official website. This should be standard practice. Why are energy companies providing crucial services such amateurs!