Emails are essential to our everyday life, but if unprotected, could leave your private information exposed.

More than half of the world’s population uses email, and by 2024 there will be over 4.4 billion email users around the world.

In celebration of National Email Week, Lookout shares its top tips on how to determine if an email is a phishing scam:

 Obvious Misspellings and Grammatical Errors

Professional newsletters, notifications, and other email messages go through several rounds of approvals before distribution, so emails that include spelling errors and odd punctuation can be a sign of a scam.

Check the “Sent From” Email Address

Real companies will send from their own domain. One easy way to check for authenticity is to make sure a company email isn’t coming from an address ending in “@gmail.com” or  “@yahoo.com”.

Requests To Follow a Link or Open an Attachment

Important information is shared in the body of an email. Requests to click a link for more information, or download an attachment for a message, can be a sign of a scam.

Demanding Urgency

If you receive an email requiring immediate action from you, usually involving private information like social security, birthday, bank information, or more, immediately call the company this message is reportedly from. Reputable companies will never ask for personal information to be shared over email.

In addition to following the security best practices outlined above, having a dedicated mobile security solution, such as Lookout – that automatically scans and blocks any unsafe links you click in an email, will help keep you protected against malware or phishing attacks.