Beware of the odd-looking email

Scam emails are often identifiable by irregularities in their appearance. Whenever you receive an email that claims to be from your bank or another legitimate business, look at it with a critical eye.

Remember that professional organizations like a bank likely have a considerable budget and staff to manage their messaging. It’s typical for many sets of eyes to review any written correspondence before it is sent or published. For that reason, obvious and repeated spelling, spacing and sentence-structure errors in an email appearing to be from a bank or other legitimate business are huge red flags likely indicating a scam.

It’s also important to look carefully at the sender’s email address. Does it match who the sender is claiming to be?

Understand that legitimate companies like M&T Bank will not ask you for personal information by email. If you receive an email asking you to provide account information, login credentials or passwords, it is almost certainly fraudulent.

And be wary of any unsolicited email that includes a hyperlink or attachment. Cybercriminals want you to click on links that will take you to websites or open attachments that contain malware — both set up to steal your critical information. When in doubt, don’t click the link or open the attachment!