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Wishing doesn't make something legitimate and the odds are roughly 100% that if an email you receive looks too good to be true, it is. A $ 1,000 PayPal gift card is quite an expensive prize; Why would you have won it? Why would someone or some organization be giving away that amount of money? No, sorry to say, it will turn out to be a scam, but worse still, it could involve an identity theft attempt or the installation of software that hijacks your computer with malicious intent.

Many email programs have built-in spam and scam filters and scanning systems, including Google's Gmail service, but sometimes even a fake email can sneak in. So I have one in my inbox that is probably similar to the one you received. Your first filter of skepticism, even if it is from a friend, is "Is this credible?" If not, stop there and delete it. Does his friend, who uses a computer once a month to check the e-mail of his grandchildren, suddenly send him a program that he must install? It is not probable.

The second filter to use is "does it look legitimate?" and for that you may want to do a little homework. For example, here is this email message I received:

PayPal 1000 gift card email scam

All font colors, sizes and designs tell me immediately that this is a scam. If it was an actual promo from a legitimate company, do you think you'd pay for thousands of gift cards (remember this tells me I'm winner # 5507786) but don't know how to format it to look professional? There's more to worry about too, including the awkward "@no icost!" phrasing. However, the most damning thing is that email address on the sender line. Did you get it when you looked at the message? The actual sender of this message is:

congratulations

If that doesn't give you enough information to delete the message without even opening it, well, you have to be MUCH more cautious on the modern internet.

But let's say you're still curious. Okay, I'm curious. Instead of just clicking the "CLAIM NOW >>" link, right-click (or Control-click if you're on a Mac) and you'll get a menu of options:

copy the link from the email url

Now paste that URL into a Word document or somewhere else where you don't go to that page. Just to see where it is pointing. In this case, I get this:

Strange, huh? There is definitely no $ 1000 PayPal gift card at the end of this trip.

Oh, and just for fun, note that at the bottom of the scam email is the name Elvira Gray and a physical address. That you can enter in Google Maps and get a street view. Here it is:

scammers at home in the United States

Do you think the scammer lives there? You think that's her cute little black convertible? I do not. But still, hmm….

Regardless of who lives in that red brick house, suffice it to say that every time you receive an email offering you something for nothing, it will be a scam and probably a dangerous scam. Remember the acronym TNSTAAFL: There's nothing like a free lunch. And stay safe out there!

Get a $ 1000 PayPal Gift Card