If you click on a link from a fraudulent email, does it install malware instantly? I got an email from “amazon” about my order. I checked their address. It was from @amazon.com and I did order a few times on Amazon recently. I tried to click the order link to see which it is before I realized it is a hoax. While it was trying to load the page, I closed the tab and shut the computer down. The page wasn’t loaded yet. Was it enough to contaminate my computer?
Probably not. But your email address will have been confirmed to this fraudulent website.
Hopefully you did not enter your Amazon login and password.
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Of course not. Thank you. It used to be all I had to do was to check the their email address. This time it looked as if coming from amazon.com. Is it possible to do that? The email address is compromised a few times over. It is my junk email address.
Even though a link may say ‘amazon.com’, always hover your cursor over the link to see its actual address----very often it will be some site you’ve never hear of, or a hotmail or gmail account, which amazon certainly wouldn’t be using.
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It is easy to fake a From: line in an email. Look at the full headers to find out where the email really came from.
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@Iglooo - I’ve gotten to the point when I receive an email from anyone “regarding an order” I don’t even click the link. I close the email and go directly to the vendor I ordered from. 100% of the time it’s been spoof email - 90% I don’t even check because I don’t have a “Venmo” or “AT&T” or “Wells Fargo” account to begin with.
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There was a discussion on this very issue on CC a couple of months ago. These days, I almost never click a link or open an attachment unless I am certain (as one can be these days!) that I know the person or organization sending it AND the specific reason why it was sent.
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What kind of computer do you have? You should be able to run an online scan from one of the reputable anti-virus software companies assuming you don’t already have something installed.
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@MADad @ucbalumnus I did look at the address line and it was confirm@amazon.com. Is there some kind of spoofing like on a phone? I used get a spam call from my own number.
@mynameiswhatever I have a Macbook. It doesn’t show anything. I read recently there is a new malware that is not detected. This could be it.
Do you have antivirus software on the Mac? If so, is it updated?
If not, search “online antivirus scan mac” to find an online scanner. They should all be updated to cover known viruses.
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The address line in the From: can be easily forged.
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It might say amazon.com, but did that come up when you hovered the cursor over it? True url may appear at the bottom of your screen.
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So the question is how quickly malware can activate when you click on a malicious link. In the OP’s situation, the web page was still loading when it was closed down. If - and this is a big if - the link contained malware, could it infect as soon as the link was clicked? Or does that only happen when the page fully loads?
With my AOL email, I can right click on a suspicious looking email before opening and see the code to help decide if it’s legit. Every now and then I’ve rescued a legit email from spam by doing this.
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@Marilyn Exactly my question. Hope I am ok. I am about to do my taxes on it.
@Iglooo run a virus scan.
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I did. It doesn’t show. I am worried about the invisible virus I read recently.