As we continue our lesson on garbage and hoax emails; I wish to thank Sandy Springs own IT department for their contribution to this week’s blog.

It never ceases to amaze me that some of the emails I get at home are so obviously fake. What does amaze me is that some people will still fall for them.

People, please, nothing is free and if it walks like a duck, looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is a duck. Delete the email and don’t respond to them. Once you respond, you’re hooked and could lose thousands of dollars before you know it.

Here are tips from our IT department: Be extremely skeptical of FWD emails. Look for spelling errors – “Please check your Bnak of American Acconut.” Any email chain letter you receive is more than likely false than true. Look for the telltale phrase, “Forward this to everyone you know!” Watch for frequent use of UPPERCASE LETTERS, bold and multiple exclamation points!!!!!

Research any factual claims an email states such as, “Your Amazon order was cancelled – pick up the phone and call Amazon or log into your account and check.”

Here’s an example of an absolute garbage email – “Please forward this email to your friends…for every person that you forward this e-mail to, Microsoft will pay $250.00…

Legitimate looking emails from your friends, relatives and even your supervisor can be scams to.

Remember to pay attention to these sign when you get an email. If you do, you are less likely to become a victim of email scams or hoaxes.

Officer Larry Jacobs is the Crime Prevention Officer for the Sandy Springs Police Department. He can be reached directly at ljacobs@sandyspringsga.gov