Got an interesting — and very authentic looking — email this morning that purported to be from Google. All I had to do was click on their link and log-in to “fix” problems with my Google ID. Hah!

The funny thing is the email purported to have something to do with the “European Commission’s eID service Regulation (EU) N°910/2014 that requires us ‘Google Inc’ to inspect the authenticity of Google members in Europe.” Sorry, but I’m not in Europe.

This is another example of phishing, where hackers try to get you to give them your userID and password. Whenever you get an email from a provider requesting you login to their site, NEVER use the convenient link in the email. Always go straight to the website and log in like usual. Then you can look around to see if there really is anything amiss, or you could even call the company if you’re concerned. But NEVER click on the link in the email.

Hackers are really good at making things seem real, but you can often catch them by looking for subtle things, like typos.