How to Stop Fake Invoice Emails and Avoid Being Scammed

Fake invoice emails are one of the most frequent types of phishing emails.

Scammers send invoice emails to get the recipients (usually businesses) to share personal info later used for fraud or identity theft. They pretend to be a reputable company sending an invoice for the services or products you never ordered.

The biggest risk regarding phishing emails is in the attachments. When you download an attachment sent in a fraudulent email, you are actually installing malware. This will allow the scammers to hijack your computer and lock you out of the crucial files.

The best thing you can do to protect your business and personal info is to learn how to recognize fraudulent invoice emails and report email abuse.

How to Stop Fake Invoice Emails With DoNotPay’s Assistance

DoNotPay has got your back if you’re looking for a fast and efficient way to report spam emails. Here’s how to stop fake invoice emails with DoNotPay:

1. Log in to your DoNotPay account from a web browser
2. Click on the “Spam Collector” icon
3. Enter the email address
4. Forward the fake invoice email to spam@donotpay.com

Once you complete these steps, you’ll stop receiving emails from that address. DoNotPay will also help you get compensation by notifying you about current class action lawsuits against that sender. If you choose to join the lawsuit, you’ll get the chance to achieve your spam email revenge and claim money once the settlement is reached.

DoNotPay is the world’s first AI Consumer Champion that helps you earn money by reporting malicious and spam emails.

How to Stop Fake Invoice Emails Manually

Other than using DoNotPay, you can block and report fake invoice email spam by:

• Reporting phishing to your email provider
• Filing a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission

Even though your email client has filters that send suspicious emails in the spam folder, they don’t always work. Also, scammers have become more skilled in knowing how to trick spam filters. That’s why fraudulent emails can end up in your priority inbox.

How to Tell if an Invoice Email Is Fake

To report a phishing invoice email, you should be able to recognize it. Even though an email you received seems legit, some signs make the scam obvious. Here are the most frequent warning signs:

• You didn’t order any product or service that the sender is billing you
• The sender is requesting an urgent and immediate action regarding payment and your credit card info
• The grammar, spelling, and punctuation are off, and the content of the email seems poorly translated to English
• The email address is suspicious
• There are links with strange URLs. You can check the URL without clicking it by hovering the mouse over the link to see its destination address
• The attachment seems suspicious to you
• The bank account number from your regular supplier has changed
• You can see the warning from your email provider saying that the sender’s address isn’t 100% secure. These warnings are displayed at the beginning of a suspicious email

Whenever you can detect at least one of the described warnings, do not respond to the email, and don’t open any of the links and attachments provided. Report the email and delete it from your inbox.

If you can’t tell whether the email is fake or not, you can look up the company’s name and its email address in your search engine. See if the email address from the sender is the same as the official email of the company.

You can also find that company’s phone number and call them to check if they are aware of the email you received.

If you have employees, make sure to educate them on phishing emails and invoice scams so that everyone in your company can recognize and report them.

How to Report a Fake Invoice Email to the FTC

The Federal Trade Commission’s objective is to protect consumers in the US from fraud and deceptive business practices. You can report fake invoice emails to FTC like this:

1. Go to the FTC website
2. Click on “Robocalls, Unwanted Telemarketing, Text, or SPAM” option
3. Select “SPAM: Unsolicited or Fraudulent e-mails”
4. Complete the required steps

The FTC will then review your complaint and act accordingly. This process can be time-consuming, and you won’t even have the opportunity to claim compensation.

How to Report Spam Invoice Emails to Your Email Provider

You can also learn how to stop spam emails and report phishing directly to your email provider. When you report an invoice email spam to Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, etc. their email abuse team will review the email and block the address if it is an actual threat.

That sender will be blacklisted, and you won’t receive the emails from the same address in the future.

The report process is different depending on your email client.

How to Report Fake Invoice Emails to Gmail

To report phishing invoice emails on Gmail, do the following:

1. Log in to your Gmail account
2. Open the suspicious email
3. Click on the three dots next to the “Reply” button
4. Select “Report phishing”
5. Click “Report phishing message”

You can report phishing emails to Gmail only from your computer. If you’re using the Gmail app on Android or iPhone, you can only mark the message as spam, but you can’t report phishing.

Reporting Phishing Invoice Emails on Yahoo

You can’t report phishing emails from your Yahoo inbox. You can do it only by contacting Yahoo customer support.

How to Report Fake Invoice Emails on Outlook

Outlook users can report phishing emails like this:

1. Log in to your Outlook account
2. Open the fake invoice email
3. Click “Junk”
4. Select “Phishing”
5. Click “Report”

What’s the Best Option to Report Fake Invoice Emails?

Here are the options you can choose from when reporting fraudulent invoice emails:

Junk-Mail-Free Mailbox? DoNotMail Makes It Possible

Scammers can find their way into your physical mailbox too. If you’re irritated by receiving piles of unwanted paper mail, DoNotPay can help you out.

Thanks to our DoNotMail feature, you can take a picture of the physical junk mail and send it to DoNotPay. We will unsubscribe you and block the sender from cluttering your mailbox.

If more people have the same problem with certain senders, there may be active class action lawsuits that you can join. DoNotPay will notify you about the existing lawsuits and then notify you again when the settlement is reached if you choose to join the lawsuit.

Protect the environment, claim your compensation, and have your mailbox clutter-free with DoNotPay’s help.

What Else Can DoNotPay Do for You

Other than helping you unsubscribe from emails and block spam emails on Android and your computer, DoNotPay can be useful for other issues that you find overwhelming.

Don’t forget that you can access your DoNotPay account from a web browser. Count on DoNotPay’s assistance when you’re not sure how to

• Dispute traffic tickets
• Fight speeding tickets
• Contest parking tickets
• Get revenge on robocalls
• Deal with bills you can’t pay
• Get refunds from companies
• Schedule a DMV appointment
• Stop receiving spam mail forever
• Deal with issues with credit cards
• Cancel subscriptions or memberships
• Get refunds for delayed or canceled flights
• Protect yourself from stalking and harassment
• Send Demand Letters To companies and individuals in small claims court
• Jump the phone queue when getting in touch with customer service reps