Comment dit-on "spam" en français?

You know you're really integrating into life in France when you start getting spam and phishing emails... IN FRENCH!

"Phishing", as you may or may not know, is the term for those dangerous spam emails that are designed to appear as though they come from a legitimate source where you might already have connections, such as PayPal, eBay or even your own bank (the one I got today was supposedly from PayPal where I do happen to have an account). The senders of these emails are "fishing" for your personal information by hoping to trick you into panicking about your account being closed down and getting you to click on a link where you will supply them with your name, address, phone numbers, email address and most importantly your bank account, credit card or social security number. It's another form of identify fraud, it's very prevalent, and even experienced Internet users have been duped by these scam artists because some of the emails are very realistic looking (the one I got today was not so well done, and since I rarely get email in French I was suspicious right away, but even when they seem like the real think I always look more closely).

99.9% of the time these emails will be fakes and your bank or Amazon will not have tried to contact you at all. The way you can tell these emails are NOT from the source they claim to be, is to check the URL for any links they want you to click on (the URL is the part that looks like "http://blah-blah.com"). For instance, in the fake PayPal email urging me to click the link to "Veuillez rétablir l'accès à votre compte" (Reestablish access to your account) when I put my cursor over that link (but didn't CLICK it... NEVER CLICK ON A LINK IN ANY SUSPICIOUS EMAIL) what I saw was a URL without the PayPal.com domain name in it (the first clue that it's fake) and where the domain name ended in ".nu" which is usually assigned to domains registered in the South Pacific island nation of Niue, near Fiji. However, while pretty much anyone in the world can register a domain with that extention -- meaning you really don't know WHO is really emailing you and asking you to provide your personal information to theoretically "keep your account open" or "reactivate your account" -- I think it's safe to say PayPal is NOT sending out emails with links to something.nu if they want to communicate with their customers.

The thing to do with these emails is to simply delete them without clicking on any link contained within the email. Legitimate online merchants such as Amazon, eBay, PayPal and any catalog shopping "stores" online, as well as any banks that provide on-line services to their customers, are already well aware of these phishing scams targeting their customers and blemishing their good names, and as a result they will NEVER ask you to provide any updated account or personal information by clicking on a link. For example, when my bank needs to contact me via email, they send an email without ANY active links in it, and they instruct me to phone my local branch or to log onto the main web site and access my secure email (they provide a secure system using their web site so I can discuss my account with them via email with complete peace of mind).

So, to be safe, just delete those emails without clicking through to any links, and if you're worried, just contact the company through another means -- by phone or through their web site's "Contact Us" instructions -- to determine if there is really a problem with your account. Follow the same common sense rules that apply whenever someone calls you on the phone claiming to be affiliated with your bank, credit card company, etc. and asks you to give them your full account number or entire social security over the phone, which is another clear sign of attempted identity theft. Because if it WAS your bank calling -- wouldn't they already have that information at their finger tips? NEVER GIVE OUT THAT KIND OF INFORMATION TO SOMEONE WHO INITIATED THE CONTACT WITH YOU.

In the meantime, I'm getting a little giggle over having received my first phishing email in French, even while I have already deleted it from my in-box. There is no point in wondering "how did they get my email address?" -- because "they" have it now and I'm sure this won't be the last time I get one of these. After I get the 10th such spam message in French I'm sure I won't be giggling any more. Because now I have the chance to get TWICE the junk mail, in two languages.

Makes me think that maybe I don't want to learn Italian after all.