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Pause before you click. A breach or account-warning message is not authentic merely because it uses a familiar retailer’s name, logo, colors, or a plausible sender address. Treat an unexpected request for a password, payment detail, identity information, link click, or attachment as potentially dangerous until you verify it through a channel you open independently.
The safe test is not visual. Open the retailer’s known app or type a website address you already trust, then check your account there. Alternatively, call a phone number obtained independently from a card, statement, or the company’s known website. Do not use links, phone numbers, reply addresses, or attachments supplied by the suspicious message.
What to do the moment a breach or account email arrives
Stop interacting with the message. Do not click, reply, download, call, or enter information while you decide whether it is real. If you need to check an order, payment, account lock, or breach, start a new session with the retailer rather than following the message’s instructions.
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- Leave the message untouched. Do not open an unexpected attachment or use a link in an unexpected email or text.
- Identify the claimed issue without trusting the message. Note whether it mentions an order, account, payment, password, or data breach, but do not use its contact details.
- Verify independently. Open the retailer’s app, type a website address you already know, or find a trusted telephone number independently.
- Check the account in that trusted channel. Look for security notices, recent orders, payment warnings, support messages, and password or sign-in activity.
- Respond only through the trusted channel. If there is a genuine problem, use the app or website’s account-recovery and support tools.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) describes phishing as a message that appears to come from a person or company you know and tries to get you to click, download, or disclose sensitive information. Its consumer advice asks: “If you get an email or a text message that asks you to click on a link or open an attachment, ask yourself: Do I have an account with the company or know the person who contacted me?” You can read the advice in the FTC’s phishing guidance.
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Why a convincing-looking message proves nothing
Attackers can copy a retailer’s logo, colors, writing style, order layout, and customer-service language. They can also spoof an email address or display name so that the message appears to come from a familiar company. The FTC’s small-business cybersecurity guidance specifically identifies spoofed logos and email addresses as phishing warning signs.
That means a polished design is not evidence of authenticity, and an ugly design is not proof of fraud. Grammar, spelling, a generic greeting, an unfamiliar address, or a slightly different domain can be useful clues, but sophisticated messages may avoid those mistakes. The decisive action is to verify through a separate, trusted route.
A legitimate retailer may contact customers about an account or order. The problem is an unexpected request to update payment or account information through an email or text link. The FTC advises customers to open the company’s app or website independently or call a known-good number instead of using details in the message. Its consumer warning about phishing bait explains this approach.
Red flags that deserve a pause
| Message behavior | Why it is risky | Safe response |
|---|---|---|
| It says you must act immediately, or your account will be closed, your order canceled, or your money lost. | Urgency is used to prevent you from checking independently. | Ignore the deadline while you verify the account through the known app or website. |
| It asks for a password, one-time code, payment-card number, bank details, identity information, or a copy of an identification document. | Phishing commonly seeks credentials or financial and personal information. | Do not provide the information in response to the message. Sign in through a trusted channel and contact support there. |
| It asks you to update payment or account information through an email or text link. | An unexpected link can lead to a counterfeit sign-in page or payment form. | Open the retailer’s app or type a known website address yourself. |
| It includes an unexpected attachment or asks you to download an invoice, security tool, receipt, or document. | An attachment or download may deliver harmful software or a credential-stealing page. | Do not open it. If you already did, follow the device-response steps below. |
| The logo, sender name, or reply address looks familiar. | Names, addresses, and logos can be spoofed. | Treat the appearance as unverified and use an independent contact route. |
| The greeting is generic, the wording is awkward, or the address does not match the company. | These are clues that may indicate fraud, but they are not conclusive by themselves. | Do not try to decide from appearance alone; verify independently. |
Do not rely on hovering over a link as a safety test. Inspecting a destination may reveal a mismatch, but an unexpected breach or account message is safer when you do not use its link at all.
How to verify a message without exposing yourself
Use the retailer’s known app
Launch the app from your device’s normal app list, not from a message. Review notifications, order history, payment settings, support conversations, and security pages. If the message claims that an order or account action is pending, the same event may appear in the app. A missing notice does not prove the email is fraudulent, but it is a reason to contact the retailer through the app’s support function.
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Type a website address you already trust
Use a bookmark you created previously or type the address yourself. Do not copy the address from the suspicious message and do not search for a phone number while still inside the message. Once signed in through the known site, check for alerts and change settings only there.
Call a number obtained independently
Use a number printed on a payment card or statement, in paperwork you already have, or on the retailer’s known website. Do not call a number in the email, text, attachment, or caller ID. Explain that you received a possible security or order message and ask the company to check the account without forwarding the suspicious content to an address supplied by the sender.
Check whether you even have the claimed relationship
If you have never opened an account with the named retailer, never placed the stated order, or do not recognize the service, do not create an account or provide information just to investigate. An unexpected message can be a lure designed to make you interact with a company you do not use.
How to assess a claimed data breach
A breach notification can be genuine, but the email itself cannot authenticate the sender. There is no single visual format that proves a notice is legitimate, and the available evidence does not establish one universal retailer notification policy. Confirm the event through the retailer’s independently opened app or website, or through independently obtained support contact information.
When you reach the company through a trusted channel, ask what information was affected, which account or order is involved, what protective action is required, and how the company will communicate further. Do not assume that a message asking for your existing password or a full payment-card number is part of a normal breach response. If the company confirms a real incident, follow the instructions shown in the trusted account or supplied by verified support.
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Do not infer that a message is safe because it contains details about a real order or an old address. Criminals may obtain or guess enough information to make a lure credible. Conversely, an unfamiliar order reference can be a simple mistake. Independent verification resolves that uncertainty without handing the sender additional information.
What to do in each outcome
You received the message but did not interact
- Do not click links, open attachments, reply, or call the supplied number.
- If there could be a genuine account issue, check the account through the retailer’s known app or website, or call a known-good number.
- Report the message through an appropriate reporting route.
- Delete it after reporting, and empty the deleted-items folder if your normal retention policy allows.
For US readers, the FTC’s phishing guidance identifies forwarding phishing email to the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) and reporting it to the FTC as options. Do not forward a message to an address found inside the suspicious message.
You clicked a link or opened an attachment
A click alone does not establish that your device is compromised. The risk depends on what happened next: a page may have requested credentials, a file may have downloaded, or software may have run.
- Close the suspicious page or document.
- Do not enter additional information, approve an unexpected sign-in prompt, or call a number displayed by the page.
- Check your browser’s downloads and your device’s recent files for an unexpected download.
- Update your security software and run a scan if the link or attachment may have downloaded harmful software. The FTC recommends this response in its consumer phishing guidance.
- If the device behaves unusually, disconnect it from networks and seek qualified technical assistance through a trusted provider.
Do not install a purported cleanup tool offered by the suspicious page. Use security software obtained through a source you already trust.
You entered a password
- Open the genuine retailer app or website independently.
- Change the exposed password there, even if the message claimed you had already changed it.
- Change the same password anywhere else you reused it, including accounts where you made only a minor variation.
- Review active sessions, remembered devices, recovery email addresses, phone numbers, and recent account activity; sign out sessions you do not recognize.
- Enable multifactor authentication (MFA) if the account offers it.
FTC breach guidance recommends changing exposed and reused passwords and considering a password manager to help create and retain unique passwords. Read the FTC’s advice for people affected by a data breach.
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You shared payment or financial information
- Contact the bank, card issuer, payment service, or other financial institution through a known phone number or its independently opened app.
- Explain exactly what you disclosed and when. Ask whether the account or card should be frozen, replaced, or monitored.
- Review transactions and continue monitoring for unauthorized activity.
- Change any account password that accompanied the financial disclosure.
Never use the suspicious message’s telephone number to report the loss. A criminal who controls that number may pretend to cancel a payment while collecting more information.
You shared identity information
If you provided information that could be used for identity theft, use IdentityTheft.gov for guidance tailored to the information exposed. Follow its recovery steps, preserve relevant records, and monitor accounts connected to the information. The FTC’s breach-response materials direct consumers to IdentityTheft.gov when sensitive identity information may be misused.
You lost money or believe an account or device was compromised
Use the fraud, cybercrime, or law-enforcement reporting route appropriate to your location. Preserve the message, headers where available, transaction records, screenshots, and dates. Report through your financial institution promptly if money or payment details were involved.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to report a suspicious message
United States
The FTC accepts reports of scams, and the APWG accepts forwarded phishing email, as described in the FTC’s consumer guidance. Reporting helps organizations identify campaigns, but it does not replace changing a compromised password, contacting a bank, or securing a device.
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Forward a suspicious email to report@phishing.gov.uk. The UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) says not to click links in a suspicious email. Its phishing reporting guidance states that this route is for reporting suspicious messages, not for reporting a crime.
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If you lost money or need to report a crime, the NCSC directs readers in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland to Report Fraud and readers in Scotland to Police Scotland. Those routes are separate from forwarding a suspicious email.
The NCSC reporting page recorded 454.8k scam URLs removed as of July 2026. This is an operational count of URLs removed, not a prevalence estimate, a count of victims, or proof that any particular retailer message is fraudulent.
Other countries
Reporting addresses and breach obligations differ by country. Use your national cyber-safety, consumer-protection, financial-fraud, or police service, and verify its address on an official government website. Do not assume that a US or UK reporting address applies elsewhere.
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Protecting accounts after the incident
Use unique passwords
A password exposed in one phishing incident should be treated as exposed everywhere it was reused. Replace it with a unique password for each important account. A password manager can generate and retain unique passwords, which the FTC recommends considering in its breach guidance.
Turn on MFA through the real account
Enable MFA from the retailer’s independently opened security settings, not from a link in the message. The FTC identifies authenticator apps and security keys as stronger methods than text-message or email codes where available. The best choice depends on what the account supports and whether you can complete recovery if you lose the device or key.
| MFA method | What the FTC guidance establishes | Practical decision |
|---|---|---|
| Security key | Recognized as a stronger authentication method where an account supports it. | Use one if the retailer supports it and you can keep a backup or follow its recovery process. |
| Authenticator app | Recognized as stronger than text or email codes where available. | Choose it when you can protect and recover the authenticator device. |
| Text message or email code | Useful MFA options, but weaker than an authenticator app or security key according to the FTC comparison. | Use them if they are the available option, while recognizing that the code must never be disclosed to an unsolicited contact. |
No MFA method authenticates an incoming email. If a message asks you to read out a one-time code or enter it on an unfamiliar page, stop and use the account’s genuine sign-in page instead.
Common mistakes that make phishing worse
- Replying to ask whether it is real: You confirm that your address is monitored and may invite further manipulation.
- Calling the number in the message: The person answering may be part of the scam and can create a false sense of reassurance.
- Using a search result without checking the address: Search results can lead to look-alike support pages. Prefer a bookmark, known app, or address you already trust.
- Sending a screenshot that includes secrets: Remove passwords, one-time codes, card numbers, addresses, and account identifiers before sharing evidence with legitimate support.
- Assuming a secure-looking padlock proves the site is genuine: Encryption protects a connection to the site you reached; it does not prove that the site belongs to the retailer.
- Waiting for certainty before changing an exposed password: If you entered a password, change it through the genuine account immediately rather than debating whether the message looked convincing.
A compact decision checklist
- Was the contact unexpected?
- Does it demand urgent action?
- Does it ask for a password, code, payment detail, or identity information?
- Does it ask you to click, download, or open an attachment?
- Are you relying on a logo, sender name, or wording instead of an independent check?
- Can you verify the claimed issue in the retailer’s known app or website?
- If you already interacted, did you change exposed passwords, contact the relevant financial institution, scan the device, or use IdentityTheft.gov as appropriate?
If any of the first five answers is yes, treat the message as untrusted until the independent check is complete. The goal is not to identify a scam from its appearance; it is to prevent the message from controlling where you sign in, whom you call, or what information you disclose.
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Official guidance
- FTC: Phishing scams can be hard to spot
- FTC: Don’t take the bait on phishing scams
- FTC: Cybersecurity for Small Business
- FTC: How To Recognize and Avoid Phishing Scams
- FTC: Data Breach Response: A Guide for Business
- FTC: Have you been affected by a data breach? Read on
- FTC: Use Two-Factor Authentication To Protect Your Accounts
- UK NCSC: Phishing scams: how to spot and report them
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